APRIL 24th, 2023
NOTHING MORE SPIRITS 2023 NORTH AMERICAN TOUR

Review by Metallic Barbie
Photos by Peter Ruttan

There’s no better hangover cure after two days in Vegas than to fly home to Vancouver, and within two hours be at the Commodore Ballroom for a triple bill of Nothing More, Crown the Empire, and Thousand Below.  The rock’n’roll life is tough but it is living at its finest.

San Diego band Thousand Below warmed the modest crowd with a seven-song setlist hitting their highlights to date, including “Hell Finds You Everywhere”, “Venenosa”, and “Sinking Me”.  Qualified as post-hardcore, TB had fans fist-pumping and headbanging at an hour when most are sitting down for a quiet dinner.

Ceding the stage to metalcore comrades Crown the Empire, vocalist Andrew Rockhold, guitarist Brandon Hoover, bassist Hayden Tree and drummer Jeeves Avalos notched up the energy with heavier beats and nastier vocals.  They christened the eaves with the title track from their forthcoming album Dogma, and blasted through crowd faves like “Blurry”, “Zero”, and “What I Am”, bookending with “Dancing with the Dead”.  CTE has worked hard to build a following and unlike similar bands, faces sing-a-longs instead of retaliation when over half the setlist is new material.

The crowd was primed for headliner Nothing More, and dove in face first when “Spirits” blasted open the set.  For anyone who’s seen Nothing More, they’re aware that they get four individuals colliding in space and time to generate music that typical sub-genres cannot quite tie down.  Vocalist Jonny Hawkins is a chiseled metal Ken Doll gone wild, known for his black body paint and acrobatic antics.  Guitarist Mark Vollelunga could side hustle as a shampoo commercial and works the strings on his axe with precision and flair.  Bassist Daniel Oliver appears the happiest man on stage, hyping the crowd and grooving them into submission.  Drummer Ben Anderson keeps the time and is no shadow in the background, as are many skinmen.

While the setlist was very light compared to many other Nothing More shows, the fellas did get rowdy with “Do You Really Want It”, “Go To War”, and “Don’t Stop”, amid the many selections from their album Spirits, which dropped back in October 2022.  Between sound-generating machines and a crowd assisted Animal-like drum beat-down, Hawkins demonstrated why Nothing More is a solid headliner and their hard rock fusion will not go quietly into the night.  

Closing with the song that put them on all the radars, “Ocean Floor/This Is The Time (Ballast)”, and leaving everything right there on the floor, Nothing More left the stage, Hawkins’ red, white and black chest paint burned into audience brains.  People left that show changed, now in that knowing space that when it comes to a live performance, there are few who can hold a beer to Nothing More.