Local band returns to rock Borealis crowd

September 6, 2005

CASEY RESSLER/Frontiersman Valley Life editor

It all sank in for the four members of Nothing Less when they first arrived at the Alaska State Fair Sunday afternoon. There was their name, blinking in huge, bright-red letters on the sign, announcing their concert at the fair later that night. In a way, it signified that the local boys turned men had truly arrived on the music scene, getting to play at the fair where they had grown up watching other big-name artists.

"It was blinking, NOTHING LESS, then RODEO," joked Tommy Dowell, a Wasilla High School graduate and the guitarist for Nothing Less. "And it's a sweet rodeo, too," added Henry Hartman, another WHS graduate and the band's drummer.

The Sunday concert proved to be a homecoming for one of the most exciting bands ever to leave Alaska. The foursome - Hartman, Dowell, Anchorage's Tim Waters and Asa Shaddix of California - recently finished the Van's Warped Tour, one of the country's biggest summer tours, which featured some of the biggest artists in music. The band members knew that coming home would be a great feeling, but said

it was even better than they had imagined.

"This is the first time a lot of people back home get to see us and hear us play. We're playing for our family and our friends out there," Dowell said backstage before the Sunday show. "I hope we make a good first impression on everyone."

Following the fast-paced concert, the line of people waiting to buy Nothing Less' new CD - which was officially released on Sunday as well - showed that the band not only made a good first impression, it made a great one.

"I'd heard about them on the radio, and I thought for 13 bucks I'd come see what all the hype was about," said Anchorage's Nick Greilly, who bought a CD. "I was really, really impressed. They rock."

Another concertgoer, Tamara Chapman, said it was the first time she's bought a CD of a band she's never heard of before.

"I came with a couple of my friends. I didn't even know anything about the band, but they are awesome. I can't believe they are from Alaska," Chapman said.

Throughout the concert, Waters told the crowd it was the coolest gig the band had ever played, because it was at home. Between songs, Hartman said looking out from the stage and seeing all the mountains and knowing he's home "almost brings me to tears." But the band wasn't at the Alaska State Fair to get choked up, it was there to rock, and that's just what it did for the packed Borealis Theatre crowd.

"We rock just as hard if there are five people or it's sold out," Dowell said.

That kind of attitude - coupled with a high-energy set that sounds like a mix of Green Day, Blink 182 and Sublime - has made Nothing Less an up-and-coming band around the nation. They jammed on the Warp Tour with some of rock's biggest acts, and they made a lot of contacts along the way that can only help them in the future.

Through it all, they managed to get a CD put together, which officially went on sale Sunday.

"It's in stores at Sam Goody and Mammoth Music in Anchorage and Matanuska Music out here in the Valley," said Waters. "It's going to be nationwide by October."

The band has been playing since they arrived in Alaska, having played at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and at the Sullivan Arena, in conjunction with another show. Once the band gets back to California, where it is based now, its members already have a concert planned at a skatepark, as well as one at New Mexico State University. One thing Nothing Less fans don't have to worry about, however, is the band forgetting its roots.

"We're just glad to be home," Waters said. "How cool is playing the Alaska State Fair?"

Contact Casey Ressler at 352-2265 or valleylife@frontiersman.com.