Words by: Riah Hill
Photos by: Joshua Stroud
Thanks to Destroy All Lines
I got into the city and saw that there was a line wrapping around the block at 7pm – a whole hour before the doors opened and a whole hour and a half before the first band. I knew this was going to be a big one. What felt like half of Perth had braved the elements to catch the first night of I Prevail’s the Violent Nature Tour, and I absolutely mean it when I say it was worth the wait.
Before I had even got into the venue – ol’ faithful Metro City Northbridge – I had fought for 20 minutes to get a car park and had been so kindly drenched by a car going through a puddle as it drove past me, no doubtably by someone who was also looking for a car park and desperate to get in to catch the metalcore legends, Invent Animate.
After waiting nearly an hour in the line I made it in.I wasn’t the only sad and soaked person in the line. We were all so eager to end our week with someone screaming at us while being surrounded by sweaty bodies. I was itching to catch what I could of the Invent Animate, from what I could see, the energy was so high and the crowd were warmed up big time. Sadly, I only caught the last song of the set, where a wall of death was dividing the already packed venue. The energy was palpable. The small snippet that I got of vocalist Marcus Vik was unreal. I was so devastated to have missed what was surely a killer set.
Next up were the Swedish wizards, Imminence. If you have ever been so fortunate to catch these guys live, you would know how commanding they are on stage. They have such a captivating dynamic, whether you are a long term fan or a newcomer, they draw you in and keep you there for their whole set. They are so mesmerizing.
Kicking off the set with Temptation, it took the pit a whole 0.5 seconds to get going. The band in complete unison, from their all black attire to their movement across the stage. The crowd ate it up for Desolation and my person fave, Death by a Thousand Cuts. It was so well done and so damn heavy. They may have been a supporting act but there was nothing secondary about Imminence. They put on a damn show. I (and many others) were captivated by their ability to effortlessly nail sounds of delicate violin and powerful guitar solos. Who does that? Imminence does, and they do it so, so well. Like I mentioned before, Wizards.
The stage then transformed in preparation for the headliners ,I Prevail, where a platform opened up, housing the drums and bass. This was perfect, adding a bit of dimension into the stage ready for the main act. Metros is a multi-layered venue itself, with 3 levels and many ‘sub-tier’ platforms to watch from. So adding a platform on the stage just made sense.
Officially kicking off the set, I Prevail came in hard with NWO, New World Order – with that unmistakable riff revving up the crowd instantly. You could tell that the lads from I Prevail were loving the energy the crowd were having in response to them.
Next up was Bow Down, soon followed by Self-Destruction. I looked up and could see arms and heads over the railings of the multiple tiers, everyone in sync just losing their minds over every line and every breakdown.
The atmosphere was buzzing. It was like we were all just a bunch of mates watching our other mates up on stage – a similar feeling to sitting across from your friends at a glass table in someone’s backyard at 1am, just mates shooting the shit and having a good time. This feeling was only amplified when lead vocalist Eric Vanlerberghe so willingly, (needed 0 amount of convincing but the crowd prompted him anyway), did a shoey from a ‘clean-ish shoe’. Naturally, the crowd loved the grossness of it all. We really are all just a bunch of sickos.
The intro to Violent Nature started and the pit just got going. Eric claimed it to be one of their heavier songs, which I would totally agree with. Barriers were pushed, arms and legs were in the air and no one cared. Everyone lost their inhibitions and just became their loosest self. There is nothing like a song that just makes everyone lose their shit a little – and this is that song. It was good to see that even when things get messy in the mosh pit, everyone is looking out for each other. We love our heavy, we love our butter, but most of all we love each other.
It was pretty obvious by now that the crowd were loving the new Violent Nature album hits and just as equally loving the old stuff too – the whole set was a nice mix of both. Rain hit the venue hard, leaving us all a little breathless from singing so hard. To catch our breath (and for the band to catch one too) we were treated to a drum solo for a few hot minutes. All eyes were on Drummer Gabe Helguera and we were not mad. IYKYK.
Choke and Come and Get It are probably two of my favourite I Prevail songs, so having them up next and back to back was a special treat for me. Choke had every tier jumping. And Come and Get It enticed a circle pit in the mosh. There was not a dull moment ever.
The whole band then exited the stage but it was very obvious they weren’t done yet. It is not an I Prevail show without making everyone cry (or just me?) with Hurricane and then allowing for everyone to lose their mind one more time over Gasoline. Both songs were fantastic. But I’m not going to lie, hearing Gasoline without any pyrotechnic visuals was a little disappointing, as I have seen I Prevail with the full 9 yards before, and screaming about Gasoline while bursts of fire shoot out at you, it is just something else and I feel like everyone needs to experience that kind wildness one in a lifetime. But alas, it was not meant to be. I’ll chalk that up to the late-in-the-game venue change and all is forgiven. The whole crowd still loved every single second of the show.
At the end of the night, there was this general consensus across the crowd of ‘eh now back to reality’. Perth is often overlooked when scheduling Aus‘ tours, so we are always so grateful for any bites we can get. The lads from I Prevail promised they’d come back to Perth soon, but the Lawyer in me would like to see that in writing (pretty, pretty please!). We will happily tackle the weather and the bangover on a Monday morning for shows like this. So, thank you Destroy All Lines for the killer show. ‘Til next time.
GALLERY
INVENT ANIMATE
I PREVAIL
