Prong live 11/02/25
Live at Ralph’s Rock Diner in Worcester, Massachusetts USA *November 2nd 2025*
I first discovered the band Prong in the early 1990’s. My buddy just bought the Beg To Differ cassette at a local record store and we both dug their sound a lot. I was mostly into a lot of heavy thrash metal back then, just before really getting into hardcore and death metal music. Prong was sort of in the crossover genre with bands like D.R.I., Cryptic Slaughter, Excel, (old) Corrosion Of Conformity, S.O.D., etc. Prong was one of the first bands doing the post hardcore thing, before bands like Helmet came on the scene. They were able to stay relevant by incorporating some industrial and nu-metal (before it was named that), into their sound. It felt like a natural progression for the band and they always stayed true to who they were, which I always respected. Tommy Victor is the creator and originator of Prong, which he started in 1986, and he will essentially always be the guitarist and vocalist of the band. He has played with many different musicians throughout the years. The current lineup in is Tommy Victor on guitar and vocals, Jason Christopher on bass, and Tyler Bogliole on drums.
The band’s large discography includes: 1987’s Primitive Origins, 1988’s Force Fed, 1990’s Beg To Differ, 1991’s Prove You Wrong, 1994’s Cleansing, 1996’s Rude Awakening, 2022’s 100 Percent Live, 2003’s Scorpio Rising, 2007’s Power Of The Damager, 2009’s Power Of The Damn MIXXXer, 2012’s Carve Into Stone, 2014’s Ruining Lives, 2015’s Songs From The Black Hole, 2016’s X-No Absolutes, 2017’s Zero Days, and 2023’s State Of Emergency. I was a big fan up until the Cleansing album and then I moved on and lost touch with Prong. I especially love Beg To Differ and Prove Me Wrong.
There were two opening bands before Prong. The first band was called Inverter and they played right at 7:30. They had really good stage presence and sounded good for what they did but it just wasn’t for me. They incorporate some rap and nu-metal stuff into their sound and it was just not something that I was into. The second band was called Living Wreckage. They had an old school heavy metal sound with plenty of guitar leads and some heavy chugging rhythms. They sounded really good and tight and their sound was pretty nostalgic. It’s not something that I normally listen to but I definitely appreciated what these guys were doing. They put on a great performance and sounded loud and heavy.
PRONG
I was excited when I saw a copy of the set list as the band was setting up their gear. Prong performed for two solid hours without taking any breaks. That is pretty remarkable in its own right. However, once the band started playing, it was unbelievable and pure energy the whole time. I actually wasn’t expecting them to sound so tight and heavy. They were in top form and plowed through 27 songs in two hours. I won’t take you through every song but Prong really showcased an amazing performance. There were a lot of tracks that I was not too familiar with and even those sounded fantastic. There was not a moment while they were playing that I felt tired or bored. I was into it the whole time and so was everyone else that was there. The first half of their set was a good portion from the Cleansing album. The first real highlight for me is when they started “Beg To Differ”. It sounded amazing! The crowd was really getting into it and Prong proceeded to play “Unconditional” from Prove You Wrong, two songs later. They followed that up with Lost And Found”. Any song that they played off of Beg To Differ or Prove You Wrong, really charged me up!
“For Dear Life” kicked in and solidified my love for the Beg To Differ record. Then they played the title track, “Prove You Wrong” and it was on! I was grinning ear to ear, reliving my youth. Tommy Victor had a huge smile on his face the whole time. He was jumping around like a twenty year old and never missed a note or lyric. He was fun to watch and very inspiring to see. They played a song called “Disbelief” from their debut, Primitive Origins. It was chaos! The band thrashed harder than anything on that track, as the music remained as tight as ever.
The last two tracks were from the Cleansing album, as you might expect. “Whose Fist Is This Anyway?” went right into the closing, “Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck”. It was the perfect choice to end on. Prong really over delivered on what I was expecting! They were full on for over a hundred and twenty minutes and tore the roof off of Ralph’s. I never thought I would ever see Prong live but to actually witness them in a small club, front row- it’s life changing.
