The concert film arrives in Australian cinemas next week, documenting a show built in six months that later helped inspire The Used’s own orchestral outing.
Parkway Drive will join fans for a full-band Q&A at the world premiere of HOME at Sydney’s State Theatre this Tuesday, 10 November. They’ve also announced a London premiere at Curzon Mayfair on 19 November, where frontman Winston McCall will take part in a post-screening Q&A.
Both events offer audiences a chance to hear from the musicians about the undertaking captured in the film. HOME revisits Parkway’s 9 June 2025 Sydney Opera House performance, when the Byron Bay band rebuilt their catalogue around a symphony orchestra and a black-tie audience.
Six Months To Build The Show
For a show of that scale, they had surprisingly little time to prepare.
Speaking to Full Metal Jackie in an interview published by Loudwire in January, McCall said the opportunity emerged around Parkway’s Australian 20th anniversary tour. A production company they knew approached them about filming at the Opera House, but the band were still occupied with assembling their arena show.
When they visited the venue after the tour, McCall expected to have to persuade its staff to let them play. Instead, he recalled being told the Opera House wanted Parkway there to demonstrate that it was “a venue which is accessible to everyone”.
That invitation left them six months to develop the performance, roughly a third of their usual preparation time, according to McCall. They also had to choose songs and design the staging. Explaining their ideas to orchestral musicians posed another challenge: the band didn’t share their command of musical notation.
The financial commitment was substantial too. According to the film’s announcement material, reproduced by The Curb, Parkway self-funded the project at a level comparable to an entire European arena tour. No dollar figure was disclosed.
Much of that work came down to how the songs would function in the room. The Music’s review from the night credited longtime collaborator Joel Farland, Tim Davies and conductor Alec Roberts with the orchestral arrangements. Older tracks including ‘Carrion’ and ‘Horizons’ sat alongside later material, with Nooky joining ‘Shadow Boxing’ and Jenna McDougall appearing on ‘A Deathless Song’.
The volume apparently survived the orchestral treatment too. In his review of the night, Wall Of Sound’s Duane James cited insider reports that the show peaked at 120.7dB, reportedly the highest level in the venue’s history.
Directed by Allan Hardy and Macario De Souza, HOME follows those preparations alongside stories from the audience. Distributor Mushroom Studios describes the fans’ experiences as part of its account of the community surrounding the band, extending the film’s focus beyond what happened on stage.
The Show That Helped Inspire The Used
The show’s influence also reached another band with an Opera House ambition of their own.
Ahead of The Used’s performance there in March, Bert McCracken told Rolling Stone Uncut that seeing Parkway do it had helped prompt their show: “Oh, if they can do it, we can do it for sure.”
The Used’s concert became A Mid Summer Night’s Symphony, the film BLUNT covered ahead of its Los Angeles premiere last month. Now Parkway’s own orchestral undertaking is making its way to cinema audiences.
Where To Watch HOME
HOME has its world premiere at Sydney’s State Theatre on Tuesday, 10 November. The venue lists a 7pm screening followed by a full-band Q&A at approximately 8.35pm, with black-tie attire requested. Tickets are listed through Ticketmaster, with limited Australian screenings at Event Cinemas from Thursday, 12 November.
For the London premiere on Thursday, 19 November, Eventbrite advertises tickets at £18, a 7pm start, admission for ages 15 and over and a black-tie dress code. Tickets are handled through Eventbrite, with the organiser specifying that the screening is a venue hire rather than part of Curzon’s programme.
The accompanying 20-track album, HOME – Live At The Sydney Opera House, follows on 4 December.
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