The Devil Wears Prada – With Roots Above and Branches Below 10 Year Anniversary Tour | Review & Photos

The Devil Wears Prada has been a consistent part of the metal-core scene since their debut album in 2006 titled “Dear Love: A Beautiful Discord”. Playing Vans Warped Tour many times, and touring the world for over 10 years, a metal-core band from Dayton, the band has garnered a large following. With the 10 Year Anniversary Tour for their 2009 release “With Roots Above and Branches Below”, they brought Fit for A King and ’68 out on the road with them for two legs of the tour, each lasting almost a month. When the tour was announced to come to The Glass House in Pomona, CA, I knew this would be a truly incredible show, as The Devil Wears Prada consistently sells it out whenever they play this 800-capacity venue.

The first band up was ’68. This two-piece noise rock band comes from Atlanta, Georgia. They have such an incredible stage presence. Vocalist and guitarist Josh Scogin (ex. Norma Jean and The Chariot) has a commanding stage presence. Their sound is a mixture of punk rock and noise rock. They played a 6-song set, 4 of which came from their album “Two Parts Viper”, which was released in 2017 via Good Fight Music and EOne Records. Drummer Nikko Yamada has a driving force in the band, with intricate drum patterns and structures. I had never listened to them prior to the show, but I had heard of them and heard many great things. They still completely blew away my expectations.

The next band up was Fit For A King. Coming from Dallas, Texas, with an incredible light set-up, along with their amazing stage presence, this band played a 9-song set, most of which came from their newest release “Dark Skies”, which was released in 2018 via Solid State Records. Vocalist Ryan Kirby’s vocal talents are shown off through his wide range in his screaming, along with his newer editions of clean vocals. Bassist Ryan O’Leary also does clean vocals, with guitarist Trey Celaya doing some backing vocals from time to time. Drummer Jared Easterling is a beast on stage and truly fun to watch. I saw Fit For A King back in July when I photographed their headlining tour with Like Moths to Flames and Currents supporting them. Fit For A King was amazing then but even better when I saw them perform on this tour. I recommend going to check out their newest release, along with the rest of the music from their discography.

The final band up was none other than The Devil Wears Prada. The band played a whopping 17-song set. They played “With Roots Above and Branches Below” in its entirety, along with 6 other songs from several of their other albums. The band had a stunning light show behind them, which went along with each song. A definite highlight from their set was hearing them play “Dez Moines”, as that was my favorite song from the album. The band has such charisma and drive, which you can feel throughout their performance. Vocalist Mike Hranica has a whole lot of energy on stage, jumping and climbing up podiums and such and screaming his heart out to the crowd. The band was on fire and sounded even better live than on record, which was truly impressive, as they are stellar on record. They played 2 songs from their newest release “Transit Blues”, released in 2016 via Rise Records, and played a few off their 2011 release “Dead Throne”, as well as playing one song from their 2015 “Space EP”. The band put on one of the best live sets I’ve seen and completely blew my expectations out of the water.

This tour was truly amazing to attend and each of the bands put on amazing sets. Congratulations to The Devil Wears Prada for hitting the 10 Year Anniversary point on a truly incredible album. I cannot wait to see all of these bands again.

Review & Photography courtesy of  : Jamie Kaufman 

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Venue: The Glass House in Pomona, CA