Nonpoint, (hed)pe, Sumo Cyco and special guests VRSTY made a stop in Angola, Indiana at The Eclectic Room on “The Million Watts Tour 2023”. What an absolute barn burner! This was the 4th time I have had the opportunity to capture Nonpoint and the 5th time seeing them live in less than 2 years! 

VRSTY got the party started for the night! The four piece rock/R&B/post-hardcore blend, hails from New York City. Frontman Joey Varela started this project to just get his writing out into the world, and it has turned into so much more! Joining him on stage were Javy Dorrejo [bass], Chris Cody [drums], and Paul Gregory [guitar]. They kicked the night off with the track ‘F**ck You Forever’ off of their new album ‘Levitate’ that was released in October. My favorite memory of their set was when Paul was playing his guitar right in front of me and basically bent his body completely backwards! I was lucky enough to capture it.

Continuing the party after VRSTY was the Canadian based rock band Sumo Cyco! The band is led by singer Skye Sweetnam, in addition to Matt Drake[guitar], Oscar Anesetti[bass] and Joey Muha[drums]. They had a really fun vibe and energy. Some cool moments during their set were when vocalist Skye sang from the pit a couple of different times. At another point, she had the crowd crouch down low and then jump up at the same time. She was really great with fans and making the audience a part of the show! The band also did a really great cover of System of Down’s ‘BYOB’. They really did the song justice.

Next in the lineup was southern Cali boys hed(pe)! They were originally formed nearly 30 years ago as a sort of punk rock/rap/reggae fusion band. Current band members include frontman Jared Gomes, Jeremiah Stratton[drums], Kurt Blankenship[bass] and Nathan Javier[guitar]. This is another band that really interacts with their fans, and I basically felt like I literally could have been on a beach in California dancing and jamming to their music! Such a fun vibe.

And of course who everyone came to see, the amazing Nonpoint! Once you have seen them live once, you are just hooked, in my opinion. The band was formed in the sunshine state, Florida back in 1997. The lineup consists of Elias Soriano[vocals], Robb Rivera[drums], Jaysin Zeilstra[guitar], Rasheed Thomas[guitar] and Adam Woloszn[bass]. They have an amazing resume with so many hit tracks. With touring so frequently, they are really good about mixing up the setlist, and it’s kind of fun finding out which songs they are going to play next. And when they hit the stage and play, they PLAY. It is HIGH energy from start to finish! You are head banging, jumping, dancing, or moving your body in some form or fashion for the entire show! It’s an experience that is difficult to describe. This tour, they threw in new tracks ‘A Million Watts’ and ‘Golden Gloves’ in addition to some older songs like ‘Spanish 102’ and ‘Breaking Skin’. They also added in Beastie Boys cover ‘Fight For Your Right’. They ended the night with Elias and Sheed singing the song ‘Tribute’. For me, seeing Nonpoint is a form of therapy. It’s one of those situations of “if you know, you know”. If you’ve seen them, you know what I am talking about. If you don’t, hopefully you will soon!