I Prevail brought ‘The Violent Nature’ tour to Birmingham’s very own O2 Academy for their first back-to-back show outside of America last weekend. With the intention of absolutely smashing the stage, and solid supports by Gore. and Polaris, this night was an absolute killer from start to finish.

The first support act was Gore., who I personally had never heard of until seeing them open on Saturday night. They were incredible. Being the first act of the night can always be massively daunting, but they brought such an intense energy and showmanship that it was clear that they were more than comfortable warming up a room for one of metalcore’s most successful modern acts. Despite not being the anticipated opening act, the crowd really enjoyed them, as did I. Whilst the entire band put on a truly ferocious performance, it really has to be said that Hayley Roughton’s vocals & bassist Devin Birchfield‘s inability to stand still made a massive impression and, for such a new band, they absolutely owned that stage.

Then we had Polaris, and the crowd went absolutely mental! Sound-wise, they were very similar to I Prevail, with heavy breakdowns and melodic choruses. Their set was filled with a great selection of their strongest songs and the decision to finish with the anthem Nightmare was absolutely brilliant. Honestly, they were an absolute pleasure to watch and definitely a band I’ll be listening to in the future. I saw a lot of fans in their merch, as well as plenty of crowd surfers, and that’s always a good sign of a great band, especially as a support act. I thoroughly enjoyed their set, as did many others that night, and they have definitely gained me as a fan.

The anticipation for I Prevail was quite unmatched. The band headed out at around 9:15 and opened with NWO, immediately bringing the heat to Brum! Fans around me sang, crowd surfed, headbanged and just had a really good time. I Prevail then continued with some older tracks, such as Bow Down and Self-Destruction, which completely sent fans into a frenzy.

They continued their set with more songs from their newest album, such as Rain and God. The album is incredible, but I particularly enjoyed hearing Eric’s vocals alongside the screaming because, even live, his voice is so euphoric. They continued with their cover of Taylor Swift’s Blank Space, which was so iconic and had been a popular request for the band to play live again.

They then dove right back into some more songs from their new album and even played Paradise, featuring Amira Elfeky, who unfortunately couldn’t make the tour. Instead, Gore.’s very own Hayley Roughton came in as a surprise and absolutely crushed it! Her vocals matched the song so well, and I’m really glad that they chose to play it. We got a couple more songs from their newest album, along with some throwbacks such as Body Bag, which brought about an intense circle pit and a few more crowd surfers.

We came to the end of the show with the encore, which was a run of Hurricane and Gasoline — two of my personal favourites. Both songs were such a great way to end the night, and everyone went mental for the remainder of the show, singing and screaming their hearts out until the very end. The atmosphere in that room never fell short, and I can only imagine how much pride that brings to a band like I Prevail, who are so well-loved in the metal and rock scene.

I Prevail have such an outstanding energy on stage and really know how to bring a hardcore atmosphere. I think that despite any songs from the first two albums being present, the setlist was curated perfectly, especially with the bands current format without original clean vocalist, Brian Burkheiser. Eric and Dylan are such talented vocalists and the lack of such a distinct voice as Brian’s made no difference at all to the amazing performance that I Prevail managed to put out. I will definitely be seeing I Prevail again and hope they come to the UK more often.