The Devil Wears Prada brings a stacked line up, backed by Norma Jean and Gideon.
Gideon got us going around 7:00 pm last night. The crowd was full of anticipation for the evening and had already started to fill in nicely. Temperatures dipping down into the upper 30’s meant you had to move to stay warm at the outdoor venue. Gideon, touring behind their new album Out Of Control, brings hardcore beat downs with nu-metal nuances. They effortlessly got the crowd up and going – opening up several pits throughout their 30-minute set. Daniel McWhorter is a mad man up front, who never seemed to stop moving, but I couldn’t blame him in that cold. His vocals held up against the biting wind, along with the fingers of all parties involved.
The almighty Norma Jean was the meat of this riff sandwich and they brought the beef. Their new album All Hail was just released on the 25th of this month and is in my running for album of the year. So many bands are softening their edge, going for more radio play. But, Norma Jean went heavy! The crowd was primed and ready to be pushed over the edge. “Safety Last” signaled the start of bodies piling over the front rails. I’ve seen these guys so many times and Cory Brandan has not once left his audience unsatisfied. He had some difficulties earlier on tour, but I’m happy to see him doing well and sounding great. I was very happy to hear “With_errors,” it’s one of my favorites off the new album. Cory had a small exchange with someone about time to which he retorted “We are playing this song and you can not invite us back or whatever.” I’m thoroughly excited to see what the future has for Norma Jean, I’ll certainly be there to see it. Here’s to 22 more years!
The Devil Wears Prada capped off our evening, taking the stage around 8:45 pm. The stage set up was great with the drummer and keyboardist sitting on high platforms backed by lots of lighting. They played a very mixed set, touching on the new album The Act quite a bit. The song “Please Say No” was one of the slowest songs of the evening, but allowed Mike Hranica to showcase his vocal talent. The cold didn’t seem to bother him. His lows sounded deep and his highs had no crack. The pit really started to open up as the insistence of a circle pit constantly bellowed out. The bodies kept flowing over the guardrail the entire set. All the movement made the dropping temperatures bearable to some degree. They played for over an hour with seamless instrument changes throughout. I love how heavy they have stayed and hope they don’t change anytime soon.
– Brently Kirksey
