As I approached The Observatory in Santa Ana, California, people were still hanging in the parking lot, talking about bands and shows. But one group that caught my attention, was a group of people putting on corpse paint on their faces. Such admiration for them to be able to get dressed up for shows.

First up was Oni from Canada, a band whose music reminded me of my younger days! They are metalcore, yet progressive, and I was impressed by their music. One thing that really impressed me about vocalist Jake Oni was his melodic vocals which were unexpected. Their music and performance were just enough to make the crowd start headbanging and moshing. 

Next up was Black Satellite, a rock band with a hint of darkwave music from New York. Another great opening band on this tour that turned me into a fan. I was impressed to see a female vocalist, Larissa Vale, which is something I don’t get to see much. She put on such an energetic performance, getting the crowd even more pumped up. Their last song, “Sonne,” was a Rammstein cover, and they did of had the majority of fans singing along. It was amazing to see and hear.

DevilDriver one of the headlining bands that and this was my first time seeing and hearing them as well, had fans instantly energetic, even crowd surfing. The band put on such an amazing performance, making fans gather up even closer, moshpits breaking out, and even reaching out to high-five fans. 

Fans were chanting Cradle of Filth’s name before their arrival onstage. Seeing Dani Filth appear with his face cloaked, yet hearing his screeching vocals got the fans cheering. Throughout the night, seeing the bassist and guitarists running around energetically, with Marek’s as Pinhead was great! As the band being active for almost 30 years, I was surprised to be seeing Dani Filth jumping around throughout the night, but never tiring out, as fans try to sing notes as high he does!

Overall, fans were ecstatic as expected at the sold-out show from the performances of all of the bands. Also cool was seeing a fan dressed up in their demon/devil attire, many other fans stopped by to take photos with them. One thing that I will, say that I became a fan of the bands and hopefully see them again in the near future. 

WORDS ANd PHOTOS BY MIDNYTE FRAUSTO