There were septum piercings and bad hair galore Tuesday night as The Devil Wears Prada and It Dies Today concert drew more scene kids into Club Infinity than a two-for-one piercing sale at Cowpok.
Though the night was billed as a The Devil Wears Prada headlining effort, hometown second favorites It Dies Today did their best to steal the show. As the lights dimmed and the "Lets go Buffalo" chant turned into an all-out breakdown, there was no doubting that this one-night-only, non-touring show would be a memorable one.
Opening with "My Promise," It Dies Today made their intentions obvious. They weren't going to play many of the radio-friendly tunes that alienated a significant amount of their fans and marred so much of their latest release Sirens; they were going to bring it much like they used to.
New It Dies Today vocalist, Jason Wood announced that the show was being recorded for their forthcoming DVD Hot Trash. The opening chords of Sacred Heart were stricken, the crowd kicked it into overdrive. Photographers who were once safely snapping publicity shots in front of the barricade were soon annihilated by falling bodies and were not so subtly escorted away from the carnage.
Wood even ignited a Blessthefall staple "wall of death" during "Reignite the Fires," declaring one side of the crowd England and the other Scotland, all in the name of the almighty Mel Gibson's Braveheart.
After the Caitiff favorites "Marigold" and "A Threnody For Modern Romance," It Dies Today treated fans to a new song entitled "Thank You For Drinking." The freshly squeezed track was done much in the same vein as The Caitiff Choir (their debut, full-length release) and taking into consideration the new look of It Dies Today, that of a rat-tail donning, trailer park boozehound (except for the always clean shaven and attractive lead guitarist Chris Cappelli), it was not only fitting, but welcome.
Before the cameras stopped rolling, ex-vocalist Nick Brooks treated fans to a surprise duel-vocal performance of their closer "Freak Gasoline Fight Accident." Though Brooks has put on a few pounds and no longer dresses the part of a metal-core front man, his intensity and mastery of crowd control was a sight to behold.
It's always sad when a Buffalo music staple loses a member or changes throughout the years, but if every so often, if only for the night, we're given a chance to relive the past, it makes the letdown completely worth it. That is why we go to shows. And that alone made the night an unbelievable success.
Though It Dies Today delivered an impressive performance, the billed headliners definitely did not disappoint. The lights dimmed, the fog rolled in and the six members of The Devil Wears Prada aggressively took the stage. Cue the screamo-grindcore.
For a band of Christian boys, the music they play is anything but Holy sounding. It's dark, dirty, aggressive and blunt, and it all translates into a stellar live show.
Blasting through the tracks "Goats on a Boat" and "Reptar, King of the Ozone," the multiple members of The Devil Wears Prada threw their bodies and instruments around the stage with reckless abandon, all in the name of the metal Jesus.
Undersized, retainer-wearing front man Mike Hranica threw down and bear clawed to his own music, all the while unleashing ungodly screams that sounded as if they were coming from someone who looks like Glenn Danzig, as opposed to a 19-year-old who appears to have strolled off the set of Zoe101 and into his own scene-friendly clothing line.
"Do you guys feel like you're in an alien spacecraft?" Hranica asked in conjunction with their Scientology callout "Nickels is Money Too."
For those going to the forthcoming mid-March Scientology protest, why not blast this devastating composition in vein of Xenu?
Before ending the night with the crowd favorite "Hey John, What's Your Name Again," which they dedicated to the three Scientologists in attendance who flipped them off, and a brief encore, The Devil Wears Prada took time to declare their Christian faith and offered their respect to all forms of religion...except for the one made up by L. Ron Hubbard.
"The show and crowd were awesome, it was a pleasure playing with It Dies Today," Hranica said.
Opener Sailing to Rome did a fine job of stirring up the pit and entertaining new ears. Local band Affront the Riot didn't fair as well, but playing in front of a crowd geared specifically for another band is no easy feat.
Age, faith, and filming aside, this one-night-only display of metal-core antics did not go unnoticed or underappreciated.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
