From Ballads To Gutturals, The Devil Wears Prada Tears Down Ace of Spades-Sacramento!

Time is a funny thing, especially when it comes to music. I will sometimes remark to my dad, who is also an avid music lover, that a lot of the bands I grew up with are hitting their 20 year tenure and that I am still in awe that they have been going this long. He will usually chuckle and remind me of his childhood bands and how long they have been going, a very fair point. This will usually follow up with a comment that while it may have been best for some to have stepped down there are those that are still killing it well into their lives. It is unquestionable in my mind that The Devil Wears Prada is going to be the latter and someday I will be telling my nieces and nephews how I saw them in a dirt parking lot at Warped Tour, surrounded by snake bites and studded belts and that they are still putting on a hell of a performance.

If you’re not familiar with this Ohio hailing group, they are currently comprised of: JeremyDePoyste (rhythm guitar, co-lead vocals), Mike Hranica (lead vocals, additional guitars), KyleSipress (lead guitar, backing vocals), Jonathan Gering (keyboards, synthesizers, programming,backing vocals) and Giuseppe Capolupo (drums). Formation and Dear Love: A Beautiful Discord (2005-2006) was their first release and this current headlining tour is celebrating their most recent release Flowers (2025). If you’re curious, or lucky enough to catch one of their dates of the tour, you can check out their setlist on setlist.fm to mentally prepare yourself for a healthy mix of modern as well as throwbacks. Or you know, keep it a surprise and be stoked when you hear an almost 20 year old song.

As usual I won’t go into a play by play of their entire act, it really should be something you experience first hand, but what I can convey to you is the palpable amount of energy that The Devil Wears Prada bring to the stage. Pardon the pun but I feel like “Danger: Wildman” is a nod to Mike’s approach to his performances, though it is worth mentioning that I never found it jarring when he would take a step back in the slower, more modern ballad songs. Jeremy’s ability to switch from playing fast moving metalcore riffs to plucking the heartstrings of the crowd, is still stunning. Kyle was holding it down with the brutal breakdown riffs, while seemingly having a lot of fun with pinch harmonics. Giuseppe absolutely killed it on drums and it was a pleasant surprise for him to have a nice bit of spotlight for an amazing drum solo and it wouldn’t be a The Devil Wears Prada show without crazy synths, pianos and samples augmenting the atmosphere of any given song; respect for Jonathan not only doing this but also providing phenomenal backup vocals.

At the risk of sounding pompous, to me The Devil Wears Prada represents a staying power that is far and few between from the era of neon-graphic tees from Hot Topic and songs with titles that reference The Office. This comes from a large amount of talent and dedication to the craft and an understanding that a band can evolve their sound and still remain true to ‘who they are’. I look forward to many more years as a fan and also blasting “HTML Rulez D00d” in some retirement home many years down the road.