The Truman, Kansas City’s newly opened concert venue, played host to an incredible night of music, and what a host it was. The old warehouse has been transformed into a beautiful new concert venue ready to play host to some of the world’s greatest bands. On this night, October 4^th 2017, The Truman opened its doors for the 5^th time to Nothing More’s The Stories We Tell Ourselves tour featuring Hell or Highwater, My Ticket Home, and Palisades.

Starting out the night were the rockers from New Jersey, Palisades. As always with a brand-new venue there are a couple bugs to work out and after a bit of an issue with the sound during the first song, Palisades sparked the fire that would burn on the rest of the night. Taking advantage of the large stage (for an indoor venue) Palisades delivered their playlist as energetic and mobile as they could, ending their night with the fan favorite “Let Down”. While Palisades were impressive on the stage, it was the conversation we had with guitarist Matt Marshall off stage, who has allowed me to share with everyone; and please forgive me I am paraphrasing but I think you will get the point. The subject of the Vegas shooting was brought up and how he, being in a band, feels about being in a venue as well as the fans and the media. Just out of the gate he stated that he really wished people would stop lobbying for one side or the other or trying to play conspiracy theorist and just come together as one. He stated that for us as a people we need to recognize we are all one in the same; black, white, everybody, and that we must unite for each other. Our conversation went on a little longer but I was just so impressed by his passion for all to come together as one that I asked to share with everyone because we all need as many people as we can to plead for the hate to stop and the unity to start. Thank you, Matt Marshall.

Up next, My Ticket Home out of Columbus, OH took to the stage in support of their latest release Unreal that will hit stores on October 6, 2017. The Ohio rockers kept the fire going that was started by their tour mates in Palisades and delivered a performance that was sure to add many new fans to their list of supporters.

The third band on the bill, the latest project form Atreyu drummer Brandon Staller, Hell or Highwater made quite the mark on the Truman crowd. Playing songs from their debut album Vista including their latest single “I Want it All” to close their set; it was the covers they tackled that really had the crowd buzzing. First up was “Mrs. Jackson” from OutKast, yes you read that right, and damn it, it was pretty amazing. When the opening chords started ringing out, I, along with the rest of the room, were like what the fuck is about to happen. It wasn’t long, however, until the place was singing along right there with them. Up next was one of the feel-good moments of the night where Mark from Nothing More strapped on his acoustic and accompanied then with the late, great Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down.” Both covers were absolutely amazing and left the Truman crowd ready for more; Nothing More that is.

Nothing More was back in Kansas City and this time armed to the teeth with not only a new album, but new play toys as well. Oh, and did I mention this was also the sing along section of the night. I have been to many concerts in my time and I do not think I have ever heard the crowd over the band at any time in my life. It was an amazing experience and you could tell the Kansas City crowd had been prepping for this for so long; waiting to stand in front of Nothing More and say, see, look, we have been waiting for you. Such an experience, and not just for the fans but also for the members of Nothing More whom from my vantage point, above the stage to the left, could see the smiles on the face of Johnny Hawkins as he was belted in the face with his own lyrics. Fans who have experienced Nothing More live before have seen the spectacular percussion displays along with, well, I really can’t say bass solo on the Bassinator, (because along with Daniel, Mark and Johnny get involved) but an insane display on the handmade mount Daniel has constructed. The emotion was also high as many of Nothing More’s songs are fueled by the emotions of life that are dealt with on a daily basis. Stirring performances of “I’ll Be Ok”, along with the help of the crowd sent goose bumps up my arms and made me glad to be in that room at that time. “Let ‘Em Burn,” and “Here’s to the Heartache” were also played to the Truman crowd before the newest creature was released; The Scorpion Tail. The latest creation by Daniel along with the help from a friend, is a 14-foot beast that gives Jonny the chance to play DJ and mix the sounds live while the rest of the band plays. It is a site to see and of course every night, the sound produced will be something different. Nothing More has made a name for themselves by working hard, creating great music and getting out there on the road and seeing the faces of the fans that love what they do.