Grammy-nominated Nothing More packs House of Blues Houston, announces return date

Nothing More vocalist Jonny Hawkins performs at the House of Blues Houston on Friday, Feb. 23, 2018. Nothing More vocalist Jonny Hawkins performs at the House of Blues Houston on Friday, Feb. 23, 2018. Photo: Laura MacPherson Photo: Laura MacPherson Image 1 of / 23 Caption Close Grammy-nominated Nothing More packs House of Blues Houston, announces return date 1 / 23 Back to Gallery

Nothing More vocalist Jonny Hawkins couldn't be more straight forward.

The San Antonio rock band isn't your traditional live show.

The band doesn't do encores – Hawkins says 'they're fake.'

The band's music is pure. No vocal tracks or rigged guitar riffs.

Instead, the Grammy-nominated rock band is instead a ball of energy ready to explode with catchy choruses, perfectly executed guitars and drums, a variety of styles and a stage show worthy of a sci-fi title.

And that's exactly what Nothing More brought to the House of Blues on Friday, Feb. 23 in Houston as part of the 'The Stories We Tell Ourselves Tour' with The Contortionist and Big Story.

"We're not like a lot of other bands," Hawkins said on stage. "What you see is what you get."

Nothing More – made up of Hawkins, guitarist Mark Vollelunga, bassist Daniel Oliver and drummer Ben Anderson – has reached new heights of sorts with its latest album 'The Stories We Tell Ourselves.'

The album produced three Grammy nominations with Best Rock Performance (Go to War), Best Rock Song (Go to War) and Best Rock Album.

"It's really surreal to be there and see what all goes into the Grammys," Vollelunga said in a phone interview before the show. "As a musician, to be nominated for a Grammy is the dream of the life time. I wish we could have won but it was a really cool experience."

The album has reached as high as No. 15 in the Billboard Top 200 and No. 2 in the Billboard Hard Rock category.

The rise to prominence was evident for the band at its appearance at the House of Blues. The packed, sold out venue swayed and sang along as the band started out with 'Christ Copyright' – a fan favorite from the group's self titled album – and touched songs from their whole catalogue before finishing with the hype inducing 'Salem (Burn the Witch).'

Nothing More awed the crowd with Hawkins jumping on a robotic scorpion's tale, a sound manipulator made with a salvaged car and motor cycle parts. The shirtless and shoeless vocalist jerked the scorpion tale around from 10 feet in the air for the group's cover of Skrillex's "First of the Year."

The idea was originally by Oliver – who has been the mastermind of many of the group's stage theatrics.

"I just wanted to make something heavy that takes a lot of energy to move around that Jonny can wrestle with onstage," Oliver said. "But at the end of the day I also wanted it to be a musical instrument that makes sense with Jonny's movements so the audience can also see that the way he moves is causing the music that they hear."

The whole process from stage to stereo is an organic, collaborative effort for Nothing More – though they admit each person has their own niche.

"Everyone has their specialty so it's not like anyone is working harder than another," Oliver said. "Someone will have an idea that gets the ball rolling and then we will all chime in with what we think will work or not work."

Whether you're looking for something hard (see Christ Copyright, Mr. MTV or Salem), something more traditional rock (Go to War, This is the Time, Let'em Burn), something more experimental (Don't Stop, Do you really want it?) or something more emotional (Here's to the Heartache, Fadein/Fadeout), Nothing More touches on it all and transitions to each with ease.

"We really just try to be true with each song," Vollelunga said. "If you pigeonhole a song to one genre, you're not giving it the life that it deserves."

If you missed Nothing More at the House of Blues, the band recently announced that it will return with Papa Roach on May 12 at the Revention Music Center.

"We love Houston," Vollelunga said. "It's like a second home. We came up playing at venues in Houston and owe a lot to the fans there. It's one of our favorite places to play."