On September 29, 2022, I Prevail should have been headlining at House of Blues Orlando. I should have been there photographing their show and enjoying their music with hundreds of people. Instead, the night before I was holed up in my house as Hurricane Ian was passing through Central Florida as was everyone else in Central Florida. It was fortunate that I Prevail didn’t come this way during the time as the damage to the city was significant. I Prevail canceled their tour days leading up to Hurricane Ian as did many other artists. But, unlike those other artists, I Prevail promised the Florida fans they would come back for a makeup date. And they kept that promise rescheduling their show for November 27th. Joining them was Fit For A King and Dead Eyes.
Arriving at House of Blues Orlando, the crowd was huge waiting in line to get inside. And once inside, it was just as packed. That night was a sold-out show and the anticipation of getting the music started was making everyone antsy. It made me antsy. We all waited two months for this show and now the day was finally here. And the artists were more than ready to get on stage and perform for the crowd.
Dead Eyes was first to the grace the stage. The metalcore band from Baltimore was ready to let loose and have fun and the Orlando crowd was happy to have them. They released their EP Stability on November 26, 2021. The band consists of Zach Williams (vocals), Eric Rembecki (guitar), Jim Poggi (guitar), and Chris Chapman (drums).
I had never had the opportunity to hear them perform before until that evening. And I was fucking impressed. The music has a great mixture of melodic to throwdown and sometimes you get it within the same song, like they have in “Caged”. Zach is a phenomenal vocalist ranging from clean to unclean and transitions effortlessly and quickly. He is truly talented. Eric and Jim rip those chords hard to get your blood pumping and the crowd moving. Both of them were wildmen on that stage. Chris was focused on his drum playing. He moved across those drumheads quickly while spinning his sticks during pauses before ripping on them again.
“Stand For Something” got my attention for its melodic vibe mixed with the hard sound. The crowd was moving hard during that song. I truly loved “Make You Believe” for Zach’s mix of rapping and singing, but also this song brings out a softer side of Dead Eyes before jumping back into their hard sounds. It’s an amazing well-crafter song. They closed the night with “Break in the Current” which I truly enjoyed as well. Dead Eyes found a way to standout in a genre that is filled with other artists that seem to mimic the well-known bands. I see Dead Eyes being very successful and look forward to catching them on tour again. Check out their music and merch over at https://deadeyesofficial.com/.
Next up was Fit For A King from Texas. The band started in 2007 releasing two EPs and a studio album before signing with Solid State Records. From the six studio albums, five of them charted onto the Billboard 200 and four of them charted onto the Billboard U.S.Christian chart and the Billboard U.S. Hard Rock chart. Their most recent album The Hell We Create was released on October 28th. The band consists of Ryan Kirby (vocals), Bobby Lynge (guitar), Daniel Gailey (guitar), Ryan “Tuck” O’Leary (bass/vocals), and Trey Celaya (drums). Bobby was absent that evening.
Fit For A King is a band I would never miss live. First, I absolutely love their version of metalcore. They’re hard, they’re energetic, and Ryan gutturals one hell of an unclean vocal. Second, they command the stage getting the crowd headbanging, bouncing, and moshing. Third, they work hard for the crowd and ensure people walk out of a show entertained. Ryan interacts with the crowd often when he’s not belting out lyrics. Bobby shreds that guitar hard headbanging while he does. Trey is rocking the drums precisely nailing every note. Daniel moves around a lot on stage, does jumps, and that night rolled over “Tuck”‘s back as he crouched down. But, “Tuck” is absolutely insane. Not only does he strum great basslines, he also is throwing high kicks, swings his guitar around his neck, and performing some of the highest jumps I have ever seen. And he can sing too!
That night was unfortunately a short setlist for them, though they played a great set of songs. “When Everything Means Nothing” starts out soft and melodic with “Tuck” singing the clean vocals and then suddenly jumps into harder and Ryan driving the unclean vocals. It is a fantastic song. “End (The Other Side)” is straight heavy and you should be moving to it because that’s what all of House of Blues was doing that night. Ryan blends in some melodic clean vocals through it too. My favorite song by Fit For A King was their closer that night titled “God of Fire”. If you want to talk about a heavy song, this is it. The music was thundering through the venue and with the fans jumping or moshing it could have measured on the Richter scale. The perfect way to close out their set. If you want to check out their music and merch, head over to https://fitforakingband.com/.
Before continuing on, there is something that needs to be mentioned. This was the last night of the tour. Sometimes, special things happen during the last night of a tour. At times, it could be a special appearance by a celebrity or another artist. Or, it could be a prank. During the third song of Fit For A King’s set, I suddenly saw a group of House of Blues security guards rush onto the stage. It was happening so fast it took me by surprise. The group of them surrounded “Tuck” and one of them was speaking into a walkie-talkie handset attached to his shirt. “Tuck” was definitely taken aback and confused, but still played on. Ryan was facing the crowd and singing and seemed not even to notice the guards on the stage. They had “Tuck” in a circle and when I got a good look at one of the guards, I started to laugh (this was happening while we were still in the photo pit). The security guards were the members of I Prevail. Eventually, they had “Tuck” on his knees, while he was still playing, and then he moved to one of the risers and sat down while they still stared him down. “Tuck” suddenly got up and ran across the risers all right in front of Ryan and the rest of the band and tore off backstage. I Prevail bolted after him, but before that happened, Eric Vanlerberghe stopped and hugged Ryan, who was very surprised and suddenly smiled (he was in the middle of a song), before he ran off after “Tuck” as well. A moment or two later, “Tuck” came back on stage and Ryan looked at him saying, “I wonder where you went.” It was one of the best memorable moments I was fortunate to witness.
And then it was time for our headliners, I Prevail. The band from Michigan started in 2013 releasing their first EP in 2014 and their first album Lifelines in 2016. Their major breakthrough came with the release of their second album Trauma in 2019. Their single “Hurricane” had major success on rock radio. And “Bow Down” was nominated for a Grammy for Best Metal Performance, while Trauma was also nominated for Best Rock Album. Now, the band was on tour celebrating their latest album True Power which was released on August 19th. I Prevail consists of Brian Burkheiser (clean vocals), Eric Vanlerberghe (unclean vocals), Steve Menoian (lead guitar), Dylan Bowman (rhythm guitar), and Gabe Helguera (drums).
I put I Prevail in the same status as I do Fit For A King. They are a band never to be missed when they come to town. I ensured I got to cover a festival just because I Prevail was playing. For a band so young in their career, they are extremely talented. Brian and Eric are amazing vocalists. Brian’s voice is clear and strong and Eric’s screams and guttural vocals are tremendous. Steve and Dylan are shred masters and hit that stage with explosive energy. Gabe loves to interact with the crowd and is a phenomenal drummer on top of it. I Prevail are masters of the stage and they have that connection with the fans. They understand their fans, they love their fans, and they want to see their fans happy. And they were doing a great job of it that night.
A good portion of their setlist that night was from True Power and understandably with good reason. It’s a solid album. One of my favorite tracks “Body Bag” is hard, heavy, and is fast-paced for those who love to jump and mosh. Another of my favorites they performed from the album was “Bad Things”. While not as heavy as other songs, it’s very well written between the music and lyrics. Brian does a wonderful job with the song, with Eric throwing down some rap in the middle. Brian spoke to the crowd on how Hurricane Ian interrupted their tour to visit Florida, so they found it appropriate to perform their single “Hurricane” from Trauma. Hands down one of my favorite songs from that album. They also performed a few songs from Lifelines. They closed out the set with “Come and Get It”. Eric lets loose on the vocals this one and it was a fantastic way to close out the set. But, they came back to encore with two more songs from Trauma, “Gasoline” and “Bow Down” which had the crowd going absolutely nuts.
Check out their music and merch over at https://iprevailband.com/. Their setlist that night was:
- 0:00
- There’s Fear in Letting Go
- Body Bag
- Self-Destruction
- Bad Things
- Scars
- Hurricane
- Judgement Day
- Breaking Down
- Paranoid
- Choke
- Fake
- FWYTYK
- Come and Get It
Encore:
- Gasoline
- Bow Down
Overall, this was a fantastic night of great music and fun to officially close out I Prevail’s True Power Tour. The Orlando crowd was thrilled for them to come make up the Hurricane Ian date and I truly was as well. I’m looking forward to the next time I Prevail comes to town to throw another great performance.
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