photography from baltimore & d.c.
This show was great! Over two hours (short for a GBV set, but let’s face it, none of us are as young as we used to be) and packed with classic songs. If you are an old fan of the band, don’t miss them on this tour. See the whole GBV set here, and read Phil Runco’s review of the GBV show, along with my photos, up at Brightest Young Things.
Two features up at Brightest Young Things today, both metal related, both with my photos.
Al Shipley over at Urbanite just did a nice little write-up about my book. The thing basically sold out the first run, only a couple left, but I am about to do a second run, with some expansions and some changed design elements, so feel free to purchase one – but if you want the new & improved version, it won’t be out for a bit yet! If you don’t mind the OG edition, go ahead!
Last week I got a chance to see (and shoot) the Slayer/Megadeth/Anthrax Jagermeister tour. The headliners were playing their 1990-era albums IN FULL (Seasons In The Abyss, Rust In Peace, respectively), plus their other hits… It was a great show and especially fun for me since I was banned from going to see this same tour in 1990 by my parents! Twenty years later, I finally made it…
Before the show, a writer and I showed up to interview Charlie Benante (from Anthrax) and he was great. We also met Joey Belladona and he was nice as well – he asked me if I was shooting the show and I said yes… he said he’d see me out there. I didn’t think much of it at the time but when they played, true to his word, he saw me in the photo pit, waved, and posed for several photos while looking right at my lens. What a great moment! I’ll post the interview as soon as it goes up.
The show itself was great – Anthrax looked like they were having a great time, reunited, and the crowd responded really well. Megadeth were amazing! Dave Mustaine voice seemed a LITTLE strained, but several of the Rust In Peace songs are really vocally challenging and also were never performed live until recently. All in all Megadeth was AWESOME. Then Slayer – who I’ve seen before and generally are always the same live – were Slayer, they slew in their workmanlike way. Nothing ostentatious, but they are a dependably accomplished and always good live.
Last weekend Michael Byrne and I covered the Vaselines US tour kickoff at the 9:30 Club in DC. Pretty fun show, I had never seen them before, and honestly didn’t know much about them besides that they were Kurt Cobain’s muse… well, pleasant suprise, an engaging poppy band with really foul mouthed (but in an adorable way) stage banter.
I covered this years’ Virgin Fest for the Baltimore Sun and it was a doozy (and a lot of work). Performances by: MIA, LCD Soundsystem, Pavement, Ludacris, Sleigh Bells, Chromeo, Matt & Kim, Joan Jett, Modeselector, Thievery Corporation, Edward Sharpe, and MANY MANY more. By the end of the day I was delirious, dehydrated and had a blister on my shutter finger! But I also saw some great shows… Pavement was a big highlight, and LCD was great. MIA invited the crowd to join her on stage (a move which I could tell stressed the security guys out to no end, but they handled it well)… Ludacris was also awesome. All in all it was a great time, and much of (maybe all?) the proceeds went to charity, which is great. I think the mood in general was lifted by the fact that most tickets were free or for a good cause.
Afterwards I went to the Ottobar to catch the Death Set/Po Po/Waaves show, but I was too wiped out to shoot it. Then I somehow ended up at a punk cover band show and my car got towed… but that’s a story for another time…
To see all the photos from VirginFest 2010 (a lot), click here.
Barn Aid was a one time benefit show at the Golden West for Springfield Farm in Sparks, Maryland, which needs money to pay some legal bills. It was a GREAT night and featured a reunion show for Birdland (which is the band which ultimately became Celebration), Wye Oak, and the Pilgrim.
Deathface / the Captain @ No Rule
The Shirks / Hollywood
Caught a few random shows last week… dropped in at Cullen Stalin & Scottie B’s always entertaining NO RULE party (every monday at Metro Gallery in Baltimore). They bring in an always rotating assortment of out-of-towners who spin a wide variety of dance music… a great stop on a monday in baltimore.
I also checked out Hollywood & the Shirks at the Dionysus 3rd Floor (aka Jerrod’s Attic). Hollywood needs no introduction – really fun Baltimore rock n roll. Shirks are a DC band that I hadn’t seen before, but who are comprised of a bunch of familiar faces… I couldn’t place everyone in the band, but I think it’s all people who have been playing in bands for awhile. They were good, check them out. You can check the whole set here.
I was lucky enough to cover Christian Fennesz’ performance at the Sonic Circuits festival… it was at the Strathmore Mansion, a very intimate (and classy!) location for a concert. Fennesz has only rarely played in the US and the small room was packed with very lucky people… I’m sure there must be footage of this somewhere on youtube, but it’s not a replacement for being in that room and hearing Fennesz perform. A great night.
Read the Washington Post review | See the rest of the Fennesz photos.
I was also able, thanks to the awesome people at Wayside Music (waysidemusic.com) and Cuneiform Records (cuneiformrecords.com), attend a EXTREMELY rare collaborative performance of Merzbow and Richard Pinhas at the French Embassy in DC. This was by far the most SECURE show I’ve ever been too, and in fact when I tried to leave the show, was locked in the super luxurious grounds until an unseen person remotely opened the steel gate. So surreal. We also got to pal around with Richard and his son and discuss America, France, and all sorts of topics. Richard was really funny in person and his son was a trip!
The show itself was pretty great – Merzbow creating sonic textures on his laptop/electronic gear while Richard Pinhas played analog soundscapes with his guitar rig. Great stuff, and again, a packed theater. I’m not sure if this is the first Sonic Circuits festival, but this year was quite an accomplishment and I am already looking forward to 2011′s!
Last week, i shot Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros’ packed 9:30 Club for the Virgin Fest pre-party. You can check out more photos on SPIN.com, or my photo set here.
I shot promo photos/photos for Decibel magazine for the Virginia doom metal band Salome. You can view the rest of the shots we choose here.
