Surviving Power Trip members reunite for surprise show in Texas

Power Trip
(Image credit: Will Ireland)

The surviving members of Power Trip reunited on stage in Texas last night (December 1) with Fugitive's Seth Gilmore filling in for the late vocalist Riley Gale.

The surprise performance came at the end of a bill at the Mohawk in Austin featuring Fugitive, whose lineup also includes Power Trip guitarist Blake Ibanez. Also on the bill were Dresscode and Ninth Circle.

At the end of Fugutive's set, Gilmore and Blake were joined onstage by Power Trip guitarist Nick Stewart, bassist Chris Whetzel, and drummer Chris Ulsh for a run through of their songs Soul Sacrifice, Executioner's Tax, Hornet's Nest, Manifest Decimation and Crucifixation.

It was the first Power Trip appearance since Gale's death in 2020 at the age of 34.

Seven months after Gale's death, the surviving members of the band said they hoped to continue making music together.

In the wake of last night's show, the Riley Gale Foundation released a statement saying they and Gale's family were blindsided by the surprise gig.

They say: "The Riley Gale Memorial Foundation and Gale family are aware of the event that took place at Mohawk in Austin, TX on December 1st, 2023. It caught us entirely by surprise.

"At no point in the planning or lead up to that moment was anyone in the Gale family consulted, or even invited. We were not asked our thoughts or feelings about it taking place.

"If we were, we would have liked to discuss who would fill in on vocals, since Riley had laid out very specific requests for this exact scenario. We would have requested it take place in Dallas, where Riley and Power Trip were born, and where Riley was instrumental in building up the Dallas hardcore and metal community before even setting foot on stage as a performer."

Fan-filmed footage of the performance can be viewed below.

Stef wrote close to 5,000 stories during his time as assistant online news editor and later as online news editor between 2014-2016. An accomplished reporter and journalist, Stef has written extensively for a number of UK newspapers and also played bass with UK rock favourites Logan. His favourite bands are Pixies and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Stef left the world of rock'n'roll news behind when he moved to his beloved Canada in 2016, but he started on his next 5000 stories in 2022.