Prong Begins North American Tour At Whisky-A-Go-Go

By Andrew Bansal

September 10th 2014, The Whisky-A-Go-Go, West Hollywood CA: American metal veterans Prong released their ninth studio album ‘Ruining Lives’ via SPV/Steamhammer earlier this year, a very solid effort by all means, and following extensive touring in Europe, the Tommy Victor-led trio began a North American tour (a combination of headline dates and shows supporting Overkill)  with its first show at the Whisky-A-Go-Go in West Hollywood last night. Prong had been playing quite a comprehensive and career retrospective set list on the European run and with a similar set list expected to be continued on this tour, I was anticipating this to be a fruitful first ever Prong live experience from my perspective, while longtime fans were almost certain they were in for a treat.

I arrived at the venue at around 9 PM, but was too distracted by the company I had to be able to watch any of the three local opening acts properly enough to write anything valid about them, so this write-up is very Prong-centric, for better or for worse. A few minutes past 11 PM, the lights went out and the intro tape was played on the PA, after which the trio of Tommy Victor (guitar, vocals), Jason Christopher (bass) and Art Cruz (drums) descended upon the stage to deliver a quintessentially fist-pumping, head-banging, hell-raising Prong onslaught with song after song laden with an easily enjoyable assortment of riffs, grooves and some good ol’ American metal aggression.

The set list really captured all the various facets of Prong’s musicianship and was done justice to in the manner in which the trio played it on stage, infusing plentiful bouts of energy into it. The Whisky’s sound seemed dialed perfectly for the entirety of Prong’s 18-song set and this audience certainly were treated to the fullest extent of the Prong live experience. The solitary new song, the title track of ‘Ruining Lives’ came across with great conviction and made as strong of an impact as any of the older selections, amongst which tunes such as ‘Unconditional’, ‘Revenge … Best Served Cold’ and ‘Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck’ stood out as the highlights, aptly garnering the best crowd reaction as well. Towards the end of the set, former guitarist/bassist Monte Pittman made an appearance on stage to lend some monstrous backing vocals to ‘Power Of The Damager’, before Prong closed out the night with ‘Prove You Wrong’.

Talking of crowd reaction, while this audience wasn’t at all vocal in their support of Prong and there was very minimal action or movement as the mosh pit was almost completely non-existent, every single fan I spoke to after the show had a huge smile on his or her face and had nothing but great things to say about the quality of this performance. Granted, the band could have benefitted from a more active crowd while they were playing on stage and they weren’t wrong in urging everyone to get more involved, but it must be mentioned that the bassist went a little bit overboard when at one particular moment during the show he felt the need to single out two girls sitting in one of the VIP booths, yell and point at them, and mock them for being on their phones. Those people most likely paid upwards of $100 as opposed to the $15 that everybody else did, and even as I was head-banging to the point of snapping my neck and as much as I would have liked everyone else to do the same instead of standing like they were watching a theatrical documentary about the great depression, those girls were entitled to do whatever they wanted, and I felt that the bassist’s demeanor towards them was rude.

Anyhow, the turnout at the Whisky for this show was actually better than I was honestly expecting, the show can be deemed a success for everyone involved, and Prong as a live band made an equally great impression on first-timers and old-school fans alike.

[Interview with Tommy Victor coming soon]

Prong links: website | facebook | twitter

Set List:
01. For Dear Life
02. Beg To Differ
03. Irrelevant Thoughts
04. Unconditional
05. Eternal Heat
06. Lost And Found
07. Ruining Lives
08. Third From The Sun (Chrome cover)
09. Cut-Rate
10. Rude Awakening
11. Turnover
12. Broken Peace
13. Another Worldly Device
14. Revenge… Best Served Cold
15. Whose Fist Is This Anyway?
16. Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck
17. Power Of The Damager
18. Prove You Wrong

Remaining Tour Dates:
9/11: Las Vegas, NV @ LVCS
9/12: Anaheim, CA @ The Grove
9/13: Tempe, AZ @ Club Red
9/14: Albuquerque, NM @ Launch Pad
9/15: Oklahoma City, OK @ The Chameleon*
9/16: San Antonio, TX @ Backstage Live
9/17: Houston, TX @ Scout Bar
9/18: Dallas, TX @ Trees*
9/19: Merriam, KS @ Aftershock
9/20: Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave*
9/21: Joliet, IL @ Mojoes*
9/22: Cleveland, OH @ Agora Ballroom*
9/23: Toronto, ON @ Opera House*
9/24: Quebec City, QC @ Imperial de Quebec*
9/25: Philadelphia, PA @ The Trocadero*
9/26: Hartford, CT @ Webster Theater*
9/27: Sayreville, NJ @ Starland Ballroom*
9/28: Worcester, MA @ The Palladium
9/29: Albany, NY @ Bogie’s
9/30: New York, NY @ Gramercy Theater
10/1: West Springfield, VA @ Empire
10/2: Pittsburgh, PA @ Smiling Moose
10/3: Westland, MI @ Token Lounge
10/4: Kokomo, IN @ Centerstage
10/5: Louisville, KY @ Diamond Pub and Billiards
10/7: Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater
10/9: Seattle, WA @ El Corazon
10/10: Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw Theater
10/11: Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theatre
10/12: Boise, ID @ The Shredder
10/14: San Francisco, CA @ Thee Parkside
10/25: San Bernardino, CA @ San Manuel Amphitheatre (Knotfest)
* = with Overkill

The Whisky-A-Go-Go links: website | facebook | twitter | instagram

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