If anyone asked me to name bands that people must-see live, Nonpoint will always be on that list. I’ve seen them so many times over their career and always enjoy every single performance. The last time I saw Nonpoint was on August 24, 2018, when they were touring off their latest album X. You can read that review HERE. It was a show I would never forget. When I heard they were returning to the House of Blues Orlando on September 27th, I knew I had to be there. It was a solid crowd that night with the Nonpoint fans and members of Orlando’s rock station 101.1 WJRR ready for a night of rock and metal for The Red Tape Tour.
Los Angeles Zero Theorem opened the show that night. The band describes themselves via their Facebook page as “hard rock and metal with a dark science fiction aesthetic”. In 2018 they released their EP Ataraxis and are currently working on a two-part installment titled The Killing. The band consists of Caesar (vocals), Jake Hayden (drums), Eloy Palacios (bass), and Roy Lev-Ari (guitar). This was my first time getting to hear the band live and they left a good impression on me. I found their music to be more hard rock, but when they dropped the heavy sounds, it thundered in the House of Blues. Caesar’s vocals were powerful, Eloy’s and Roy’s playing was stellar, and Jake was one of the calmest drummers I’ve seen for someone who rocked the set. The band was energetic on stage and had the crowd cheering them on till the end of their set. You can find their merch and music at https://zerotheoremband.com and see a full gallery of pics of their performance HERE.
Their setlist from that night was:
- The Killing
- Low
- Area
- Becoming
- Rorschach
- Cannonball
- You
- Threads
Next to the stage was Madame Mayhem. Natalie Ann Cohen (better known as Madame Mayhem) is a New York City born singer and songwriter whose fashion and music scream rock. Though she’s a classically trained vocalist, pianist, and guitarist, the power of rock was stronger and fans are grateful for it. Madame Mayhem has shared the stage with bands such as Sevendust, Memphis May Fire, Fozzy, Doro, and now that evening Nonpoint. She has released three albums with her most recent Ready For Me in 2017. Though I had heard of Madame Mayhem before, I had not the opportunity to see her perform live. Madame Mayhem hits the stage with the presence of Amy Lee and Lzzy Hale and the vocals to match. She and her band are energetic on stage, constantly moving, and doing it with style and pizazz. The music is heart-pounding rock with blissful vocals that will jaw drop you. Needless to say, I was beyond impressed with Madame Mayhem and look forward to seeing them come through Orlando again. You can find their merch and music at https://www.madamemayhem.com/ and see a full gallery of pics of their performance HERE.
Their setlist from that night was:
- War You Started
- Breaking Down
- Broken
- Monster
- I Am More
- Cruel Heart
- Something Better (Now You Know)
Then the Orlando crowd was in for a real treat to have one of our own bands, Devils Envy, grace the stage. First formed in 2016 the band went through a number of challenges and lineup changes. Determined to not give up on music, the band continued forward and solidified their lineup. They performed their first show together at The Haven in Winter Park at the annual Halloween Havoc. The band re-released their EP Dead Inside and have released additional singles while working on material for their debut album. Devils Envy is Angel Graves (vocals), Sean St. John (drums), Austin Diaz (guitar), Brian Kizer (guitar), and Paul Ziccardi (bass). From the opening note, you could tell we were in for something special. The music ripped through the crowd hard and heavy and they went insane for hometown band. Angel’s vocals were very impressive being able to go through various notes with ease and power. Austin’s intense guitar playing truly caught my attention as he made his way across the stage. Angel urged the crowd to jump and move and the crowd was happy to do so. I truly loved at the end of the show, Angel brought his son out on stage to celebrate with him. It was a truly touching moment. Devils Envy gave notice with their performance that we are going to see bigger things coming from them soon and I’m looking forward to seeing it. You can find their music at https://devilsenvymusic.com and see a full gallery of pics of their performance HERE.
Finally, the crowd was ready for the headliners Nonpoint. The metal band from Ft. Lauderdale, FL started off back in early 1997 before self-releasing their first album ‘Separate Yourself’ later that year. And it was only the start of a successful career. They signed a record deal with MCA and released ‘Statement’ in 2000. Their fourth studio album ‘To The Pain’ would release one of their most recognizable songs “Bullet With a Name”. Each of Nonpoint’s album made it into the Billboard Top 200 with their highest ranking album came with ‘The Return’ in 2014 peaking at #39. And this evening the band released their 10th album ‘X’. Nonpoint is Elias Soriano (vocals), Robb Rivera (drums), Rasheed Thomas (rhythm guitar), Adam Woloszyn (bass), and this time touring musician Ahrue Luster (lead guitar) who played with both Ill Nino and Machine Head.
101.1 WJRR’s Supa Dave came out to announce the band, as he does every time Nonpoint plays in Orlando. The rock station has always been so supportive of Nonpoint throughout their career. He got the crowd started with the way they always come out, with a very soft chant of “Nonpoint, Nonpoint, Nonpoint” and then let the crowd take it over getting louder and louder until they came onto the stage. The crowd went insane and Elias was all smiles looking over the crowd. The band started off with “Miracle” the title track from their sixth album and followed with “Endure” from Statement. Nonpoint as always was on a roll getting the crowd hyped up. Elias vocals are always solid, Rasheed is a maniac whipping his hair around and playing fast, Adam was headbanging away, Robb was smashing the drums as he does so well, and even Ahrue was grooving along with the music. The band was having fun and the crowd was enjoying it.
Nonpoint was having fun with the fans during the show. Elias and Robb once again played “Who Can Make Their Side Cheer Louder”. Elias had his side going strong. Robb took over slightly. Elias had control of his side going from high to low to high again. Robb looked at Elias in disgust, pulled down his shorts, and threw his hands in the air, which made all the crowd cheer and Elias and the rest of the band started laughing. And yes, he was wearing underwear. It was an unexpected moment and hilarious. Elias reminded the moshers to pick people up if they got knocked over as he saw some people go down on the mosh pit. And overall you could just see they were having a great time on stage.
The setlist was different than the last show bringing back some songs they haven’t played in a while. Notably missing was their cover of “In The Air Tonight” by Phil Collins and “Generation Idiot”. I did love them bringing back “Lights, Camera, Action” and “I Said It”. Elias ripped through the lyrics on both of those so easily even though they are both heavy on lyrics. Nonpoint kept one of my personal favorites “What a Day” and of course “El Diablo”, a huge fan favorite song. The band played from X “Dodge Your Destiny”, “Chaos and Earthquakes” (another personal favorite), and their most recent single “Fix This”. I’m not sure what it is about that song but “Fix This” absolutely grabs me to play it on repeat over an over. The band, of course, wrapped up with “Bullet With A Name” to a massive ovation when they finished.
You can find Nonpoint music and merch at their website https://nonpoint.com/ and see a full gallery of pics of their performance HERE.
Their setlist for that night:
- Miracle
- Endure
- Breaking Skin
- That Day
- Dodge Your Destiny
- Your Signs
- The Truth
- Lights, Camera, Action
- I Said It
- El Diablo
- What a Day
- Rabia
- Orgullo
- Chaos and Earthquakes
- Fix This
- Alive and Kicking
- Bullet with a Name
There was no encore performance that night but they took a photo of them with the crowd which they were going to sell at the merch booth upstairs. he merch line was huge of people waiting to get their chance to buy merch, get a selfie with them, and even just to say hello. And what I’ve always loved about Nonpoint is that they take time to spend with their fans who support them. After all these years playing shows and 10 albums they haven’t forgotten the fans. Before the show started, I was walking to the House of Blues to pick up my pass and ticket and saw outside the venue Elias and Rasheed just chit-chatting with two fans. I took a moment to wait until they were done and they both happily took the time to chat. It’s the little things like this that fans remember and make them such a huge supporters of Nonpoint.
So when the opportunity for you arises to see Nonpoint, go. Honestly, I can’t wait until they come back again.
Be the first to comment