God gave rock and roll to ya …

Have we forgotten what our forefathers/mothers suffered? Their Beatles and Elvis collections were burnt and curfews imposed to stop the Devil’s music from reaching their ears. For as long as we’ve had Rock, we’ve had so-called Christian Rock. Most notably, 80’s hair metal band Stryper and soft rock band Petra. But at least everyone knew they were born-again – they were even marketed that way. The Devil Wears Prada take the less-than-honest approach of dressing in wolf’s clothing to sell an album or two, or a concert ticket or 30,000. In hindsight, Stryper sucked as did Petra, and the sucking continued Monday night, with headline act.

Support act, Anime Fire attracted a smattering of people who, as they waited, were subjected to bible bashing via the speakers, as the sound check was completed. Inspired lyrics such as ‘I’m Born Again’ could be clearly heard through the growls and screaming guitars. Anime Fire were delayed, due to issues with the sound from the microphones, but still roared through their new single Where the Wolves Fear to Tread.
and powered straight into A Dangerous State of Mind with the lead growler, Maty Rowe, hanging above the crowd like an almighty metal demon preying on the masses Standing over the crowd with his head covered by a hood, he was an imposing figure even to the hardened mosh pit veteran. The looks on some of the faces in the pit below were priceless. Some of the girls actually looked too scared to make eye contact with him.

Rowe left the stage during the gloriously industrial intro to Remedy, until the growls of an electronic voice summoned him back to the stage. Never slowing for a second, they rampaged through to Altered Beast but there the show suddenly and rudely stalled when massive bass hums plagued the intro to the last song, the aptly named; Cunt.

The sound problems were apparently solved during the interval, and the intro music for The Devil Wears Prada began. The guitarist rushed onstage and off again just as fast yelling “My guitar won’t work!” sounding more like a spoilt teenager than an angsty-metaler (Where’s your god now young Born-again?) This was to be the first of a host of demons that plagued their lacklustre performance.

Hey John, What’s Your Name Again? was the first song by these ‘Metalcore’ rising stars who have secured major gigs such as the Warped Tour and the Head-bangers ball – Christ alone knows how. It is doubtful that the booking agents have actually read their bios or listened to their half-arsed religion peddling lyrics. They plodded their way into Modeify the Pronunciation after singer Mike Hranica rambled on about a “pitcher, but not the baseball kind…” and then proceeded to sing most of the song into an empty Beer Jug. …Wha?

Dire warnings about lust and sex-before-marriage then followed in Texas is South after which, the band attempted a connection with the audience by exchanging cultural greetings. Someone tried to teach them ‘unna mate’ but as the singer persevered in trying to explain some weird cultural difference about the term “Boo Ya” an inventive audience member screamed “Ya gay cunt” which Hranica steadfastly ignored.

The Devil Wears Prada ploughed through four more songs; Nickels is Money Too, Reptar King of the Ozone, This SONg Is Called and Don’t Dink and Drance -mainly just vocals and drums. Not a single lead break was to be heard, which might come down to inexperience or simply crap music. The intro to HTML Rulez d00d sounded more like the Rocky Theme than an intro to a metal-core song. Antics abounded with their attempt to cover up shite playing by putting props on stage and making lame comments about them rather than playing quality metal. They even had to throw what was left of their merch into the crowd, saying “Well this is our last stop – this stuff won’t be needed anymore.” Of course, there was a second coming; an over-the-top, ineptly-played and performed encore; Dogs Can Grow Beards All Over and then, mercifully, it was all over. We can only hope that one day soon, fans will cotton on to this crap and leave Godcore for dead allowing more worthy bands such as Anime Fire to rise to prominence.

Mystical visions “here”: