It takes just 2 songs of I Prevail’s second night in Birmingham for a mosh pit injury to briefly stop the show. Last night may have been the sold-out Saturday show, but tonight’s crowd aren’t shying away from going just as hard. I Prevail have come all the way from Michigan for this tour, which marks their first back-to-back shows abroad, a definitive marker of their growing fanbase. “With all respect, let’s fuck this place up,” demands vocalist Eric Vanlerberghe once the injured party has safely exited the crowd.
NWO from their latest album, Violent Nature opens the set, but the setlist features most of their earlier albums just as prominently. The energetic performance from the 5-piece thunders across the venue, demanding pits open as sweaty bodies clash together. Fast-paced Body Bad sees an audience member dressed as a mime open the circle pit and the constant comparisons to the previous night’s audience help motivate us to keep going.
Haley Roughton from support act Gore. returns to stage to help perform the band’s latest single, Paradise, normally collaborated with Amira Elfeky. Unusally for a metalcore band, I Prevail’s breakthrough single was a cover of Taylor Swift’s Blank Space. And as with many band’s biggest hits, Vanlerberghe notes that ‘this is where you all get your phones out.’ At least he’s self-aware, I think to myself as my view of the stage is entirely blocked by a veil of LCD screens for the next four minutes.
The sing-a-long friendly Bad Things follows, then we’re back to covers with Metallica’s Sad But True. For the first time tonight, the tempo is brought down a notch by Rain, but the following lengthy drum solo by Jon Eberhard reawakens the audience, just in time for God, another track from the latest album.
‘Are we tired yet?’ we’re asked, as the opening notes of Choke get the whole floor bouncing up and down. If we’re tired, we’re not letting it show.
Come And Get It is the return to the earliest point of I Prevail’s music in tonight’s show. The audience’s memory don’t seem to extend that far back, but the remaining tracks are a classic case of saving the best ’til last.
The phone lights come out for Hurricane, a chilled out sing-a-long which builds us up perfectly for the explosive introduction of Gasoline to end the set. As the only UK city on this tour to be graced with two dates, it’s clear that Birmingham harbour a fondness for I Prevail. Let’s hope that’s enough to bring them back soon!
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