Tag Archives: I Prevail Concert Review

Holiday Run Tour I Prevail Versus Me and XXI

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Holiday Run Tour I Prevail, Versus Me, and XXI Concert Review
High Noon Saloon, Madison, Wisconsin

I Prevail has been a band for a little over two years. The band is best known for their cover of Taylor Swift’s hit “Blank Space”. They released the cover via YouTube on December 1, 2014. Their album Heart vs Mind has been out since December 17, 2014. The post-hardcore album is full of positive affirmations. I Prevail band members, Eric Vanlerberghe, Brian Berkheiser, Steve Menoian, and Lee Runestad went from working normal jobs to touring the country with immediate success.

High Noon Saloon is set up open with a small balcony in the back. It is a great venue for intimate shows with the capacity at about 400. The house was very full for a Sunday night show. Some guests had just seen the same show the night before in Ringle, Wisconsin and decided to travel to see them again.  Everyone was there to have fun for the night and forget about work tomorrow.

The opener was XXI pronounced X X I (formerly A Feast For Kings). The band is from Louisville, Kentucky and signed to Tooth & Nail Records. The band is a heavy Christian rock band. They just released their album Inside Out on September 18, 2015. XXI fits with these bands as their positive message and their heartfelt lyrics moved the crowd. Vocalist Carson Butcher had no problem crowd surfing.

Carson Butcher of XXI

Carson Butcher of XXI

You can connect with XXI
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Madison’s hometown band, Versus Me, performed next. Well, close enough to hometown as three of the band members are from Janesville and one is from Wisconsin Dells. The positive party keeps going on with Versus Me trying to be inspirational to their fans. Tonight the fans were in force and sang along to every song. “Versus Me wants nothing less than positivity, communication and connection with their audience. They want to show the world that their music, and all good music, can help people with life’s toughest trials and hardships. Versus Me yearn to connect with each and every person they can, whether it’s to talk about music, or to just learn about where people are coming from and who they are.” The attractiveness of metalcore for fans is someone who is accepting of them no matter who they are. Versus me embodies the idea of inclusiveness. They received attention when pop punk vocalist, currently of Escape The Fate, Craig Mabbitt, appeared in their video for “(A) Tension”.

You can watch it here:

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Click to view Versus Me Photo Gallery

To connect with Versus Me
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram

The main event was I Prevail and the show was the last show of the year. Fans were in force. Eighty percent of the fans knew all the songs from the Heart vs. Mind. The band loved getting up close and personal with the fans. The fans started crowd surfing. Eric Vanlerberghe and others supporting the band had to help the fans get back into the pit. Brian Berkheiser felt like having fun and decided to ride the hands of the crowd. A fun time was had by all. The question everyone had was when is I Prevail putting out new music?

I talked to Eric Vanlerberghe and Brian Berkheiser before their set.

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Click to view I Prevail Photo Gallery

 

You may also be interested in:

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Read Interview with Eric Vanlerberge of I Prevail

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Read I Prevail Crossroads Tour Review

Crossroads Tour with I Prevail Concert Review

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Crossroads Tour
I Prevail Concert Review
Donnie’s Homespun Republic
July 15, 2015

I Prevail is on fire and racking up views on their cover of Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space” on YouTube every minute.  They have had viral success of their cover and are touring in support of their Heart vs. Mind EP.  The Crossroads Tour brought together some great, young bands including Dangerkids, The Animal In Me, Fit For Rivals and Dayseeker.  The camaraderie of bands on tour was shown by each band wearing other band’s shirts.  The fans had all different band shirts as well.  There was everything from Meshuggah to Of Mice & Men.

The Animal In Me is a band from California. They are a metalcore band with two vocalists, Laura Vierra with beautiful eyes and a great voice. Screamer, Shane Gould, who brings the energy. Their balance of hard and melody is captivating. The Animal In Me have done several covers including “Call Me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepsen and “Rap God” by Eminem that really showcases Shane Gould’s vocal skills. The band has worked with producer, Tom Denney(A Day To Remember, Secrets). Their set was amazing and many wondered why they were the first opener. For the tardy fans, you missed out on an incredible band.

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Click to view The Animal In Me Photo Gallery

 

Dayseeker is a post-hardcore from Orange County, California.  They have a passion and storytelling that compels the audience to engage them.  Rory Rodriguez the vocalist explained a song about his mother and her drug addiction call “The Earth Will Turn”.  Their passion ignited the fans.

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Click to view Dayseeker Photo Gallery

 

 

The vocalist of Fit For Rivals has screaming power vocals and the guitarist plays killer riffs.  The rock they perform has hints of punk in the mix.  Their infectious tunes, “Hit Me” and “Freak Machine” had the crowd mesmerized.

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Click to view Fit For Rivals Photo Gallery

Next up was Dangerkids. They got the crowd on their feet.  Dangerkids have two vocalists as well.   Vocalist, Tyler Smyth, thanked the fans for keeping the scene alive.  He recognized that there are so many great bands out now.  We got to hear a new track called “Blacklist”.  Hearing new songs is part of the excitement of seeing a band live.  Yeah, you can watch it on YouTube but you do not get the feel of the crowd.  You can’t get crazy in the pit, crowdsurf, or headbang watching a screen.

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Click to view Dangerkids Photo Gallery

The main event, I Prevail, came onto the stage with their touring frog.  I think his name is Frank.  I Prevail consists of two vocalists, Brian Burkheiser and Eric Vanlerberghe.  They compliment each other with hard and soft.  I sat down with Eric earlier in the day and he explained their songwriting processes.  We discussed their plans for writing their new full length album.  You can read the full interview here:

Best Rock List’s I Prevail Interview with Eric Vanlerberghe 

I Prevail’s show is solid and the crowd knows all their songs.  Vocalist, Eric Vanlerberghe climbed up onto one of the side speakers that was earlier occupied by their frog, sang, and then jumped off.  Eric and their guitarist, Tony Camposeo, went out into the crowd and got very close with them.  The crowd pushed in to touch the band members.  I Prevail’s setlist contained these songs.

Enemy
Heart vs Mind
Face Your Demons
Deceivers
Blank Space
Crossroads
Love Lust Liars
Chicken Tenders (aka My Heart I Surrender)

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Click to view I Prevail Photo Gallery

 

 

 

The band took time to meet with fans after their set.  All the bands were available to meet with fans and talk to them.  The gratitude expressed to the fans by buying their music and merch was expressed by all the band members.  For many of the bands, it gets them to the next show, pays for food and fuel and sometimes a hotel.

You can also support them by going to one of their shows.

Crossroads Tour

I Prevail Concert Review Heart vs Mind Tour

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I Prevail Concert Review
The Heart vs Mind Tour with Too Close To Touch and Chasing Safety

                                

Sometimes when you go to a show, you like one of the openers and not the other one. Other times, the opener will sound nothing like the genre that you are there to see. For this show, the opening bands sound was extremely cohesive with the headliner. All the bands were similar so you were instantly fan of all three bands.

Too Close To Touch is a post-hardcore band from Lexington, Kentucky. The vocalist, Keaton Pierce, has a diverse vocal range. Where bands with such talent usually have two singers, Too Close To Touch, has just one. Their song “Perfect World” is about the fantasy we all have of reconciliation when there is a breakup. We all dream that the one who walked away will come crawling back to us.

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Click to view Too Close To Touch Photo Gallery

 

 

 

Chasing Safety had a high energy set. Their vocalist, Johnny Galivan, was slinging the microphone like an 80’s rocker. He must have driven his mom crazy when he was little with all the energy he had. He was doing cartwheels and taking phones from members of the crowd. The band sounds similar to Of Mice & Men and Crown The Empire.

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Click to view Chasing Safety Photo Gallery

 

I Prevail has exploded onto the hard rock scene with their cover of Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space”. The I Prevail version is really a bold undertaking and the arrangement with the screaming vocals is pure genius. It hardly sounds like the original and that is why metal fans like it so much. The band has two vocalists, Brian Burkheiser, clean vocals and Eric Vanlerberghe, unclean vocals.

I Prevail’s album Heart vs Mind is out now. There are just seven songs on the album but every song is great. There are songs for post-hardcore fans and rock fans alike. They played the majority of their album and covered some “Break Stuff” as well. The fans were ready to bang their heads and participate in a little pit action. The crowd was not able to let them go after their set and asked for one more song. Their encore was an acoustic version of “My Heart I Surrender”.

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Click to view I Prevail Photo Gallery