I Prevail Bring The True Power Tour To Jannus Live
It’s the day after Thanksgiving and instead of imbibing on a tryptophan induced coma from the previous days festivities it seems as though half of Florida has formed a massive line wrapping around the block of St. Petersburg’s Jannus Live. What could bring so many people out? Tonight I Prevail finally brings their True Power tour back to Florida along with Fit For A King. While the show was originally scheduled back in September, unfortunately hurricane Ian made other plans for Florida and the show had to be rescheduled and almost two months later the band finally returned to the sunshine state.
When This tour was first announced, it was a metalcore fans dream. All three original bands on the tour had fresh new music to play for their fans. Fit For A King just put out The Hell We Create. Pierce The Veil have an upcoming album The Jaws Of Life set to be released in early 2023. As most know I Prevail have created another killer album with True Power. Sadly, due to scheduling conflicts for the rescheduled concert, Pierce The Veil will not be part of this nights show.
The venue was packed early as the opportunity to catch two dynamite bands on the same night doesn’t happen often. Under a sea of deep red lights The band made their way to the stage with the sold out crowd cheering wildly. They immediately launched into “Eyes Roll Back” from their latest album The Hell We Create. Lead singer Ryan Kirby was perched on a riser at center stage delivering the lyrics with intensity. Bassist Ryan “Tuck O’Leary was a show unto himself. Whether he was catching major air with his jumps or spinning his bass guitar around his neck he was in near constant motion and like the rest of the band he sounded great.
As the band has recently released The Hell We Create, appropriately the bulk of the bands seven song setlist came from this. “Eyes Roll Back”, Falling Through The Sky” and “Times Like This” all came from the album and the audience ate it all up. Their high energy performance was the perfect way to get the show going.
As the house lights dimmed,”0.00” the lead track from “True Power” was pumped through the PA. Guitarists Dylan Bowman and Steve Menoian took their respective places on risers at each side of the stage while drummer Gabe Helguera took place behind his kit. Finally Brian Burkheiser came out and started with the clean vocals of “There’s Fear In Letting Go”. When Eric Vanlerberghe came out to start on the unclean vocals that’s when the place exploded. If it was at all possible for things to get crazier, when they lit into “Body Bag” one of the hit singles off of True Power it became the best kind of crazy.
They really loaded up the set with songs from True Power. Half of the show was filled with tracks from the album. Then again with an album as strong as True Power you could build a whole show around it. Songs like “Bad Things” show a completely different side of the band. They are able to show a softer side, yet they still manage to have underlying power to it and it’s Vanlerberghe’s understated rapping that delivers it. Another powerful yet understated performance was “Breaking Down”. Brian Burkheiser reminded the audience that back in 2017 he had serious vocal problems and was unable to sing. It was a dark time for him and with the help of his friends and bandmates he was able to pull through. Of course the performance was killer. The vocal interplay between Burkheiser and Vanlerberghe was spot on. With the audience joining in on the chorus it was really one of those memorable moments that only happen during special shows.
The show had plenty of raw power as well. The moment the band started playing Slayer’s “Raining Blood” as the intro for “Judgement Day” the mosh pits went into high gear and waves of crowd surfers made their way to the stage. But the band really flexed their muscles at the very end with fan favorite “Gasoline”. With Eric Vanlerberghe standing center stage he screamed out the opening lyrics “Lets burn it f*cking down” and right on cue the whole venue nearly turned into a giant mosh pit. To close out the night, they finished the night with a powerhouse version of “Bow Down”.
For a group that has only three full length albums under their collective belt including the recently released True Power, I Prevail has quickly developed into a powerhouse band. Every release to date has been chock full of well crafted songs that play to their strengths. Performances like tonight’s concert show that their recordings only scratch the surface. They know how to bring it hard and dial it back to create a concert that flows incredibly well and is highly entertaining.
Jannus Live:
Fit For A King:
I Prevail: