Images: The Devil Wears Prada, Born Of Osiris, The Word Alive, Secrets March 24, 2015 at Hard Rock Live

As The Devil Wears Prada launched into the opening riff of “Assistant To The Regional Manager” at the Hard Rock Live last Tuesday night, the music was nearly drowned out by the cheers of a sweaty, elbow-to-elbow crowd. The band wasted no time between songs, blasting through a few tracks from their most recent release, 8:18, and old fan favorite “Reptar, King of the Ozone” from sophomore record Plagues.

But this tour was all about 2010’s Zombie EP, with the band promising to play the 5 songs all the way through. We got to that portion of the evening about mid-set, as the house lights went off, leaving only sparse light bulbs and the faint familiar sounds of thunder, rain, and suspenseful music to set the tone for the first track from the Zombie EP, “Escape.”

For almost their entire set, frontman Mike Hranica frantically ran across the stage as the bodies of fans continued to make their way over the security barrier. I was happy to hear a new song thrown into the mix, one the band promises will appear on their new Space EP, set to be released later this summer. The main 13 song set ended on high notes with crowd favorites “Dead Throne” and “Hey John, What’s Your Name Again,” followed by an encore composed of “Born to Lose” and my personal favorite “Danger:Wildman.”

Before the main attraction took the stage, we were treated to some great opening bands, including Born of Osiris in the direct support slot. It was immediately evident from the fan’s pushing their way to the front that I was in for something heavy, and I was right. Opening with “Divergency” from 2013’s Tomorrow We Die Alive and then directly into a deep cut “Open Arms to Damnation” from 2007’s The New Reign, the group had crowd surfers barreling over security guards’ heads during their entire set. While Born of Osiris isn’t much to my musical taste, these guys have excellent stage presence, and I still really enjoyed watching their set.

Phoenix metalcore outfit The Word Alive kept the night’s energy up as they performed through a setlist that left both old and new fans satisfied. I was especially happy to hear “2012” from the band’s 2010 debut Deceiver, “Dragon Spell” from Life’s Cycles and “Play the Victim” from last year’s Real. Frontman Telle Smith is always great to photograph, and gets an A+ for crowd interaction. I’ve seen the band several times now and have never been disappointed.

First up on this night was SECRETS. I’ve been a fan of the post-hardcore band since 2014’s Fragile Figures, so I was excited to get to see them live. Still a young band, SECRETS has gained a loyal and fast-growing fan base, evidenced by the large amount of young fans crowd surfing and singing along with vocalists Aaron Melzer and Richard Rogers throughout the entire set. I’m already on high alert for when these guys will come back to town.

-Tylor Thuirer | https://www.flickr.com/photos/thuirermedia/