New Century Hall hosted the Flowers Tour, with Oversize, 156/Silence, and Novelists opening for the over-two-decades heavyweights The Devil Wears Prada. People, including me, ventured out in this horrendous weather to witness this momentous occasion.
The first band of the night was the British grungegaze band Oversize. It was the first time that I had seen them live, so I was not sure what to expect, but sometimes I like it that way. A surprise, if you will. “Let’s warm this place up” said vocalist Nick Nowak, a remark that was both metaphorical and literal, given the weather that evening. This also marks Nowak as a new addition to the band and launches them into their new era. As the performance went on, the band’s sound depicted a groove-like soundscape, with distorted guitar riffs, driving drums and melancholic melodies from Nowak. The band admitted that they were not the heaviest on the lineup. But that did not stop them from showing the confidence of the sound that they have created.
Up next were 156/Silence, a band all the way from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and one that I had already seen the band early this year. They opened up for Fit For A King, and seeing them play ignited the sense of excitement that I have had from listening to them previously. Seeing them play then and now solidified the fact that this band is a favourite to see live, and they are very much underrated when it comes to the modern metal scene.
The setlist from them was a mix of the new album From A Distance and its predecessor People Watching (one of my favourite albums to this day). The performance started out with Control Burns, which features a severance reference in its intro. This is so 156/Silence-coded, as the band delves straight into anything eerie, strange, or unusual. It sets the scene for the controlled chaos that they bring, especially when the song builds up to Jack Murray’s vocal, which never waver from the precision of technicality and fluidity that he brings.
No Arms follows suit, which gives a very regimented, but oppressive feeling. It showcases waves of dissonant riffs with the sound of crushing but intentional rhythmic shifts. This makes each component of the song feel deliberate to deliver an anxiously driven tone. During the performance, Murray exclaimed “Are you alive out there, let’s see about that” and “I need bodies, I need bodies,” demanding that people crowd surfed throughout, to which they obliged.
The last two songs, Better Written Villain and Character Development, led with a sharp and distinctive sound that balances sharp-edged, punchy, and powerful riffs. They ended this performance by executing this exploration of anger and frustration. In a way, they have become self-aware of the chaos that they bring and use it to their advantage, perfectly executing this visceral and dark atmosphere.
Then came Novelists, a metalcore band from Paris. As the band entered the stage vocalist Camille Contreras took centre stage in a fierce, striking, and textured pink dress. It made an immediate statement for the audience and setting the tone for their performance, in which they played songs mostly from their 2025 album Coda.
From watching the set as it went on, I could tell and feel that Novelists enjoy what they do when they perform on the stage and as a collective unit. Their performance definitely shows that they have improved since the last time that I saw them. They have found a sound and creative outlet that works for them, especially with Contreras showcasing her vocal range, ranging from angelic vocals to feisty clean screams. I think she should have the confidence dive into those more often, since she has the capability to do so, like on their newest song Ravage. The set ended with Turn It Up, which shows off the band’s instrumentals, including the guitar solos that build to the song’s mighty, intense ending with Contreras’ vocals.
The evening had led to this: The Devil Wears Prada. Vocalist Mike Hranica said the band have been together for around 20 years, so this has been a great accomplishment for them. The band started with an upbeat-sounding intro, where the deep colours of purple and blue met in harmony to bathe the stage. As the opening song Where The Flowers Never Grow played, the crowd erupted into singalongs. The song comes from a place of anxiety and depression, and a conceptual place in one’s mind in which no life can grow. Hence the title name and its metaphorical meaning, where the song repeats the lyrics of “That same place where the flowers never grow.”
During the performance, clean vocalist Jeremy Depoyster always brings the comedic factor by stating that he hasn’t had a drink yet and asking the audience to get him one, and they succeed. He also exclaims “Manchester, you motherfuckers,” demanding that the crowd form a circle pit and buckle up, as he jokes about there being 100 more songs left.
Throughout the set, there is a visual backdrop representing the era of the songs played. It adds another level of care into the show, and goes to show how much thought The Devil Wears Prada put into being a band when they played a variety from their discography. The song Watchtower depicted the continuous emotions of anxiety and feeling trapped, containing eerie atmospherics and the contrast of clean and harsh vocals from Depoyster and Hranica, where their abilities join in perfect harmony, like two sides of one coin. Especially, in the haunting chorus of “Took away all of my power / Kept in the dark with everything to lose.”
Before Ritual, both Hranica and Depoyster left the stage to give the instrumentalists of the band their moment. That’s before the song delves into the main motif of electronic and synth sounds with a slow-built intensity, leading to an explosive chorus. When You’re Gone became a very poignant moment of the set, bringing emotional sentiment to the foreground. It didn’t shy away from the song’s meaning of darkness and the bare bones of what the band is about at their core, and expressing that it is okay to have periods of ups and downs in life, to experience grief, depression and the reality of existing and what comes with it. Chemical, which is one of my favourites of theirs live, is a song that reminds us that certain thoughts and feelings are only temporary and that any dark times shall pass. It balances intensity with a sense of vulnerability.
The set ended with the song Hey John, What’s Your Name Again?, where any feeling of catharsis or anger could be let out in the open. Paired with the soundscapes of drilling guitar riffs, pounding drums and the unfiltered intensity of screams, it made sure that The Devil Wears Prada left the audience with the powerful indicator of what they are made of as a band.
From seeing this new project that the band have taken on and how it is performed live, I feel as if The Devil Wears Prada have reached a level of emotionality, wearing their hearts on their sleeves and letting all feelings run free in a therapeutic and cathartic way. They feel comfortable enough to create the music that they enjoy and how it can relate to the audience, regardless of how it might be perceived by them in whether it fits within the rest of their discography or not. That, to me, shows how far and how mature they have become.
Words by Zena Morris
Photos by Will Robinson (Instagram)
