Last week I saw the Oxes play a reunion show at the Wind-Up Space in Baltimore. It’s a cool spot that my friend Russell owns, it has a very different interior design than most bars/clubs, in that it is super clean and fairly well lit, but I like it. The Oxes were awesome… I never really saw them when they were a going concern, but I have seen them a few times at reunions over the years and they are always awesome.

view all my Oxes shots here

in other news…

Nerve City, at the Golden West. Shot this for Dana’s Unregistered Nurse Booking.

Last week, after seeing Will Oldham play, I decided to go to the complete OPPOSITE side of the spectrum and dropped in at HARD Tour at Sonar to check out Crystal Castles, Rusko, and Sinden. I got there just in time to see (well, mostly hear) Rye Rye closing out the set with Sinden, which sounded great… After some hanging out with old bros, I shot Rusko, who is always fun and then did my best to shoot Crystal Castles… they had the photographer’s pit blocked off for their set because the crowd was CRAZY. Who knew that Crystal Castles’ fans were so wild? I remember them being a band that only appealed to a few in the know people but I guess they have blown up to major proportions since the last time I checked. Anyway, I got a few shots of them from the sidestage/a distance and in general marvelled at the crowdsurfing ways of the youth. Fun night.

Check out all my Rusko / Crystal Castles shots here

Last week, I covered the Lyle Lovett show that was part of the Maryland Hot August Blues festival for the Baltimore Sun… it was pretty fun, a very different crowd than most shows I cover. Not the biggest Lyle Lovett fan, but he certainly has a showmanship/flair about him.

See the whole photo set here

Last week I covered the Bonnie “Prince” Billy (aka Will Oldham) show at the Rams Head Tavern in Annapolis. I didn’t know what to expect from the place, but it’s basically a bar with a dinner area that doubles as a show space – very good sound and very intimate. I am only a causal fan of Will Oldham, but it was a great show… I don’t usually stay til the end of concerts, but this time I did, at least through the second encore (it looked like a third was about to happen as I left). It was a really good night…

See the whole photo set here | Read the Washington Post review here

I finally uploaded the last of my pics from Whartscape 2010! This year (probably the last) was great fun, even with a few setbacks – probably my favorite one so far. Arab on Radar, the Oxes (who I missed), and Universal Order of Armageddon all did reunions. Lil B the Based God played. So much sweat was excuded and so many beverages were consumed.

Click here to see all of my Whartscape 2010 photos. (newest ones at the top)

This was it: the very last Whartscape after five oven-hot years in downtown Baltimore celebrating weird, “weird,” and occasional masturbation, but far more pure awesome underground don’t-give-a-fuck music via the all growed up warehouse nuts of Wham City. There’ve been five of these things, growing (mostly) every year, but this was my third. And best. And loudest. And, holy sweet damn, the hottest. I mean, last Saturday night in a warehouse listening to one of the planet’s best ever hardcore bands, it was even too hot to drink a beer.

Why was this the best? The short answers are Universal Order of Armageddon (see above) and Arab On Radar, both reunited after being presumed dead for 16 and 8 years, respectively. The Oxes were back, performing in the midst of a light rail thruway. Bmore rappers Get Em Mamis made the boys and girls hearts turn to sauce. Squealcore unit Ponytail gave what’s rumored to be its last ever show. And that’s not even talking about who knows how many awesome smaller Baltimore bands that you don’t even know about because you don’t live here.

Sunday almost got trashed totally by a quick moving and brutal storm, shredding at least one of the outdoor parking lot stage canopies. But the Whammers and their legion of volunteers (crew of volunteers?) had it moved in like an hour indoors to air conditioning and the amazing feel-it-in-your-bones sound system of the mammoth Sonar club, who’d basically just said “sure” and scrambled up a bunch of bartenders and a door guy. Bummer it got shut down after some metalcore twerp in another room pulled a fire alarm.

Yeah, there was art-shock stuff and even some neon. (Ear Pwr needs to stop, now, please.) And maybe this is what you think of when you think of Baltimore, some paradise of Casio-toting neutrinos with shitty attitudes about people that don’t have _that_ on vinyl or maybe know how to and enjoy playing guitar. Nah, you’ve got it wrong. There’s so much here and those shitty neutrinos are really only like three dudes that can’t get laid.

How’s DJ Dog Dick on one side making splattertronic noise crunk, cave creature Hollywood making guitar war, Dan Deacon himself with full live ensemble making avant-garde future-pop dance music. I could go on. And on. So I will just a little below, with some help from Baltimore’s finest photog, Josh Sisk.

This crew is called Gravebangers and a bystander remembers it as “a bunch of people in shock makeup, with inverted crosses, screaming like banshees in between songs. The songs were. . . not rapping but not exactly singing. And about a variety of things including Alex Proyas’ Dark City.” I missed it, alas. Figure its at least 100 degrees in that room.

When Arab On Radar came on stage, my superfan buddy Dave and I were sitting down sort of in the back, taking it easy because it was around 100 degrees and the breeze wasn’t helping much. Now, Dave is a pretty shy computer hacker kind of guy and he’d resigned to sitting and enjoying the noise-rock deity do its thing from afar. But I swear, it was like watching a junky staring down a bag of rock. Finally, thank god, he went for it and charged down into the mass throng of kids and oldsters and its suffocating pit–and I didn’t see him again that night.

After the thunderstorm came through, bands got split between the warehouse stages and Sonar. Health got sent to the warehouse stages because (I imagine) Health just makes more sense there with the more avant and party and whathaveyou stuff. Anyhow, apparently they had a hissy fit and insisted in playing the “real club,” thus shortening Beach House’s set time. Whatever.

I’d really like to like ‘em but honestly this kind of shit feels like avant-garde-slash-noise art cherry-picking. They’re like the Radiohead of the underground DIY scene. They’re too slick and come off as cheap.

I feel like a amateur but I’d never seen Lightning Bolt before. Black Pus, once, last year–but not the pair together. What can I say? I couldn’t stop watching Brian Chippendale drum. It’s like. . . like, dunno, watching a gunfighter shoot off the Sheriff’s badge, and then watch him shoot the buttons off every jacket in town in one mean loud go of it.

Their racket sounds ecstatic and dynamic, and actual songs or movements come together making Lightning Bolt-the-experience actually have some sonic purpose. Apparently, they also stopped playing on the floor which is a really good thing because Josh barely got into and out of the pit with his body and camera in reasonable shape. Thanks buddy.

This is the former folk songwriter Jana Hunter’s new lo-fi rock band, and they are fucking great. Gritty atmosphere, melodies that work like Xanax straight to the spine, and that voice. Oh my, that voice, a sort of androgynous beautiful to make Antony cock an ear, at least. Buy Lower Dens’ new record, right now–it’s called Twin Hand Movement.

Le sigh, I’m now blushing.

Dave Nada used to play in hardcore bands around here back when. Then he started making Baltimore club music, like new-school heavy party jams using, like, Twisted Sister samples. Now, he’s in a duo with Matt Nordstrom making all-in heavy-as-lead party house music for every cool dance label around.

I’m 30-years-old and grew up between Detroit and Colorado. I dunno if that’s an excuse for being 16 years late to the Universal Order of Armageddon hardcore doomsday party but, no matter, I witnessed the first reunion of the Maryland force-of-nature since disbanding in 2004. What can I say? I can’t imagine it being any more intense back then. I thought blood was about to burst out of Colin Seven’s neck and it’d hose off the room only to evaporate in blood steam and we’d be thrashing around a warehouse sauna of the Most Real. From now on when I see guitarist Tonie Joy lurking around Baltimore, I’m going to have to do a little bow or something. Again: I had no idea.

This reunion happened in New York too. Sucks if you missed it.

Sick Weapons are apparently breaking up and that’s a bummer. They’re one of the finest punk bands to come from this city in who knows how long, and Ellie is best frontwoman you might never have the privilege of thrashing around a mosh pit to. They’ve got a first and last record coming out on Reptilian very soon and you should at least hunt it down.

Celebration used to be a pretty big deal in indieland, all palling around with TV On the Radio back in the day. Now, they stick close to home, release music according to the tarot, exist as all-around awesome hippies, and play these incredible shows of gut-soul meets spirit-rock. Their songs are this mix of joy, nostalgia, and wanting a thing back that maybe you just can’t have. Celebration’s new songs are all free, so go here now: celebrationelectrictarot.com. Anyhow, their setlist was all-new last weekend and they were great. I hope all those songs are on that site soon.

Dan Deacon isn’t the only person that made this happen, but he’s the main one. Here’s a couple of kids dancing down an aisle in the crowd at his performance.

A week or so I ago was lucky enough to cover two New Orleans artists for the Washington Post – I asked my editor if he gave me the assignments because I’m from Louisiana, but no, total coincidence! The first was Trombone Shorty at 9:30 Club, who I wasn’t particularly familiar with before going in, but I figured it was going to be fun since he started the set with “As the Saints Go Marching In”… it was a pretty energetic show, Trombone Shorty has an almost unbelievable amount of energy and he got the crowd worked up to a level I haven’t seen in a long time at the 9:30.

Leo Nocentelli’s The Meters Experience (at Blues Alley) was alot more relaxed, focused more on a chiller mood that fit in with the dark atmosphere at Blues Alley, a dinner club I had never attended before. Actually, before going there, I had spent years wondering if the dinner clubs you see in old movies, where a big band plays to people dining even still existed… it does! This show was a lot less intense then the one at the 9:30, but it was chock full of stories and anecdotes about the early days of the Meters and how they came up with their songs, and so forth. Pretty interesting stuff.

Trombone Shorty photo set | Trombone Shorty Washington Post review
Meters Experience photo set | Meters Experience Washington Post review

A couple of weeks ago, I shot Paramore & Tegan and Sara for the Baltimore Sun. You can see the gallery here on the Sun site.

I am not a huge Paramore fan, but man… they were totally in control of their crowd. Especially Hayley Williams, the lead singer – she had the whole arena in the palm of her hand. As big as Paramore are now, I would be really suprised if she/they wasn’t a much bigger star in a few years…

Tegan and Sara are a band I used to like a bit, but hadn’t listen to them in a few years… they had a much calmer, but also more friendly and affable relationship with the crowd, and their set was way more pro/rock and less indie/intimate than I would have expected. Good set though.

Check out all my Paramore & Tegan and Sara photos on flickr here.

A few weeks ago, I covered Smashing Pumpkins for the Baltimore Sun. You can read the review here and also view all the photos here.

The photos of the Pumpkins aren’t that great because the band wanted everyone to shoot from VERY far back (which is not normal), so I had to do the best I could. Ah well. It was a weird show, basically half diehard Smashing Pumpkins fans who love even their recent material, and half people there for a nostalgia fix. The two sides didn’t mesh well and Corgan seemed annoyed by requests to play hits that were 17 years old. Ah well. The new stuff, for the record, still sounds pretty good even though I don’t know the songs.

Kill Hannah and Bad City opened:

murder city devils @ sonar

i haven’t seen this band – one of my favorite bands – since… 2000? 2001? I saw them on tour on in name and blood in new orleans. they played with zeke who was (i think) a stoner-y rock band that incorporated clog dancing into their set. even though the dudes in mcd tried unsuccessfully to pick up my then-girlfriend in front of me, they were still awesome. i don’t know how much longer this reunion tour lasts, but go see them if you get a chance.

benny stixx @ no rule

i shot benny recently for his label, bmore original, and wanted to go see him spin. it was a good time, AND he has a new record coming out really soon. get it from bmore original.

unruly records & bmore original + no rule fam

while benny was spinning, DJ Excel from bmore original brought it to my attention just how many baltimore club & hip-hop artists were in the room… so we origanized a quick group shot. from L to R: booman, chris brooks, scottie b, dj excel, rogue, cullen stalin, jimmy jones, derek from unruly, emmy, kw griff

on that same tip, here is a shot from a week earlier of scottie b and dan deacon, two of baltimore’s most influential artists:

vincent black shadow

     
     

the other day i managed to be walking by when a car caught fire on my block… though caught fire is sort of a misnomer, this thing went up like a match… it was spooky/scary how fast it went from smoking to an inferno. i always sort of thought movies exaggerated how fast a car can burn up but they don’t…. there was no explosion, though. one thing i never thought about a car fire is how the door panels and tires kept popping, making gunshot-like sounds. i guess it’s the air inside getting hotter and expanding… pretty crazy.

you can see more photos of it here. one was in the baltimore sun as well.

Last week I saw NOBUNNY at the Talking Head, it was a lot of fun. In case you don’t know them, they are a rock/punk band that sounds sorta “retro”, with catchy songs and really shoutable choruses…. and a singer who wears a rabbit mask, S&M/fetish gear and tightie-whities. It was packed, people were crowdsurfing, throwing beers/waters, generally going nuts. Some crowdsurfer landed on my head. Afterwards I helped a half dozen people look for their phones/wallets/sadly smashed glasses. Good show. click here for more NOBUNNY photos

I also recently shot Passion Pit and Tokyo Police Club at Rams Head for the Baltimore Sun. Click here to see the review, and here to see the gallery of my shots. You can also click here to see all of my Passion Pit and Tokyo Police Club shots on my Flickr.

In the last couple of weeks I have seen a LOT of New Orleans bands/artists for some reason… it’s been pretty cool. First I saw the always amazing EYEHATEGOD at Maryland Death Fest, and even though I have seen them before, it is always a treat. (Possibly amusing aside – when I moved to New York City for college, I ran into a dude who, when I said I was from Louisiana asked me if I liked EYEHATEGOD and Acid Bath and it blew my MIND because this was before the internet was a big deal and I just assumed no one knew who those bands were outside of Louisiana)…. click here to see more EYEHATEGOD photos from MDF2010

I also managed to catch “Queen of Sissy Bounce” Big Freedia. In case you don’t know what bounce music is, it’s the regional dance music of New Orleans (like Baltimore Club is for Bmore and Gogo is for DC), and is heavily call-and-response oriented. Sissy Bounce, which I think was originated by Katey Red, is gay/trans-themed Bounce music, and is getting alot of attention right now. Bounce is also pretty awesome, and used to be a bit controversial. Back in the day people like Mystikal would record songs with lines like “never gonna bounce!”. Not sure if it’s still like that. Anyway, the show was awesome, Big Freedia had a bunch of dancers with her and there was tons of call-and-response, ass shaking and everything you’d expect… click here for Big Freedia photos.

Finally I saw the Amazing Mister Quintron and Miss Pussycat the other night, at the Golden West. I have been a fan of theirs for yearssss and they are good friends with people I know from New Orleans. Their music/art is crazy and fun, and you probably have heard of them if you are reading this, but if not, check them out. They do things like host puppetshows before every show and build their own musical instruments. They also used to have a underground club in New Orleans, the Spellcaster Lodge… I don’t know if it has re-opened or not. Anyway, the show was excellent. Click here for Quintron and Miss Pussycat photos.

This year was the eight Maryland Death Fest, a annual music festival at Sonar in Baltimore that is, without a doubt, the best metal/extreme music festival in the US/North America. It is always a great time and has been getting bigger and more well-organized with each successive year. This time around there were TWO outdoor stages, an indoor stage, a merch room, and dozens of vendors… not to mention thousands of devoted metalheads deposited right into downtown baltimore.

It’s hard for me to go to the WHOLE thing, it’s just overwhelming, but luckily it’s located centrally and close to my house so I usually just dip in to check out the bands I want to see. This year that included EYEHATEGOD, Autopsy, Obituary, Entombed, Pentagram, Deceased, and Converge. I also checked out a few new (to me) bands, my favorite being Captain Cleanoff from Australia. For me, the standout shows of the weekend (besides Captain Cleanoff) were Autopsy and Pentagram…

If you like metal, try to make it to this fest next year!!!

Click here to see more Maryland Death Fest pictures!

See also: My post about Maryland Death Fest 2009

two nights ago i saw PiL in baltimore, it was a pretty fun show. i was really hesitant to go because i sort of assumed it would be terrible… but they were good! really it was many John Lydon’s show, but the sound was great and the band was tight and they played a lot of classics. Check out all my shots from Public Image Limited.

Continuing the 70s post/punk train, last night i saw the Buzzcocks at the Ottobar in baltimore. I was more confident going into this one, I’ve seen them recently-ish and they were good, and they did not disappoint. Great show and it was all old material, go see them if they come to your town! (I didn’t shoot at this, just watched and saw lots of old friends).

Last month, Taxlo celebrated Cullen Stalin’s birthday at Sonar with a blow out party…. click here for the photos.

A long time posting but I did the damn thing at SXSW this year and here are some photos. Pictured: the Dum Dum Girls, the XX, Dave Nada stagediving, me and one of the GWAR dudes, Dam-Funk, Major Lazer, Rye Rye, Haushka. This year was a lot of fun… even though it was freakishly cold!

View all my SXSW 2010 shots!.

Last month Michael Byrne and myself covered this festival for SPIN. You can see the coverage here. We saw, among other things: Andrew WK performing classical music with Calder Quartet, the Ex, Terry Riley and Bang the Can performing In C, Saint Vincent, Vampire Weekend, Ben Frost, DJ/Rupture (several times), the xx, Joanna Newsom, Adrian Belew… and many more.

Knoxville is also a great town! So many great and beautiful music venues and every seems to be really nice. One thing that I thought was really great is all the people working at the various venues that were hosting the festival seemed VERY knowledgable about both the history of their venue and music in general. And they were super polite and friendly. Also don’t miss King Tut’s Egyptian Diner if you ever are in Knoxville… its a treat!

See all my photos from Big Ears here.