LIVE REVIEW: The Devil Wears Prada @ Project House, Leeds
When a night is this jam-packed, there is no time to waste. A stacked bill featuring THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA, NOVELISTS, 156/SILENCE and OVERSIZE. Phew!
Doors are barely open at the Project House, Leeds, and OVERSIZE take to the stage at 6:30 pm sharp! From this moment on, before a jacket is even unzipped, the night is in full flow. Despite it being a chilly midweek evening in Autumn, the room is far from empty. OVERSIZE give their all to a half-full venue. This is the type of band you want to welcome your patrons into. With coordinated guitar swings and well-harmonised vocals, they get the blood pumping. There is plenty of enthusiasm for the night’s opener as they rifle through their shoegaze-meets-nu-metal set. And if the feeling takes you, you can launch into a circle pit. They close their set with new single Separate, that’s anthemic and heavy. It is the perfect way to sign off and tee up the next band.
Rating: 7/10
156/SILENCE are no strangers to the Project House stage; it is seven months (almost to the day) since they performed on it last, but they have grown immensely. Now with a new album under their belt in From A Distance and relentless touring to accompany it, they are shining. Already, without instruction, a huge pit has opened halfway through their cinematic opening song, No Arms. To own a stage and a crowd with this much conviction is impressive for a support act. It may be a THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA show, but it’s clear people are here to see what all the fuss is about. From their stage lighting to a balanced setlist, every creative element is considered. All the while, they’re keeping up some playful back-and-forth with the crowd. The pit can always be bigger; the crowd can always sing louder. And everyone seems more than happy to oblige.
With the crowd already woken up from the opener, they had no choice but to be taken to the next level by 156/SILENCE. Frontman Jack Murray demands the crowd match their intensity, and it is palpable. Their edgy take on the metalcore genre is what makes this band stand out. Not to mention the engine behind them. Shredding guitars, pummeling drums and the rhythmic flow of Murray‘s screams drive this section of the evening. One of the most impressive things to occur during their allotted time is a successful and seamless wall of death. They’re only the second band of the night, and they successfully leave the crowd satisfied but hungry for more.
Rating: 8/10
So far, both bands have done stellar jobs at getting the crowd hyped for the headliner. Now it’s time for NOVELISTS to grab the baton, and girl do they. Seeing a woman in a big pink dress covered in glitter pull off the most raw, rugged screams to pitch-perfect angelic vocals is bucket-list territory. After the crowd picked their jaws off the floor, it was time to get back to business…with a tornado-like circle pit, the biggest of the night. The control Camille Contreras wields over her vocals is breathtaking, seamlessly weaving between screams and clean vocals.
Their ability to blend flourishes of pop music with gritty post-hardcore highlights how diverse the metal genre can be. Adding a splash of frivolity to the night. They rip through their latest single Ravage with vigour. Proving their first album with new vocalist Contreras is only the beginning. The power oozing from this band doesn’t just come from their excellent musical prowess. It comes from the juxtaposition of the colour pink and femininity and hardcore. It sends such an important message to anyone who sees them that there is nothing more fun or valuable than expressing and being true to yourself. Aesthetics aside, the crowd is theirs to command. Countless crowd surfers flowing overhead. The pit may have lost momentum now and then, but it never took long to pick back up.
Rating: 8/10
What can be said about THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA that hasn’t been said already? They are a band with over 20 years under their belts now. But it is irrevocably clear the spark of performing live still lives on. They take to the stage, and the crowd erupts. Despite some minor technical issues with Jonathan Gering‘s mic, they are straight into it, and the pit is open for business. A unique atmosphere fills the room; there may be a thousand people, but it feels more intimate. This is a group of friends on stage, excited to play together.
By song two, Where The Flowers Never Grow, they earn their first Yorkshire chant of the evening. Paired with banter from the band, acknowledging it’s a funny tradition. It’s not their first rodeo; they know how Yorkshire shows their love. Their playful nature does not end with crowd engagement; no, sir, anyone who can bounce around the stage to get closer to a stationary bandmate is. The star of the show is not just one person; it’s a band that knows how to show off as a collective. Even taking a moment to remember former bandmate and founding member, Daniel Williams, who sadly passed away last year.
THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA continue to combat vocalists being the main attraction with the addition of Kansas to the setlist. An instrumental track from an early record, to really show off and appreciate the band as a unit. They clearly take so much pride in what they do; four out of six of them on stage are so proud that they’re wearing their own merch. Is this just a result of laundry not being ready? Perhaps. But maybe they just love their band so much that they need to be more than just in it; they need to wear it too!
Like all good things, their set had to come to an end. Something about the night feels very wholesome, despite gnarly screams and gritty guitars. The setlist is thoughtfully curated, and well balanced between older and newer songs. An encore caps off the night, which is not always a given these days. And with it comes one final jest, as they play recent single Play The Old Shit. When a band is clearly enjoying themselves and talking to the crowd, rather than at them, it creates something special.
Rating: 9/10
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