Nothing More Brings the Spirits Tour to Worcester – April 8, 2023

Continuing on with their 2023 tour, Nothing More came to the Worcester Palladium to debut their highly anticipated sixth studio album, SPIRITS.  Rocking along with them to help open the evening was Crown the Empire and Thousand Below.

Thousand Below

The Palladium was nearing capacity as the lights dimmed and the first opening band, Thousand Below, took the stage. The band got things kicked off with, “Hell Finds You Everywhere,” which happens to be the title track off of their latest album. With the floor completely packed, the crowd was amped up and moshing from the very first beat. Thousand Below has such a hard-hitting sound, but their lead singer, James Deberg, incorporates his own style of emo sounding vocals on top of those powerful drum rhythms and guitar riffs. Many of the songs they played were from their album, Hell Finds You Everywhere. The songs they played from this album have excellent range; from the fast-paced tune, “Venenosa”, to the slowed-down track, “Sabotage”. It was a quick 7-song set, but they definitely made the most of the time they were allotted.

Crown the Empire

This is a band that has gone through all sorts of up-and-downs in the past couple of years. They were on the latest leg of the massively popular Knotfest Roadshow, featuring Slipknot and Ice Nine Kills. They also recently finished headlining their 10-year anniversary tour. However, last year there were allegations against the guitarist which resulted in the band being dropped from the Trinity of Terror tour. Since that time the band has hired lawyers and an investigator to work on proving his innocence and clearing their name.

Aside from the controversy, the band has been very busy coming out with new material. Although their new album, DOGMA, was just released in April 2023, the title track has been a popular single on Sirius XM Octane for quite some time now. Crown the Empire decided to start their set off with the single “DOGMA” which was an excellent choice to get the crowd engaged. They also played “Black Sheep” and “Immortalize”, from their new album, which have the absolute potential to be singles in their own right.

The band was in the middle of their set when they let the audience know they got in a street fight in Worcester. Everyone looked a little perplexed as to why this happened, but thankfully the band looked fine and had a smile on their faces while they were telling the story. Next, the band played their most popular track, “BLURRY (out of place)”. Their entire set was outstanding, but this was definitely the pinnacle of their performance that evening.

NOTHING MORE

It has been a while since the Worcester Palladium was not only packed on the floor, but the seats on the upper deck were just about filled. Many of the rock shows here rarely have concertgoers under 20, but there were lots of kids and teens in attendance which is excellent news for Nothing More as their fan base continues to grow with them.

As the band came out, you could start to see Jonny Hawkins emerge from the darkness. He was barefoot and wearing his signature war paint on his shirtless body. This is a look that fans have come to recognize and adore from Jonny Hawkins. As the music began, the entire band came out swinging, literally. They all came out spinning, running around, and ready to rock. The band started off with hits from their latest album, SPIRITS, including the tremendously popular, “TIRED OF WINNING”. A little-known fact about Jonny Hawkins that most fans are unaware of is that he is not the original singer of the group and was in fact the band’s first drummer. He still likes to exhibit those drumming skills at shows by playing on his infamous “Scorpion Tail”. It is an insane-looking percussion contraption that goes 14 feet into the air. It is quite the sight to see him jam out on it.

During the show the band never lets their energy fade even for a moment. The band fed off of the audience’s involvement and vice versa. At one point in the show a fan handed Jonny Hawkins their cell phone and instead of saying no, which would have been completely understandable since he is in the middle of a show after all, he decided to take a selfie video right in the middle of the set.

Nothing More let everyone know they do not believe in encores so they ended their show on a high note with everyone still in attendance until the very end. Clearly, they have a big following in Massachusetts and will hopefully be back in the very near future.