Goldfield Trading Post was already heating up when (HED) P.E., Spineshank, and Nonpoint rolled into town for a night of heavy riffs, industrial noise, and enough energy to keep the place moving from the first band to the last.
This was one of those shows where I walked in knowing I hadn’t seen a single one of these bands live before. By the time the night was over, I had three new live experiences under my belt—and a whole lot of photos to prove it.
(HED) P.E. came out swinging, throwing their mix of heavy rock, metal, punk, and hip-hop at the Goldfield crowd. There wasn’t much standing around and waiting for things to happen. They brought the energy with them. The grooves were heavy, the riffs were nasty, and they did exactly what an opening band should do, get the room moving and leave the crowd wanting the next band.
Next up was Spineshank, and this was the point where things got considerably heavier. Their industrial-metal attack came across tight and aggressive, with the kind of precision that makes a band sound like a well-oiled machine without losing that live-show edge. The guitars were crushing, the vocals were in your face, and the crowd was eating it up. Another band I hadn’t caught live before, and another one that left me wondering why the hell I’d waited this long.
Then came Nonpoint. From the second they hit the stage; the energy level went straight through the roof. Elias Soriano and the rest of the band didn’t spend much time planted in one place, which, from where I was standing in the photo pit, was exactly what I wanted to see. I love catching those midair shots, and Nonpoint was more than willing to cooperate. Elias and the crew were constantly moving, jumping, leaning into the crowd, and generally making my job a hell of a lot more fun.
One of my favorite moments of the entire night happened away from the big stage theatrics. Guitarist Jaysin Zeilstra leaned down from the stage and handed a guitar pick to a young fan standing at the front. The kid’s face absolutely lit up. Those are the moments I like catching because they show you something you can’t always see from the stage, what the music actually means to the people standing on the other side of the barricade.
I got the mom’s name at the show because I wanted to be able to share the moment with her. Unfortunately, somewhere between the show, the photos, and my aging brain, I forgot it. I’m old. It happens. Hopefully, when this gets posted, she sees it, or somebody who knows her tags her, because that’s a memory worth getting back to the family.
Musically, Nonpoint didn’t let up. Heavy grooves, screaming guitars, crowd interaction, and enough movement to keep the photo pit busy all night. They came to Goldfield to put on a show, and they absolutely delivered. By the end of the night, Goldfield was buzzing, the crowd had gotten exactly what they came for, and I walked out with a memory card full of images from three bands I had never photographed before. Not a bad Tuesday night at all.
Categories: Concert Photography, nonpoint
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