Currently out on their second leg of the Million Watts Tour, Nonpoint came to Portland’s Hawthorne Theater along with (hed)P.E. and regional opener Wide Eye Panic.
Opening up the set, Olympia Washington’s own Wide Eye Panic brought the heavy. The band sounded tight despite a nearly decade long hiatus. Although they only had time to get six songs in, they opened with one of their most popular, “Question B9”. The crowd had already packed into the venue and many seemed to be familiar with Wide Eye Panic’s set, singing along with several of their tracks.
(hed)P.E. took that opening energy and elevated it to another level. Hitting the ground running, (hed)P.E. opened with “No Way Out” from their most recent album, Detox. Lead singer Jarod Gomes’ gravelly, but powerful, lyrical delivery had every body in the venue bouncing. That energy carried through the entirety of their ten song set.
By the time Nonpoint took the stage, the Hawthorne theater was packed wall-to-wall, stage-to-bar with sweaty, amped up Portlanders. Nonpoint opened with my personal favorite, “Breaking Skin”. The staccato guitar riff in that song just builds and for a set opener, it seemed to have had that same effect. Several times throughout the set, a mosh pit managed to form as the crowd thrashed and had a great time. Nonpoint’s set list was 14 songs long and they hit all the bangers you’d expect to hear at a live Nonpoint show. It was clear that Nonpoint has a strong following in Portland and unofficially, there’s word that the band is working on new music. For a band that always delivers a killer live show, we can’t wait to see them come around again soon.
