Power Trip Reunite in Texas for Surprise Set

Power Trip reunited in their home state of Texas on Friday night (December 1), stepping in as surprise headliners for a show with the crossover thrash band Fugitive at Mohawk in Austin. Power Trip guitarist Blake Ibanez co-founded Fugitive last year, and the group’s touring lineup currently includes Power Trip’s Nick Stewart. It’s the first performance from Power Trip since the death of bandleader Riley Gale three years ago. Joining the band on vocals was Skourge’s Seth Gilmore, who also plays in Fugitive. Watch fan-shot footage of the performance below.

Though there were only four songs printed on the setlist for the evening—“Soul Sacrifice,” “Executioner’s Tax,” “Hornet’s Nest,” and “Manifest Decimation”—the reunited Power Trip also played “Crucifixation” at the very end. “It’s been a long time coming,” Ibanez said early in the set, before shouting out Gilmore for filling in on vocals.

Gale died unexpectedly at age 34 in August 2020, which Dallas County Medical Examiner’s office later confirmed was the result of toxic effects from fentanyl. Later in the year, Gale was honored as the namesake of a new library at the Dallas Hope Center, the city’s one shelter for LGBTQ+ youth. Just a few weeks prior to Gale’s death, Power Trip released Live in Seattle 05.28.18, which they’d recorded while touring with Sheer Mag.

Revisit “How Power Trip’s Riley Gale Opened Up Thrash Metal, in 5 Songs” on the Pitch.