Devoting
Destiny
TDWP IS ETERNAL TOUR
GREYHAVEN
On October 28th, 2024, “The Devil Wears Prada is ETERNAL Tour” stopped in Detroit, Michigan, featuring a robust lineup of metalcore flavors, headlined by none other than THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA, of course.
The first band of the night was GREYHAVEN. I have been following GREYHAVEN since 2020 but haven’t seen them live yet so it made me happy to see them. They played most of their newest release, an EP titled Stereo Grief, alongside fan (and personal) favorite songs including ‘Sweet Machine’ and ‘Echo and Dust Pt. I’, among others. Something I enjoy about GREYHAVEN is the style of chaos they bring that is reminiscent of 00s metalcore bands like EVERY TIME I DIE & NORMA JEAN: angular riffs, raw vocals, and aggressive drumming. The crowd seemed to be enjoying themselves but it didn’t seem that too many people were previously familiar with the band. However, when vocalist Brent Mills’ mic stopped working at the end of ‘Echo and Dust Pt. I’ the crowd pulled through with their voices. I’m sure Greyhaven gained some new fans after their set.
LIKE MOTHS
TO FLAMES
2nd to play on the 5-band bill was LIKE MOTHS TO FLAMES. This was my 5th time seeing LIKE MOTHS TO FLAMES live, and it is always such a treat. Chris Roetter is one of my favorite live frontmen in metalcore, for both his vocal capabilities and also his stage presence and charisma. Something I have noticed from every LMTF set I have seen is the seemingly equal hype from the crowd for both the older songs and the newer songs. I think the set they played this Monday night was a well-rounded selection of both old and new as well as showing their melodic side and heavier side. As I said, the entire set was really just fan favorite after fan favorite, but my personal favorites were ‘Over The Garden Wall’ from the newest album The Cycles Of Trying To Cope, as well as live-set-lock ‘Bury Your Pain’. LIKE MOTHS TO FLAMES is a staple in the metalcore scene, and if you haven’t seen them live yet, you are simply missing out.
SEE YOU
SPACE COWBOY
SEEYOUSPACECOWBOY played after LMTF, a band that pulls strongly from 90s and 00s metalcore, emo, and screamo, as well as the MySpace era of metal, bands such as CONVERGE, POISON THE WELL, and UNDEROATH. As someone who grew up listening to heavier music in the 00s, SEEYOUSPACECOWBOY has a nostalgic sound to them that I love, and the way that the band has formed their image, all the way down to the minute details like the way they move on stage and the MySpace format on their setlists cater to that era of heavy music. In my opinion, much like LMTF, SYSC played a well-rounded set, all things considered. Some of my favorite songs they played include ‘Chewing The Scenery’ from their 2024 album Coup de Grâce and the slightly older song ‘Misinterpreting Constellations’, which both have that 00s metalcore pulse I love, as well as the ultra-aggressive ‘Self Help Specialist Ends Own Life’ which brought some hardcore-style dancers into the pit, which made me smile. I am very happy with how many bands there are trying to revitalize the earlier metalcore sound right now, and SEEYOUSPACECOWBOY is absolutely one of them.
SILENT PLANET
Following SEEYOUSPACECOWBOY was SILENT PLANET, a band I had already seen 3 times and been of for a long while. SILENT PLANET is a modern-metalcore style band that has begun to lean into more electronic, atmospheric, and cinematic influence with their newer releases, significantly growing their fanbase after their most recent album SUPERBLOOM. I saw SILENT PLANET headline this same room in February, so I figured the crowd would come through for this show as well, and they did, as there seems to be a lot of fan crossover between several of these bands. SUPERBLOOM has been doing very well for SILENT PLANET, and so a large portion of the set came from that album. ‘Collider’, ‘Dreamwalker’, and ‘Annunaki’ are favorites of mine that they played, and of course they played ‘Antimatter’ as well which has become their most popular song, alongside other fan favorites like ‘Panic Room’ and ‘Trilogy’. I love this band and if you are a fan of any of these bands, especially LIKE MOTHS TO FLAMES or THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA and you haven’t checked them out, do yourself a favor.
THE DEVIL
WEARS PRADA
Finally, to close out the night was THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA, a band that is a veteran of the metalcore scene and has stood the test time. THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA played a wonderful 80 minutes mixed primarily between 2006-2011 material and 2019-present material, leaning both into the earlier more riff and breakdown-centered material that was likely an influence on all of the bands on this bill early in their careers, as well as their newer sound which puts more emphasis on big choruses, channeling more a heavy rock sound. Something I loved about TDWP’s stage design was the large illuminated logo that backlit the band as they played at different moments throughout the night. One of my favorite bands AUGUST BURNS RED does a similar thing with their logo lit up in the back of their stage setup and I think it always really ties the live appearance together when bands do that. TDWP played an 18-song set and some of my favorite moments were from throwback bangers such as ‘Reptar, King of the Ozone’, ‘Dez Moines, and’ Escape’ as well as newer songs from 2022 album Color Decay like ‘Salt’, ‘Noise’, and ‘Watchtower’. Hearing the newest single ‘Ritual’ live was very cool as well, and the acoustic rendition of ‘Chemical’ they played was gorgeous. The crowd energy was definitely palpable during their set. I remember being in the photo pit for the first 3 songs and hearing the crowd shout or sing along almost equally as loud as the band at a few parts, especially in ‘Watchtower’ and ‘Danger: Wildman’. THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA represents both the older and newer fans with their live set, and this my favorite set of theirs I’ve seen. Don’t miss this tour if it comes near you!