Lori

Benchmark Blog 22: Nonpoint, House of Blues Orlando, June 2009

So Chris and I have loved Nonpoint for several years now and when I heard that they would be at the HoB in Orlando, I bought tickets immediately.  Then we ended up shipping the kids off to Mom's, so we did not have to contend with them, SWEET!  I am a little late in writing this, because I have just really lacked the motivation to spend the time to do it.  Blame Chris for introducing me to Defense Grid, one of those addictive, "I must beat this level", games.  So here goes...

The Venue, House of Blues Orlando:

Chris and I had not been to this venue despite practically living in Orlando every other weekend for 2 years when we first moved to Jax.  I have to say that I love this venue.  It has a lowered floor area in front of the stage, high-top tables closer to the bar, which extends around the whole bar.  This venue had a very intimate feel.  We really enjoyed it.  The drinks were not nearly as expensive as most venues that we have attended lately, not to mention it is a full bar, so double thumbs up here!  I thought it strange that there was an attendant in the women's bathroom, but Chris cleared up that reason (prevents friendly encounters).  Getting people into the club was also fairly efficient. 

Security was absolutely amazing within the club.  I have to really salute them on their zealousness.  First, this is a "no smoking" environment, including weed.  Security really watched for the tell-tell puff of smoke and then promptly got the person and escorted them out.  I actually did not come home smelling of pot.  Amazing!  Second, there was an incident when Nonpoint came on the stage.  Chris and I were on the rail.  This short (barely taller than me) beach guy decided that he was going to be up front.  He drove his way to slightly to the left of Chris.  He nearly got into a fist fight because of how rudely he did it.  Then, he pulls his girlfriend through.  That was the last straw for everyone there.  The guy was talking trash.  Several people in front and the people that he ran over to get that close were pointing them out to security.  The next song started and it was completely hard.  So the big Mexican guy's girlfriend, who was also big, that they had cut in front of, started falling rhythmically on the girlfriend.  She was not handling it well and beach boy was ill equipped to protect her at his stature, despite his toned body.  He looked like he was about to belt the Mexican's girlfriend and the Mexican guy gave him a look and he instantly backed off.  Chris was even ready to jump in.  He said if the beach boy had hit the girl, he would have taken him down.  By the end of the song, a security manager was escorting them from the venue.  Chris had thought that security was ignoring the issue, but they simply had to take the time to get someone in the crowd to extract them.  This is an extremely well-run venue that has a very low tolerance policy for disturbances.  They do allow crowd surfing, as I saw the same guy more than once.  Great job guys!

I also have to praise the Fastpass option.  If you eat within the HoB restaurant and spend $10/person (almost impossible not to spend that much), then you can get into the venue first when the doors open.  You can also spend a certain amount within the store and get the same access.  This meant we walked up and got on the railing.  Excellent!  Granted we waited in line awhile, but it was a small price to pay for front-row.  So I recommend you spend the money and get the access.

Grade: A+

Pre-show:

I could not find the name of the guy that performed outside the restaurant.  I believe it was Shawn something, but I don't remember.  The HoB website lists a David Townsley performing that night on the Front Porch Bar, but that did not sound right and this guy plugged his myspace page and that guy was not there.  Plus, they had tickets on sale for his performance and you could have stood outside the restaurant and heard him for free, ao that doesn't seem right either.  I thought he said his name was Shaun something.  If someone knows, please let me know.  He played acoustic guitar and covered several popular songs.  I really did not enjoy the covers.  Playing them acoustically messed them up in my opinion.  Chris says it is an aversion I have, but there are several acoustic versions that I like.  They just have to be really good.  Chris thought the songs were ok.  He was entertaining and had everyone laughing when he played the "FreeCreditReport.com" song.  He was entertaining enough for free music while I stood in line or enjoyed drinks with friends, but I could not recommend that you pay anything to see this guy.

Grade: C

Opening Act One, Kezia:

This band takes the stage and I was surprised.  When I had searched Pandora for this band, a pop girl band came up and I could not figure out why this pop band was touring with Nonpoint.  Also, they have no Wikipage.  There is no excuse to not have a page there, as it is user edited.  To promote yourself, you do a myspace, Facebook, Twitter, and Wikipedia page.  I was actually quite glad that I would not have to sit through the girl band.  Boy, was I WRONG!  Kezia is arguably the worst band that Chris and I have ever seen.  We debated over whether Army of One was worse or not, I maintained yes, Chris said Kezia was worse.  They started their song and the lead singer, who goes by the stage name, Vez, started swinging the mic in a circle and tried to catch it.  He failed and ruined his mic for the rest of the set.  He was moaning about it later because he really liked that mic.  He had wrapped it in colored tape, did you see?  OMG, get over the mic.  This is something that can easily be practiced even without singing/vocalizing.  When he gets another one, he swings this one around and nearly hits the front-row people.  Guys, invest in some wireless tech and help keep the audience safe and the performance going.

After the first song, the lead guitarist decides to climb on the speaker, and do a split jump.  He lands wrong and slides on his face across the stage, nearly crashing into the drum set.  It had us laughing.  At this point, this is no longer a serious band.  They have no stage presence or talent.  They obviously have modelled themselves on Atreyu, but are less talented.  Vez vocalizes with no singing talent.  The lead guitarist is a mess.  Their songs are not good.  The bassist does not appear to fit in, as he may have some actual talent.  He provides good back-up vocals, looks normal, and does not move so greatly reduces his risk of falling.  The drummer seemed ok as well, although he was nothing spectacular.

They covered Outkast.  It was not good either.  They threw their home-burned, Sharpie-written CDs into the crowd.  It is not hard to apply CD labels bought from Office Depot to look a little more professional.  I caught one and the guy next to me advised me to throw it back on stage.  I might as well have.  I stuck it in my CD player and it did not work.  Way to go, guys!  They were so awful.  I actually advised the bassist to dump his bandmates, because he had some talent.  He looked confused, but said thanks.

Grade: F, there is no hope for them

Opening Act Two, Rising Up Angry:

So after seeing the worst band on record, audience expectations were extremely low.  I found this band on Pandora and they sounded good.  They take the stage and the first thing that we notice is that the lead singer looks like our friend Thomas from Austin.  There was a striking resemblance and if we did not already know his brothers, this guy would have been a candidate, especially since he was from Texas.  The guitarists all look like they are from the hair band generation.  It was not just their hair, but their age as well.  They looked close to 50 or had some very hard years there.  It appears that Mick Vega (the oldest guitarist, who can definitely shred) was part of a Motley Crue tribute band called Sindrome, producing an album in 1987.  So he has a lot of experience here and it shows, physically and musically.  This band is slightly harder and more metal than we typically listen to, but they were really quite good.  They also had good stage performance, although it was obvious that Mick was used to the Ozzy-style shows.  He had a freaky "Je ne sais quois" factor. 

The vocals were solid, songs sounded good.  The guitars were solid metal and the stage performance was good.  They have a lot of potential and were enjoyable to watch, especially after the train wreck we watched before.  I can definitely recommend seeing them if you like this genre.  They are on Pandora and have a myspace page as well, but they are not on Wikipedia.  They are currently on tour, so check them out.  They will only improve with experience.

Grade: B

Main Act, Nonpoint:

We saw Nonpoint back in April and they rocked out, so we were stoked that we would get to see them in the HoB as the headliner.  They tend to play a pretty standard set list, so I was quite excited that they posted that they were going to play some new stuff, old stuff, and rarely played stuff.  They took the stage and started with "Explain Myself".  They continued rocking with several more songs, including "What a Day", "Broken Bones" and "In the Air Tonight".  Then Elias said, we want to play a song off our new album.  We have the lead singer of Mudvayne that performed this song for us at some other venue.  Chris and I thought that he was going to jump out to sing lead on "Miracle", but it didn't happen.  I really like the new song and can't wait to learn it once it is released.  I got really excited when they said, let's get some Spanish going here.  Very few bands rock it out in Spanish and English.  I love their Spanish songs.  "Rabia" is my absolute favorite.  So he starts "Rabia", B@st@rd throws a pick right before beginning the song.  It hits me in the head and I can't find it.  I tried using my phone to find it and couldn't.  I wasn't willing to miss "Rabia" to find it.  It was completely awesome.  I looked down when they finished and the pick was sitting between my shoes.  So now I have a Nonpoint pick.  Then they went to "Buscandome".  The only one they missed was "Orgullo".  Oh well, leaves something for next time. 

They decide to switch gears saying that they got a hugely positive response when they recorded an acoustic version for WJRR last year, so they thought that they would do another one.   They start "March of War".  This is a Nonpoint filler song.  It is solid Nonpoint, but nothing special.  They pull out a keyboard and Elias starts playing as he sings.  The song is beautiful acoustic.  (So there, Chris!)  It is a much more amazing song acoustic.  You feel the pain in the song.  Amazing!  Then they pull out "To the Pain", also acoustic, which is the song (and version) that Chris wanted to hear.  So we both heard the songs that we wanted.  They close it out with "Bullet With a Name".  Awesome!

Elias was not as smooth in his transitions this time, but this also felt more informal and relaxed.  It is also a new set list for them, so I imagine it takes some tweaking to get as smooth as he was in Tampa.  That is honestly the only critique that I can offer to the show.  It was awesome!  We will definitely go see Nonpoint at every opportunity possible, especially at this venue.  It made a huge difference with the venue and the crowd that was there for Nonpoint.  Nonpoint knew that they did not need to sell themselves to this audience.  They did not have to work the crowd as they did in Tampa.  I definitely prefer them headlining, not to mention they get to play longer.

After the show, they came out to sign/sell.  They were extremely down-to-earth.  We talked to all the members.  We told them we were going to be in Daytona to see them and Zach warned us that it would be a short set.  Strange that they tried to discourage us from coming, but I respected that they wanted us to not be disappointed.  Chris determined that he needed a t-shirt and took the last large.  It did not fit him, so I have a Nonpoint shirt now.    These guys not only rock it out; they remember that the fans are enabling them to live this life and are grateful. 

Grade: A++++ (I know how good his transitioning can be, so work on that for some more plusses. )

Overall, this was a great show.  Great venue, one good opening act, and then Nonpoint kicked it out of the park.  Definitely worth the cost.  The only bad part was Kezoa

Grade: A