Photo Credit: Ola Hac
As Ohio metalcore group THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA returned to the UK for their first headline tour since 2016, they were welcomed with a packed show in Leeds for a night filled with songs across their 20 year existence, including a handful from their latest record ‘Color Decay’.
Making only their second appearance in Leeds were Australian band OCEAN GROVE, who were greeted by an already jam packed venue to take in a bunch of groovy riffs. From the get go, small moshpits began to form in the room, with the bands funky metal sound certainly an easy one to get involved with. Their slot allowed OG to treat those in attendance to a handful of new tracks from their most recent record ‘Oddworld’, resulting in their first run out in the UK. The tracks played a major part in their 30-minute slot, before finishing off with ‘Junkie$’ to not only conclude their performance, but warm the crowd up for the remaining acts.
California heavyweights KINGDOM OF GIANTS made a much more impressive return to Leeds, barely a year on from their last appearance. The atmosphere from the crowd was heightened for their Yorkshire resurface as they opened with the spinge-tingling song ‘Asphalt‘. The baands combinations of riffs, breakdowns, with heavy and clean vocals is enough to get anyone head banging, and the crowd did not disappoint the LA metal band. Their set featured tracks ‘Scorpion‘ and ‘Bleach‘ to continue the energy in the room before concluding with ‘Wayfinder‘ to a huge cheer throughout the venue.
Now in their twentieth year as a band, THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA made their grand return to Leeds, with a set filled with songs from almost every single release of theirs. The room was filled with cheers as the anticipation for their appearance continued to build up with the room turning to darkness. The dance floor soon filled up, eager for a career spanning set. Launching into ‘Mammoth‘ as the opener, vocalist Mike Hranica urged the audience to create more movement, with his orders swiftly followed.
Tracks from their most recent record ‘Color Decay‘ were heavily featured in the set, with the first of the night coming in the form of ‘Watchtower’ before immediately throwing it way back with ‘Danger:Wildman’ to give fans of their older material something to leap in to. Further up to date tracks ‘Salt‘ and ‘Broken‘ made an early appearance in the set, with Jeremy DePoyster taking centre stage for the latter song, whilst Hranica joined in on guirar duties.
The band’s 2010 EP, ‘Zombie‘, is one of their best-loved releases, with leading track, ‘Escape‘, which came near the end of the set list, allowed Hranica to occasionally unleash a much darker sound while maintaining his signature style, and DePoyster’s exquisite vocals flawlessly finished the song. The Yorkshire mob gave it their best till the very end, whether it was a song with a chorus to join in or frantic breakdowns to mosh to. The Leeds crowd grew into the performance with each song.
While ‘Sacrifice‘ brought the evening’s ‘Colour Decay‘ tracks to a close, it was the band’s finale, ‘Hey John, What’s Your Name Again‘, that gave fans of their ‘Plagues’ album something to finally shout about once and for all.
TDWP stormed the UK with this short run of dates, proving that after 20 years, and eight albums later, the demand for the metalcore staples across the pond is still very high.
Photo Credits:
Ola Hac – Birmingham, O2 Institute
Ileyna Aranhol – Leeds, Stylus
Taped Magazine 