Attending San Diego’s Summer of Loud Fest 2025

When it was announced, Summer of Loud Festival was destined to be special, but when the details of San Diego’s stop being July 2nd at the beautiful Gallagher Square emerged, I knew it was going to be the best on the whole tour. Since its inception, the festival has taken on a whole new meaning, now dedicated to the memory of Dave Shapiro, Emma Huke, and Kendall Fortner — all music industry professionals who have touched the lives of everyone on the bill. The long-anticipated tour featured four insane headliners — Beartooth, Killswitch Engage, Parkway Drive, and I Prevail — alongside The Devil Wears Prada, The Amity Affliction, Alpha Wolf, and TX2 for San Diego to complete the metalcore extravaganza. 

The weather was your standard San Diego perfection, with the fest nestled in one of the city’s most popular venues.

Gallagher Square sits at the center of Petco Park in the Gaslamp district of downtown San Diego; paired to the nice weather, attendees were stoked to show up early. When TX2 kicked off the day, with frontman Evan Thomas jumping into a full-formed circle pit to hug a fan holding a “TX2 Saved My Life” poster in the middle of it. “San Diego, this is insane!” Thomas exclaimed many times throughout the set, fueling the band’s energy through the last chord of their set. By now, the GA field was full and San Diego’s metal scene was ready for it.

Alpha Wolf stormed the stage next, wasting no time by diving into their set with “Mangekyō”. The guys brought their Aussie grit to the States before metalcore icons The Devil Wears Prada — with their blunt force trademark growls from guitarist Mike Hranica cutting through melodic vocals from frontman Jeremy DePoyster — took over. It was connection and chaos all one one, with the band ending their performance with fan-favorite “Sacrifice”. 

Up next, The Amity Affliction struck a major chord opening with “Pittsburgh”.

The crowd instantly started surfing, moshing, and singing. For real, it was full-force mosh pits in a swaying crowd, with strangers singing at you and crowd-surfers overhead. Leaving the stage with “Soak Me In Bleach”, the crowd wanted more. We knew The Amity Affliction could not encore though, because the stage was getting set for Beartooth. It was time to get gritty. 

Luckily, Beartooth’s set was such a perfect follow-up. Frontman Caleb Shomo’s journalistic lyrics backed by drummer Connor Denis, bassist Oshie Bichar, and the insanity of lead guitarist Zach Huston truly made for a spectacular set. Whether you knew the band’s music or not, you were instantly drawn in to feel it. Through their powerhouse ballad “I Was Alive”, Shomo effectively ripped his heart out and left it on the stage. Singalongs, circle pits, and any expression of emotion were highly encouraged, giving every single person in the audience the best therapy we’ve ever experienced in our lives.

It was cathartic. It was tears. It was raw.

And Killswitch Engage up next did not disappoint. Frontman Jesse Leach stormed the stage, as well as the audience, as the band bursted into “Rose of Sharyn”. Adam Dutkiewicz’s cut-throat vocals contrasted perfectly, proving once again this band truly is a pioneer of metalcore. The guys slaughtered their set like the professionals they are, leaving it all out with “Holy Diver” to conclude their story. Up next, Parkway Drive. Oh yes, there was still so much more. 

Aussie superstars Parkway Drive came to remind us how they’ve been holding it down on the other side of the world and, boy, if you’re not on board with them, you have to now. Frontman Winston McCall did not hold back through the hits “Glitch” and “Sacred”. The sun was effectively setting by this time, leaving the sky a beautiful hue of warm orange to match the insane fire displays. This experience alone was metal magic. After six bands together in one gorgeous day, the fans in the audience were becoming friends… nourishing the healing properties of the Parkway set. We moshed together and threw each other up to surf, picked each other up, and truly connected. When the last tones of finale “Crushed” rang out, the audience still wanted more.

And we had more, with our last headliner, I Prevail.

There was no time wasted between sets; before we knew it, I Prevail’s graphics were on the screen and the band was taking stage. New frontman Eric Vanlerberghe was clearly ready to prove his new role as the vocalist to replace Brian Burkheiser and he did so immediately with the powerhouse track “Bow Down”, sparking instant pit flurries. The biggest delight was their cover of Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space” — the song that really started it all for them. We were carried through to the end, leaving it all in the square with their hit “Gasoline”. We were spent. Dave Shipiro would have been so proud, as this was his vision. If you haven’t already, grab your tickets to Summer of Loud as it continues through the east coast with a grande finale on July 27th in Charlotte, NC. Do it for the music, do it for the community, do it for Dave — you wont regret it! 

Photography by Franny Kovacs

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