Little Rock Arkansas, 05/07/2025
Wednesday night we headed out to see The Devil Wears Prada, ERRA, Kingdom of Giants, and Acres on the Metalcore Spring Break tour stop in Little Rock, Arkansas. Even though this is our third time seeing TDWP within the last two years, we were still pumped to see them once again. As well as seeing some new bands to add to our seen live list, an exciting night begins! Oh, and apparently pollen is hell glitter, or so the venue marquis said.
We started outside the venue with a line around the block of concert goers of all types. As we slowly made our way in the venue we perused the large merch selection all the bands had to offer and got a sneak peek at what we wanted to snag. Standing around, doing the “try not to look too awkward” shuffle while we waited for the music to start, we noticed there was already a pit forming and the crowd was getting rowdy. Let me reiterate….no bands had played a note of music yet and there was a pit. It was going to be a crazy night.
Our first dose of metalcore the night had to offer came from Acres. All the energy that was forming in the crowd the second the doors burst open into crowd surfing and moshing. Starting off the night with ‘A Different Shade of Misery’ the largest mosh pit I’ve ever seen in this venue kicked off, taking up the entire middle section with arms and legs swinging every which way and people being thrown around. I’ve been wanting to see Acres ever since I stumbled across the music video for “Hold On” on youtube. I’ve been hooked on their sound, mashing borderline emo lyrics and clean singing with straight up brutal breakdowns and almost an industrial type influence in some of their songs. Super stoked I finally got to see them. (Their accents between songs were super cool too.)
Our second act to the stage was Kingdom of Giants, with their straight to the point brutality egging the crowd on even more. Their vocalist, Dax Willax, oddly reminds me of vocalist Blake Allison of one of the last bands we covered, Devour The Day. The energy this dude brings to the stage is palpable. I honestly would just call this genre “pissed off core”. They do an amazing job of pumping out some of the most violent down tuned riffs you’ve ever heard, and then just dropping into an insanely catchy chorus courtesy of bass player and clean vocalist Jonny Reeves. Insanely talented band you need to experience live.
Erra. What else needs to be said? These dudes slay. My brain hurts when I try to describe these guys with anything other than “kickass”. Meshuggah style prog/djent riffs, Periphery style fretboard wizardry, catchiest clean choruses you’ve ever heard in your life, headbang inducing breakdowns. I mean, listen to the song “Skyline” and you’ll see exactly what I mean. I’ve listened to Erra since I was a teenager and this was my first time seeing them live and I was not disappointed. Covering as much of their extensive discography as they could, they put their blend of metalcore prowess on display. I genuinely hope there was someone in the crowd who had no idea who Erra was before Wednesday night and just experienced their magic for the first time live. They sounded album quality live. Vocalist JT Cavey’s growls reflecting off guitarist and clean vocalist Jesse Cash’s melodic choruses was flawless. I will admit, there is one really bad part of their set: when it ends.
Last but certainly not least, The Devil Wears Prada. I’ve listened to lots of music, seen lots of bands live, bought lots of CDs, bought lots of merch, but I feel like I’ve LIVED The Devil Wears Prada. Looking back at my formative years, I can honestly say this band had the most influence on me. Warped tour every summer, the straightened hair, the obnoxiously colorful large font band tees that were a little too tight, and skinny jeans (oh god, the skinny jeans). Every person from every era in history has “that” band from their teen years, and for me it was The Devil Wears Prada. Pretty sure “Dogs Can Grow Beards All Over” is probably STILL on my Myspace page. I feel like they even grew up with me too as my life changed. They’ve sharpened their sound over the years into something still them, but just honed and mature. Starting from “Dear Love” and “Plagues” to their most recent album “Color Decay”, they’ve never stopped developing and experimenting.
Kicking off their set with one of my personal all time favorite songs, “Mammoth”, they took the crowd deep into their discography. I don’t know if I’ve ever caught a band live that covers years of music as craftily as TDWP. They’ll hit you straight in the face with some Myspace zeitgeist like “Danger:Wildman” so hard you can smell the Axe body spray, then have you singing along to something more heartfelt and melodic like “Watchtower”. I’ll never, ever, ever get tired of seeing Mike Hranica lose his damn mind on stage. TDWP is eternal.
As the tour comes to a close, grab a ticket to see them before this tour ends!
Check out The Devil Wears Prada on all platforms & check out their latest single “For You” on Spotify or Apple Music
MID SOUTH 