LIVE REVIEW: I PREVAIL + IMMINENCE + INVENT ANIMATE @ RIVERSTAGE 21/06/26

Words by Cecilia Pattison-Levi Photos Charlyn Cameron

Well, the rain hung off, and the trains kind of ran to time, as fans made their way to Riverstage in Brisbane to see I Prevail deliver The Violent Nature Tour. The concert line-up was stacked with the Swedish band Imminence and the Texan band Invent Animate in support. The date was also significant as it was the solstice and marked the official start of winter in Australia.  

There was a large crowd gathered, and they were ready and waiting. The banana costumes were on. Mario was there. And the mosh area was ready to go. The only thing missing was the band on stage.

The remedy was served with the American band Invent Animate arriving on the stage to a droning melodic piano. With their all-white outfits, Invent Animate put on an incredible start to the evening as the lead vocalist Marcus Vik roared through the opening song ‘Fall Like Rain’. The band: Keaton Goldwire (lead guitar), Caleb Sherraden (bass), Trey Celaya (rhythm guitar), and Brody Taylor Smith (drums) really got the progressive metalcore soundscape going with ‘Shade Astray’ and the wonderful ‘False Meridian’.

Invent Animate’s melodic sequences mixed with the vocalist’s guttural lows and pitched screams are so dirty, that you can’t help but admire the sound especially as ‘Heavener’ went down like a treat to the crowd. It was during this track that Keaton Goldwire challenged the crowd to see how many crowd surfers could get over the barrier. I am happy to report that the banana boy from Burpengary State High School was the first crowd surfer over the barrier as a wave of people followed him. The influx of crowd surfers was crazy.

Invent Animate’s metal core was expansive in ‘Without A Whisper’ and the band gave the crowd a chance to sing along as the melodic segments crashed into the angular jarring guitar jabs and bassline assault. The band ended their short but effective set with ‘Immolation Of Night’ and an amazing circle pit as the band commanded the crowd to “get the bitch spinning” as the mosh pit was told to “give us a wall of death: show us your bogan bullshit” and they obliged. It was an excellent and powerful start to the night.

After a short break, the next band up onto Riverstage were Sweden’s “violincore” wizards, Imminence. This is my third time seeing Imminence live and they are just amazing with that crying violin and the heavy sonic palette that just rocks. The band dressed in “basic black” looked like Nordic Gods with the most amazing hair and they move in complete unison across the stage.

Imminence consists of Eddie Berg (lead vocals/violin), Harald Barrett (rhythm guitar/backing vocals), Alex Arnoldsson (guitar), Christian Höijer (bass) and touring drummer Adam Janzi. And they commanded the stage from the first chord of ‘Temptation’ and the mosh pit was in action a fraction of a second after that as the crowd went off.

There was an audible “aahh” from the crowd as the first violin solo cried across the venue. Imminence had the crowd in the palm of their hand as they captivated everyone’s imagination with that melodic and dynamic sound. I have to stress the band’s sound is not soft – it’s heavy with a bassline thrum and drum kicks that do not quit but that violin melody supported by the guitars is mesmerising and the band keeps you there for the whole set. 

The crowd ate up every song Imminence performed in their nine-song set. Songs like ‘Desolation’, ‘Heaven Shall Burn’ and ‘Erase’ were so heavy. It was headbanging heaven! For the song ‘Death By A Thousand Cuts’ the band changed the pace and tone with Eddie Berg performing solo with his violin before the band came crashing in over the top. It was during this song that the crowd surfers were in full flow heading towards the barrier and one guy lost his pants and the crowd had a collective snigger. The band continued and played their latest single ‘The Sword That Never Bends’. The highlight of the set came with the next track ‘Infectious’ followed by ‘God Fearing Man’.

Imminence ended their set with an extended version of ‘The Black’ as Eddie Berg blew kisses to the crowd. He picked up his violin and played as the band left the stage one by one. It was classy! There is nothing secondary about Imminence and they demonstrated it. They were, and are, amazing!

The stage was transformed in under 30 minutes for the headliners I Prevail. It’s a hard curfew in Brisbane so platforms were put in place, fire cannons were readied and setlists went down. Then, as the band’s playlist ran through singalong favourites for the crowd everything was ready for them.

The Detroit based band, I Prevail, consists of vocalist Eric Vanlerberghe (clean and unclean vocals), Steve Menoian (guitarist), Dylan Bowman (rhythm guitarist), and the astonishing Gabe Helguera (drummer), with multi-tasking Jon Eberhard (bass, keys, and percussion).

I Prevail came in hard as they started their set with a “What’s up Brisbane?” as the chords struck for ‘New World Order’ (aka NWO) as that unmistakable guitar riff stirred up the crowd and the fire cannons went off. The energy burst out of the crowd and the band were loving it. They didn’t stop to chat as the huge singalong of ‘Bow Down’ followed and then ‘Self-Destruction’ was performed. The crowd was loving it: the crowd surfers and mosh pit were going off!

The crowd learned that Steve Menoian had his “addressing the crowd privileges” returned to him. Eric Vanlerberghe played a word association game with him that was a bit bizarre and funny. “Peanut butter” was co-joined with “dog things” and it got weird. Eric Vanlerberghe got the band back to business to deliver ‘There's Fear In Letting Go’ and the heaviest song off their new album ‘Violent Nature’ that the crowd loved and the mosh pit loved even more.

Then, I Prevail did something unexpected as they performed a cover, their heavy metalcore version, of Taylor Swift’s ‘Blank Space’. It was a singalong to rival the ‘Era Tour’ crowd. Then, Eric Vanlerberghe issued a throw down to the mosh pit. There were two options, 1. Wall of Death or 2. Circle Pit during ‘Into Hell’. The decision: Option 1. And the wall of death crashed into each other as the banana men organised. This pleased the band as they muttered: “You know Adelaide picked option 2. Who picks option 2? I am glad you chose Option 1 Brisbane. That was awesome” and the band were all laughing!

I Prevail were sailing along as they played ‘Bad Things’. There was a gifting moment as a pack of Magic cards were thrown onstage as Eric Vanlerberghe thanked the fans and said “When I get drunk after the show, I’ll open these”. Then, the band delivered another huge cover song, Metallica’s ‘Sad But True’ next. Then, the emotional ‘Rain’ was performed with a huge crowd singalong to close out the middle part of the set. The stage went dark. The band, and the crowd, had a quick breather. The pace of the set had been fantastically fast.

Then, the lights focused high on the drumkit. The sample of Benny Benassi’s ‘Satisfaction’ was on repeat as the crowd was treated to a magnificent killer drum solo by Gabe Helguera. It was awesome as the drums blasted out and the lights danced around him in unison to the beats.  

The band returned to the stage and performed ‘God’ before there was another stop. More beers were delivered onto the stage. The crowd, then, made an insistent call and request for a “shoey”. At this point I Prevail band members reminded the crowd that “we have been to Australia a lot and we have performed over 30 shows here” and “shoeys have been done at each show – so don’t you forget it”. But, Eric Vanlerberghe did it anyway, the “shoey” from a “clean-ish shoe” as he stated: “My wife will kill me if she sees this posted online”. The crowd loved it!

Then, with a huge “burp” and “burped lyrics” the song ‘Choke’ was delivered. I Prevail, then, dedicated the 2017 song ‘Come And Get It’ to the OG fans. As the crowd realised, the end of the set had arrived. The night had gone so fast! I Prevail stated to the crowd, “we are not going to play peek-a-boo with you” the encore “is going to be these last two songs” as they delivered the rousing ‘Hurricane’ and closed out the set with ‘Gasoline’.

I Prevail had delivered their Violent Nature Australian Tour. It had been a joyful and fun night of heavy metal in a variety of metalcore styles. Invent Animate was progressive, Imminence had their signature style “violincore” and I Prevail demonstrated their headline ability to draw a huge crowd and entertain them with humour and sincerity in their music.

And, as the I Prevail “family” or “now new best friends” left the venue with shirts and vinyl, everyone headed to buses, trains and cars in a great positive frame of mind. And the rain started to sprinkle down…