10 Years / Nonpoint
When The Sky Cracks Open Tour – Friday, July 17th, 2015
The Vogue – Indianapolis, IN
As my music tastes have matured, I have really started gravitating towards what I like to call mid-major bands. Taken from the world of college athletics, my analogy alludes to bands that may not be as well known as some others, but have no trouble standing toe to toe with any of the powerhouses. Sure, I love catching bands like Muse, Avenged Sevenfold, Godsmack, and Machine Head in front of 10,000 fans. But for my money, a small venue show of a band like Clutch, Aranda, Shaman’s Harvest, Foxy Shazam, or Crobot can be equally as entertaining. There’s just something about these smaller bands that seems more personal, and easier to connect with.
This tour featured two great mid majors – 10 Years and Nonpoint have both been around for a decade, and are a great example of smaller bands that do absolutely everything right. I’ve been a fan of both of these bands for years – I remember my introduction to 10 Years in 2006 at a local festival, (which caused me to sing Wasteland for two months straight). I also remember my first Nonpoint show – a mud-soaked, sweat-drenched, nonstop mosh pit party on the Jager stage at Rock on the Range in 2010 that I will never forget. A rare chance to catch both of these bands at a great small venue 20 minutes from my house? SOLD!
Nonpoint
I missed Nonpoint at Rock on the Range 2015 because of an epic Babymetal saga, so I was pumped about seeing them here, maybe even moreso than 10 Years. I am glad to report that this show seriously blew me away. They played a 9 song set that stands out in my mind as one of the better small venue shows I can remember. Singer Elias Soriano absolutely killed this show, and I couldn’t believe how “album-quality” he sounded. I knew the dude could sing, but I was SHOCKED at how pure his vocals sounded. It’s not often that a singer surprises me like this – kudos. While I was salivating over the vocals, Nonpoint took me through a high energy version of The Wreckoning, and then followed it up with Alive and Kicking, which is just an awesome song live. From there, I just kept thinking that the show was getting better, and better, and better.
There was an awesome 99 Problems Jay-Z cover that really impressed me, although I’m not sure why – it’s not as if rapping isn’t in Soriano’s wheelhouse. Then they went right into Breaking Skin, which is my personal favorite song of theirs, and is the song where Soriano’s clean vocals really blew me away. Then they hit That Day, which isn’t my favorite album song, but was GREAT live. That Day closes with some killer riffs from guitarist Rasheed Thomas, and an epic screaming verse/chorus combo that pushed the energy of the crowd to it’s highest notch yet. I can still remember screaming “I REMEMBER THAT DAY” at the top of my lungs during this song, and the subsequent chills that were induced. The closer for the show was of course Bullet with a Name, and the last thing I remember is Soriano punching the words “money, fame, attention, bars, honeys, games, attention” as he rotated his arm around at the shoulder, simulating the ticking of the second hand on a clock.
Overall, a really great show. The energy and professionalism that Nonpoint brought was unique for a mid-major band, and the killer songs they played made it easy to remember why I fell hard for the nu-metal movement in the early 2000’s. Remember those days? Jnco jeans, PlayStation, and Korn on every radio station. I miss those days. 🙂 Anyway, there were multiple times during this show when I turned to a buddy and said “Woah, they sound amazing.” When it had finally came to a close, the band expressed their gratitude for the support and for people coming out – and it didn’t feel like a nightly exercise, it felt genuine and sincere. That’s another great thing about small bands – it’s so obvious how much they love their fans. We love you too Nonpoint – thanks for a hell of a ride.
10 Years
I’ve always thought highly of 10 Years – I’ve been aggressively following them since 2006, and I like every album they’ve released, and every show I’ve ever seen. They bring a killer flavor of alternative metal, adding in an element of creepiness and intensity that is hard to describe without hearing it. This show opened up with a bang – the huge riffs to Miscellanea sort of caught me off guard, and I loved how this grabbed the room by the balls and made sure we were paying attention. The band sounded great, and I wrote a note on how solid and prevalent the guitars sounded through the entire show. I will say that am bummed that their primary drummer, Brian Vodinh, doesn’t tour with them anymore, and I do think the overall experience suffered a bit (he used to do some cool stuff). Singer Jesse Hasek was solid as always, but it wasn’t the best performance I’ve seen of his – he was good, but not great.
What did really stand out about this show, however, was the set list. Sure, they played their recognizable hits (Minus the Machine, Fix Me, Wasteland), but overall the show featured different songs and had a very different feel than previous shows I’ve seen. Russian Roulette was a great change of pace with an interesting lyrical story line, and they also played Fade Into (the Ocean) off of Feeding the Wolves, which I had never heard live. Finally, the show featured a strong showing of material off of their latest album: 2014’s From Birth to Burial. I already mentioned the opener, Miscellanea, and Triggers and Tripwires had Hasek doing Beastie Boys style spastic screaming that was awesome. Finally, they played the title track, From Birth to Burial, which is vintage 10 Years and was without question my favorite part of the show. “Farewell, welfare”, with the crowd echoing, was an awesome memory. This song is so good that I’ve linked it below because I’d rather you listen to it than finish reading this post.
This band paralleled Nonpoint’s ability to keep the energy high and the crowd engaged, and Hasek does a fantastic job of connecting with the crowd, both emotionally and physically (he spends a good deal of his time leaning over the stage and being held up by the audience while he sings). The show finished as strong as it could have – with Wasteland and then Shoot it Out back to back. Awesome songs that took the audience on an adventure that featured every musical element that 10 Years lives on.
Count this as another great show in a long line of quality work by 10 Years. I have no idea why they are still a mid-major and not a huge band at this point, because this show was great. So glad I got to see them.
Final thought – I have to be honest and say that Nonpoint really stole the night. That’s nothing negative towards 10 Years – I’d pay to see this exact 10 Years show again. It’s simply a testament to how incredibly great Nonpoint was.
Hats off to both of these bands – I hope they are around for another decade!
In the words of the great Foxy Shazam, “Let’s smash a couple cocktails, and ditch this fancy party…”
Cheers!