Friday, October 24th was one of the first really cold nights of the fall. It was especially cold in Worcester. Even so, low temperatures couldn’t stop 2,000 plus fans from showing up to a sold out Palladium to see The Devil Wears Prada, Saosin, and Underoath.
Rapper POS opened the show. The crowd was supportive but not entirely interested. There was an element of distrust among the young, passionate -core fans, but POS maintained an energetic pace over intriguing rhymes and for the most part held their attention.
The Palladium erupted when The Devil Wears Prada began their set. On the whole, they executed their take on Underoath’s scream/sing/breakdown formula well, with few mistakes. Their energetic and synchronized thrashing added a performative element to the set that coincided well with the light set-up. Their cover of Three-Six Mafia’s Still Fly (featured on the Punk Goes Crunk compilation) is remarkably entertaining, and was a high point of the set along with Hey John What’s Your Name Again.
Saosin at first seemed an odd lineup choice for this show, which features two very heavy, shriek-happy acts. In practice though, Saosin was a decent fit. Singer Cove Reber worked some surprisingly well done screams into existing Saosin tunes to good effect. Their set was less of a loud light show than The Devils Wears Prada’s, and more of a straightforward (but no less entertaining) performance. Fan favorites Come Close and You’re Not Alone sounded great, though when worked up during the set Reber did drop a couple of lyrics. They also played a pair of songs from their new The Grey EP: Keep Secrets and Love Maker, which sounded pretty good and seemed to go over well.
Underoath took the stage a guitarist short, but luckily for everyone involved, Justin from Saosin had learned the songs and filled in. This didn’t perceivably lessen the set, as the rest of Underoath maintained their trademark frenetic energy. The performance was marked by overstimulation: loud, aggressive music accompanied by an impressive light show and a giant video screen behind the band, alternating between their logo, still images, and ultra-short video clips. The crowd matched the band in energy and intensity, going off for the Underoath oldies It’s Dangerous Business Walking Out Your Front Door and A Boy Brushed Red…Living In Black and White. Other set highlights included In Regards to Myself and, after a two-song encore, the excellent Writing on the Walls closed the set.
The sold-out crowd at the Palladium got a lot of value for their concert dollar: solid rapping from POS, catchy rock from Saosin, and a heavy brand of metal and melody post-hardcore from both The Devil Wears Prada and Underoath. While both The Devil Wears Prada and Underoath mentioned a love for Jesus Christ in their sets, they were also careful not to alienate fans that may not share that love. Underoath lead vocalist Spencer Chamberlain put it this way: “We’re not telling you guys what to do. We’re just letting you know what works for us. What’s important is taking care of each other.” Apart from a few bloody noses at the paramedic’s booth, the crowd did indeed take care of one another. And as far as putting on a good show was concerned, the musicians took care of the crowd as well.