Life on the road is tough. It’s infinitely tougher when you’re a band being told you can’t play your music.
That’s where Nothing More found themselves when members of In This Moment fell ill and had to back out of a series of shows during their “Blood 1983” tour. While In This Moment was unable to perform, they same could not be said of Nothing More, who immediately let it be known that they were willing and able to play every show on their calendar — with or without the headliner.
Unfortunately, the band was told that wasn’t possible, thanks to difficulties involving promoters and Ticketmaster. Determined to find a way to play, the San Antonio-based quartet called an audible and quickly scheduled an impromptu show in Baltimore. Rather than playing an abbreviated 45-minute set supporting another band, Nothing More performed a full 90-minute spectacle that spanned their entire catalog and blew the doors off of the Baltimore Soundstage.
Lead singer Jonny Hawkins, guitarist Mark Vollelunga, bass guitarist Daniel Oliver and drummer Ben Anderson clearly picked a healthy way to work through whatever pent-up frustrations the band came into the evening with, after being initially told they couldn’t play for fans who had purchased tickets to see them in concert. They worked each and every inch of the stage during the evening and, when that wasn’t enough, used a 14-foot-tall contraption made of scrap metal and auto parts, affectionately known as “Scorpion’s Tail,” to elevate Hawkins above the stage.
Nothing More will drop its sixth studio album, Spirits, Oct. 14. Several songs, including “Tired of Winning” and “Turn It Up Like (Stand in the Fire),” have already been released and were very well received by the sellout crowd while fan favorites “Go to War” and “Jenny,” which is about Hawkins’ sister, received the loudest ovations during the evening.
