Nonpoint – Hawthorne Theater – Sunday, June 5th, 2022 – Portland, Oregon
Starting the night off, 1967 is a hard rock band out of Portland, Oregon. Straight forward, no-frills, straight-up rock, with a punk edge at times. The drummer was incredibly animated with his dreads flying everywhere. Vocalist and the guitarist was chill except for his facial expression which showed he was one with the guitar. They explained why they named the band 1967, stating it was the year their “brother” was born, leaving us to believe the special person was no longer with us. The set was chill, enjoyable, and spot on. It didn’t exactly rile the crowd for Nonpoint, but 1967 stood strong on its own.
New York’s VRSTY played in the second spot, and the absolute first thing I noticed was a significantly heavier pace with lead singer Joey Varela waffling between metal and Michael Jackson. Seriously. He would be the perfect front man for a Michael Jackson cover band, but what he is doing now is far better. The energy was at 11 on a scale of 10, and they thoroughly rocked the venue. VRSTY is a unique band, that, while rare, shows us something that hasn’t been done before.
With their first full release out “Welcome Home”, VRSTY has nowhere to go but UP!
Thoroughly enjoyable, VRSTY’s set list included: 
Finesse
Shameless
Colorblind
Just Breathe
Lovesick
Dig
The GOAT
Soul
Closer
Sick
Finally, the band we were all there to see…Florida’s Nonpoint! Dressed all in white, Elias Soriano, came out full of energy that didn’t stop for one minute. Supporting their new EP “Ruthless,” Nonpoint played an exhilarating set of old and new songs.
Flipping the script, the last time I saw them they opened with “Bullet.” On this night the beloved song was last. They opened with their new song “Ruthless,” which the crowd loved.
Absolutely flawless, drummer Robb Rivera kept the high pace beat with the ever-entertaining to watch Rasheed Thomas on guitar. Bassist Adam Woloszyn spun and rocked out the entire night with a dizzying performance.
Scrapping two songs for unknown reasons, Nonpoint didn’t play “That Day,” or the beloved Prince cover “When Doves Cry.”
Nonpoint’s full set list included:
Ruthless
The Wreckoning
Alive and kicking
What A Day
Victim
Hands Off
Milestone
Dodge Your Destiny
Back in the Game
I don’t care
Breaking Skin
Miracle
Chaos and Earthquakes
Ending the night with Bullet.
I’ve seen Nonpoint quite a few times live. What I didn’t know is how diverse and business-minded they were in other avenues. In April 2021, Nonpoint announced that they had created their own independent record label called 361 Degrees Records. Their songs have been featured in Nascar, WWE, Rockband 4, and many others.
Nonpoint is a band that makes you happy. They make you reminisce with their 25 years of music and continue to put out top-notch music.
