The Devil Wears Prada at The Bottleneck on 7/16/2010

The Devil Wears Prada is a metalcore band from Dayton, Ohio. This show held a lot of firsts for me. It was my first time at The Bottleneck, my first time in Lawrence and my first time seeing The Devil Wears Prada live.

I was expecting to see a crowd mostly comprised of the group known as “Scene Kids”. Although there were Scene Kids present, I was happy to see the majority of the audience was around my age (early 20’s) and did not fit the typical Scene Kid mentality.

The two opening bands – Miss May I and Your Demise – were an amazing warm up to the main event. However, I could tell the crowd was saving their energy for The Devil Wears Prada.

The Devil Wears Prada played an amazing set, consisting of both new and old material. Their two latest albums – “Plagues” and “Back to the Roots” – made up most of their set list. I was especially surprised by the fact that they played their latest single, “Outnumbered”, which is due to be released on August 24th on and EP. Surprising, because most band don’t do this.

I was impressed by their stage prescence and their live sound surpassing what they were able to do in a studio. The way the crowd responded to their opening song “Danger: Wildman” was amazing and it got me pumped and straight to the mosh pit. It was also pleasing to hear that throughout their set the entire crowd seemed to sing along. This is a sign that The Devil Wears Prada is a band with a loyal following that is listening to their Christian-rooted lyrics. Since I own their latest two albums almost by heart, I was singing right along with the crowd. It was incredible!

My hope is that more people will recognize the talent of The Devil Wears Prada and other Christian Metal bands and don’t “tune out” from their growling vocals. The lyrics are beautifully metaphorical and deeply rooted in Christianity. Their message is of hope and perseverance in dark times. As well as the power of love.

With all the positives I have to say about this concert, the only disapointment I had was that their set was less than an hour. I can understand this because they did play a show the night before in St. Louis.