This year at the 2012 Mayhem Fest, The Devil Wears Prada was on the lineup. Easily one of the best hardcore bands of the last couple years, they most certainly deserved to be there. However, I was astounded to find out they were on the smaller stage, and playing less than ten songs. The ridiculously talented group are headliners, not small stage nobodies. It's a disgrace to them, considering how big of a following they have.
The huge crowd was emanating excitement and energy, and went insane once the band stepped on stage. Opening with "Born To Lose", their latest single, the deep bass and hard drums filled everyone's ears. Slamdancing and moshing ensued, and even though it was only the first tune, the musicians were so animated.
Hranica was a blur on stage, his vocals as intense as ever. He gets increasingly better, and this time around he was at the top of his game. The threat of the storm wasn't a threat to him at all, passionate and strong and crazy loud.
As Williams was drumming, he was sweating and essentially assaulting his kit. I think that he's one of the greatest metal drummers, and this performance was no exception. The guitars went along with it, making for a mad flurry of melodic yet hardcore sounds.
The performers and crowd were feeding off each other's energy, and with the closing tunes "Constance" and "Mammoth", both seemed equally drained. Not only was the pit intense, and the crowdsurfers out of control, but the fans were so pressed up against the barricade you almost expected to hear bones crack. I'd never seen such desire to get closer to the band.
They were by far the best act of the show. I chose this photograph to give you an idea of how intense the weather was at Mayhem Hartford. I also was pretty shocked at how close the Jagermeister stage was to those houses!