Northern Invasion abducted some of rock and metals top bands, and dropped them into a field in small town, Wisconsin. Not only did they abduct bands such as Avenged Sevenfold, A Perfect Circle, Tool, Alice In Chains, The Fever 333, I Prevail, and Asking Alexandria; but also the biggest crowd to date.
Day One started a little hectic with Dubé, a band from Canada formed with 3 brothers who would describe their style as “Indie Grudge.” After playing just 1.5 songs, the stage generator quit working. That didn’t stop these brothers from playing a killer set complete with only drums, yelling the lyrics, and mad air guitar! Their stage presence kept the crowd loud and rowdy! Thankfully by the last song the crew got the generator back up and running and Dubé got to play their last song!
From Ashes to New mixed rap and rock and also did a tribute to Chester Bennington by covering their newer top song “Heavy.” I Prevail went on to perform without Brian Burkheiser, who was out due to illness, they still crushed their set. Eric Vanlerberghe brought out a backpack style smoke machine to blow into the crowd and at the other members of the bands, they later joked to say that Eric reminded them of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man from Ghostbusters. The band's set included fan favorites like "Rise" and "Already Dead," While Burkheiser was definitely missed by the fans, the live performance was spot on as Vanlerberghe took the reigns and put on killer show.
Breaking Benjamin rocked the crowd, you could even say they were lit….(due to the flames they had in the back.) The show at Northern Invasion mimicked the previous festivals earlier in the month: the band was tight and sounded amazing, and the crowd packed in to see them perform. They kicked off with "Red Cold River" and treated the fans to their Nirvana/Star Wars medley in the middle of their set. The fans awaited eagerly for the second half, where Breaking Benjamin would showcase their old-school hits "Blow Me Away," "So Cold," and "The Diary of Jane."
To end the night headliners A Perfect Circle and Avenged Sevenfold pulled in the biggest crowds of day one A Perfect Circle played an 11 song set that ended with "The Outsiders". Avenged Sevenfold did a cover of "Wish You Were Here" by Pink Floyd, and ended the night with "Unholy Confessions."
Breaking Benjamin
Butcher Babies
I Prevail
Black Stone Cherry
Stick to Your Guns
From Ashes to New
Counterfeit
Dubé