By Chris Moriates
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
It’s not always easy being the opening band. But being the
first band on a bill that includes the likes of heavy metal giants
System of a Down and Slipknot is quite a difficult task.
This is the challenge that the group No One is faced with almost
every night of the next two weeks as they open the massive Pledge
of Allegiance tour, including its stop Saturday night at the Great
Western Forum.
“Heavy metal fans can be pretty brutal,” said Billy
K, drummer for the band No One. “But the responses have been
pretty good so far.”
Hailing from Chicago, No One landed a record deal with Immortal
Records less than a year ago. They have since appeared on the
second stage of the recent Ozzfest tour, as well as opening for
Fear Factory and Spineshank.
They have also performed in Los Angeles at the small Whiskey A
Go-Go on Sunset Boulevard.
But now No One is playing the massive Great Western Forum.
“Some of my friends from L.A. are totally like
“˜dude, you’re playing the Forum,'” Billy K
said during a phone interview prior to the Pledge of Allegiance
show in Tacoma last Wednesday night. “I heard that it’s
huge. Every place we pull up to (on this tour) so far is an
enormous dome with like 15 semi-trucks outside.”
The move to semi-trucks, tour buses and arenas is quite a
transition for a band that recently toured with an RV.
No One is working on winning over the audiences on the Pledge of
Allegiance tour, as most of the crowd are being introduced to them
for the first time.
“We don’t have the big production like the other
bands,” Billy K said. “But the crowds have seemed to be
enjoying the show.”
In the current music world of countless upcoming bands, No One
knows the danger of becoming just another band that never breaks
the surface.
“There is so many new bands coming out that I can’t
even keep up with it,” Billy K said. “A lot of the
people don’t even know about us, but that’s why shows
like Ozzfest are so good for us.”
“It is the bands that work their way up that eventually
make it,” Billy K added.
The recent gig performing at large arenas around the country
with some of the biggest names of the genre is sure to bring some
attention to No One.
Their debut self-titled album on Immortal/Virgin Records was
released on Aug. 14.
The “windy city” quartet is ready to introduce
themselves to the world, one show at a time.
Check out No One’s Web site at www.noonemusic.com.