The Rave
Milwaukee, WI
Aug. 4th, 2022
By Bryan McCabe
If you were to say that metalcore peaked in 2010, many people wouldn’t even argue with you. By that time, The Devil Wears Prada had released multiple records that pushed the limits of how heavy they were willing to go. Then the band released their Zombie EP that year, and it quickly became a fan favorite for years to come. It was so highly regarded in fact, that 11 years later the guys in Prada couldn’t resist fans’ pleas for a return to that heavy sound. In 2021 they dialed the heaviness up to 11 and gave us ZII. It’s no stretch to say that those 2 EPs are some of the band’s best work, and to acknowledge that they decided to head out on a 2 month tour playing both Zombie and ZII in their entirety.
The first date of the tour was in their homebase of Milwaukee, WI at the Rave. Opening up the entire tour is Portland’s metalcore activists Dying Wish. Many don’t expect a huge response to the openers on an already stacked tour, but they had nearly the entire room moshing and forming circle pits. This crowd was ready to throw down from the start and Dying Wish fully delivered on providing them with the soundtrack to release that energy. The debut full-length they dropped last year is certainly only the beginning for this young band.
Next up were hardcore heavyweights Stray From The Path. I grew up on political punk bands and for years I had heard that these guys were a must if you wanted anything newer that really tackled political and social issues as directly as bands like Rage Against The Machine or Anti-Flag. For whatever reason, I never got around to listening to them until I heard about this tour, and I already can’t stop listening to them. They’re that good. The lights went and the band came jumping out and barreled right into “Guillotine” from their upcoming album Euthanasia. Vocalist Andrew Dijorio jumps around on stage with the energy of someone who is ready to explode with anger. Despite that intensity and aggression in their music, Stray From The Path has some of the most positive messages out there and preaches nothing but unity at their shows. The crowd didn’t waste all of their energy on the first band, because fans were moshing and crowd surfing up to the front over and over again for their entire set.
At last, it was time for The Devil Wears Prada. With lights flashing and the scent of incense filling the air, the guys came right out into “Sacrifice” and didn’t hold back the energy at all. Vocalist Mike Hranica was all over the stage while screaming his heart out. I do have to admit that I was surprised that they weren’t going straight into the Zombie EPs. Of course there was nothing wrong with that because they were sprinkling in a bit of everything from their entire career into their set. If that wasn’t enough of a curveball, after the 4th song they didn’t start with the first Zombie EP, but with ZII. When those first chugs of “Nightfall” pummeled the crowd, they went crazy. From there they played the EPs straight through. Many bands need a few shows at the start of a tour to shake off any cobwebs, but not the guys in Prada. They played a flawless set like a well tuned machine that was ready to rip the roof off of the room. The entire crowd was in the palm of their hands from start to finish. The tour is just starting and I can’t recommend enough that you get tickets to see them. You won’t be disappointed.
