Last Tuesday, Portland’s Hawthorne Theatre got rocked by Punk/Metalcore band I Prevail. Detroit, Michigan, has a long history of producing some great American automotive metal, and it seems that Motown has a new export to be excited about. Playing to a capacity crowd, the angst and rage meters were pegged for nearly four hours when opening band When The Broken Burn kicked it off. Villian Of The Story, Assuming We Survive, and Wage War also played host, and with each band, the crowd only seemed to get more intense. Despite the fact that it was wall-to-wall cotton, leather, and flesh, fans still found a way to mosh and crowd-surf their way to the stage with many making their way to the top only to stage-dive their way back into the chaos. It’s was all the stage-hands could do to keep people off the Hawthorne Theatre stage while the bands kept it rockin’ all night.
I Prevail, currently on tour supporting their recent release, Lifelines, has had their share of challenges over the past year. With the recent departure of bass player Tony Camposeo, and the total meltdown of their tour bus late last year, one might think that the band would slow down. Uhm, no. Tuesday’s show demonstrated just the opposite. Opening up with “Come And Get It”, it was ON in Portland. It was full pedal-down through the first half of the set before things got weird. The show took on a bit of a “Broadway Musical” flare with the guys giving rhythm guitarist Dylan Bowman some grief over his troubled personal life. This became the setup for a three song cover medley before they performed their breakout cover of Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space”. During the set, vocalist Eric Vanlerberghe got personal, sharing about his struggles with depression and suicide. He encouraged everyone to take a moment to reach out to a friend you haven’t spoken to in a while and embrace a loved one. The band then cranked out “Face Your Demons” from their 2015 album Heart Vs. Mind. I Prevail closed the show with two encores, including the very popular “Scars” from the new Lifelines album. Just before “Scars” played, lead vocalist Brian Burkheiser requested that the crowd open up to create a huge pit and not to rage until the song kicks in. Portlanders, being the Prius driving, craft beer drinking, responsible citizens we all are, were happy to oblige. That shit parted like the Red Sea, and you could have held a yoga class in there. Well, at least until the song kicked in. Once the song dropped, that crowd went bat-shit insane. The timid scurried to the walls while the rest of us got our “Scars” on. The boys have a couple more shows, before a quick jaunt “Down Under”. Then, in late April, they make their way back stateside to rock venues and festivals all spring.
