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It’s not a holiday this time, but getting to see such a stacked line-up kind of feels like it is. It’s nice too, to get back to getting into gigs before the sun goes down and to shift from the outside world to a dark space soon to be full of a few hours of excellent live music. Of course, there’s a whole venue sing-along to Sweet Caroline, before we get to the actual artists, but that does nothing to dampen the tone of the evening.
Blind Channel, as first support, have a lot to do, but they come out with all guns blazing, and give us as much of a light show as they are a musical one, and given how their almost effortless precision on the instruments and the gorgeous harmonies on the clean vocals in the first song, that’s saying a lot. I forgot to bring my earplugs out to this one and given the full force behind the belting and the shocks of guitar, it feels like I need them, but they sound so good it’s difficult to care about it. They get a good effort out of the audience too and seem genuinely excited to be there, and I find myself incredibly impressed by how seamlessly vocalist Niko Moilanen transitions between his growls and his cleans, even when he’s talking.
Their on-stage energy is honestly superb and even the drummer feels like he’s two seconds away from standing up and getting into it. It’s almost criminal that they have a set as small as they do, and when they finish off with their Eurovision hit ‘Dark Side’, I’m already hoping for them to come back on a headline tour.
Things get heavy immediately when Trash Boat come out, and the lead singer shows off what a banger of a voice he has, all while he creates a great buffer between the first opener and the main act, managing to maintain energy and hype further. It’s also exceptionally fun to hear someone growl as hard as he does and then immediately transition into the phrase ‘okie dokie’, right before he then offers the audience a stunning Linkin Park tribute. The rollercoaster of emotions ends, finally, and we’re left with the last artists for the night.
I Prevail are a force to behold, and seeing them live like this, it’s no wonder they made it to my top album list for last year. Sometimes I have moments of clarity at gigs, where I’ll think about how strange it is to be seeing people from an album on stage, in the flesh, and I got that here, blown away by the sheer enormity of their sound, both polished and raw in the most exhilarating ways. It was a fantastic night, full of great performances, and I’m excited to see what’s next for all of them.
Review – El Vipond
All forthcoming Blind Channel live dates, below:
EU HEADLINE SHOWS
Apr 16 – DRESDEN DE @ Reithalle
Apr 17 – POZNAN PL @ Tama
Apr 18 – GDANSK PL @ Parlament
Apr 19 – HANOVER DE @ Muzikcentrum
Apr 24 – ESSEN DE @ Turock
Apr 25 – MUNSTER DE @ Sputnik Halle
Apr 26 – HEIDELBURG DE @ Halle 02
Apr 27 – AUSBURG DE @ Kantine
EU & UK TOUR | WITH ELECTRIC CALLBOY
Apr 14 – VIENNA AT @ Gasometer
Apr 15 – BUDAPEST HU @ Barba Negra
Apr 20 – HAMBURG DE @ Barclays Arena
Apr 21 – FRANKFURT DE @ Festhalle
Apr 22 – ZURICH CH @ The Hall
Apr 28 – ESCH-SUR-ALZETTE LU @ Rockhal
Apr 29 – PARIS FR @ L’Olympia
May 01 – LONDON UK @ Eventim Apollo
US WEST COAST TOUR | WITH LACUNA COIL
May 04 – SAN JOSE CA @ The Ritz
May 06 – TACOMA WA @ Spanish Ballroom
May 07 – PORTLAND OR @ Crystal Ballroom
May 09 – SACRAMENTO CA @ Ace Of Spades
May 11 – VENTURA CA @ Majestic Ventura Theater
May 15 – SALT LAKE CITY UT @ The Complex
May 16 – DENVER CO @ Summit Music Hall
May 17 – ALBUQUERQUE NM @ Sunshine Theater
May 18 – MESA AZ @ Nile Theater
May 19 – LOS ANGELES CA @ The Belasco
WEBSITE: https://www.blindchannelofficial.com
Photo credit – Natalia Pastakeda
