By now I, and likely many fellow The Devil Wears Prada fans, am several years removed from my “spring break” years. This spring, however, The Devil Wears Prada brought their “metalcore spring break” tour to Eugene, Ore., which happens to be the college town where I studied and spent my spring breaks in years past. Arriving in Eugene on a bright and sunny spring day on April 27, 2025, did feel like I was on spring break again. While initially I was bummed to see this tour wouldn’t be coming to Portland, since I’d have to travel down to Eugene for the show, I also recognized The Devil Wears Prada had played Portland a few times already in recent years and it was only fair that the Eugene folks would get the chance to see them without traveling. As it turns out, this was the band’s first time playing Eugene and it was a well-deserved debut.

When I arrived at the McDonald Theatre on Sunday, I spotted a few familiar faces from Portland shows as well as many fresh faces — families with kids and likely some students from the university. I could tell the crowd was excited to finally have a metalcore show in a town that usually doesn’t get many shows in the genre.

I was almost as excited for the opening acts as I was for The Devil Wears Prada. Joining them on tour were Acres, an alternative rock band from the U.K.; Kingdom Of Giants, a metalcore act from northern California; and the progressive metalcore band from Alabama, ERRA.

Acres, the only band on the line-up I hadn’t yet seen live, opened the evening with their catchy choruses and melodic riffs and got the early-arrivers head-banging. After Acres, Kingdom Of Giants intensified the head-banging with their energetic performance and got the crowd off their feet and jumping. Vocalist Dana Willax made full use of the stage, running, jumping and punching his fist in the air as he belted into the mic.

ERRA followed and a clear circle pit formed, while several in attendance watched the crowd from the historic McDonald Theatre’s balcony. In addition to hits from their latest album, Cure, and their popular self-titled album, ERRA fans were also treated to a performance of “Rumor of Light,” a song from Cure that hadn’t been played live until this tour. ERRA also surprised fans with two songs from older albums that hadn’t been played live in several years — “Pulse” from 2013’s Augment and “Hourglass” from 2016’s Drift.

The Devil Wears Prada opened their set, to much fanfare, with the high energy banger “Mammoth” from the 2011 album Dead Throne. Color Decay’s “Watchtower” followed, and the third song of the evening, “Danger: Wildman” from the popular 2009 album With Roots Above And Branches Below saw the first crowd surfer of the evening. Those of us that have been with TDWP throughout the years were blessed with the setlist this evening — out of the 17 song setlist, seven were hits from the early years (early years in this case being the first six years of the band’s 20-year career). In addition to the aforementioned “Danger: Wildman” and “Mammoth,” we also heard “Dez Moines” from With Roots Above And Branches Below, “Born To Lose” from Dead Throne, and the 2010 Zombie EP’s “Escape.” Finally, TDWP brought out bangers from their first two albums for the encore: “Dogs Can Grow Birds All Over” from their 2006 debut Dear Love: A Beautiful Discord and “Hey John, What’s Your Name Again?” from the 2007 sophomore album Plagues.

With a career-spanning setlist and a performance that retained the energy from their formative years, The Devil Wears Prada proved that TDWP is truly eternal. 20 years in, this band isn’t slowing down. Vocalist Mike Hranica assured fans during the show that TDWP isn’t going to break up and then years down the road get back together — there are no gimmicks here, just raw energy and impeccable performances.