Monthly Archives: November 2010

Howard Yardfest w/ Wale, Doug E Fresh, Trina Da Baddest Bitch…

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Lola Monroe @ Howard YardFest
Howard YardFest    Chopper @ Howard YardFest
Wale @ Howard YardFest
Doug E Fresh @ Howard YardFest    Howard YardFest
Mr Vegas @ Howard YardFest

This was a lot of fun. Wale, Doug E Fresh, Trina, Choppa, Mr Vegas, the beautiful Lola Monroe, Black Cobain, and about a million more artists performed. I had to file twice from the event, which was a wild experience fraught with bad wifi connections and dying laptop batteries, but I did it. At one point a mini stampede of people literally jumped over me, on girl kicking my laptop (where I was filing photos), but I made it through and on deadline! I won’t be able to review the show better than Chris Richards, so check out the two stories from the Washington Post:

Read the Washington Post Review | Read another Washington Post blog post

View the whole Yardfest set here

Wham City Comedy Tour first night!

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Wham City Comedy Tour.
Wham City Comedy Tour.    Wham City Comedy Tour.
Wham City Comedy Tour.
Wham City Comedy Tour.    Wham City Comedy Tour.

Me and Michael Byrne went to the opening night of the Wham City Comedy Tour, a DIY night of comedy, skits, music, video and performance art by the Wham City Collective (and friends). Wham City is a (mostly) Baltimore-based group of artists in all media, including Dan Deacon, Ed Schrader, Dina Kelberman, Connor Kizer, Adam Endres, and many more.

Since it was the first night (and, as I found out later, the first time the whole program was performed in it’s entirety), there were a few timing issues and a few off beats, but all in all it was really entertaining… the various pieces that were performed managed to change moods, from absurd slapstick, to bleak dark comedy, to wry intellectual wit. For every gag that fell flat, there were several that hit hard and I don’t think anyone there could say they didn’t laugh out loud many times. The first leg of the tour is done, but they are going out on another soon! Check them out!

Read the SPIN review here | See the full photo set here, with NEW stuff I just uploaded!

November Assignment Round-up: Kristofferson, Shinedown, Maita.

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Kris Kristofferson.

Kris Kristofferson at the Music Center at Strathmore. This was a fun little show, also one of the rare ones where I was probably the youngest person there… the room at Strathmore has great acoustics and it was really cool to see Kristofferson live. He is pretty damn old but was still a strong performer and had plenty of anecdotes about all the songs. It was also cool to see him perform stripped down, just him, no backing band.

See more photos in my Nov. Shows set | Read the Washington Post review

Shinedown @ Warner Theater.

I had honestly never even heard of Shinedown before I shot their show at Warner Theater in DC, they are apparently sort of a arena-style rock band. This was an “acoustic” performance of their material, which apparently is alot heavier normally than this was. They told earnest stories about the writing of each song, and the crowd seemed to love it.

See more photos in my Nov. Shows set | Read the Washington Post review

Luisa Maita @ Bohemian Caverns.

Luisa Maita at the Bohemian Caverns. I love the Bohemian Caverns and am glad I finally got a chance to shoot there! If you’ve never been and you live in DC, find the time to go. Great, intimate venue, and a historical landmark to boot. Luisa Maita’s music isn’t what I’d normally listen too but it was a good performance, she has a great voice and a really good way with the crowd, especially at an intimate venue like this.

View the whole Luisa Maita photo set | Read the Washington Post review

Ruiner, the Spark, Double Dagger, Never Enough @ CCAS.

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the Spark @ CCAS
Double Dagger @ CCAS    Never Enough @ CCAS

I dunno why I didn’t post this before! Last month was a great reunion/last show at CCAS – the Spark and Never Enough, two early-2000s hardcore bands from Baltimore played a reunion show with Ruiner, who is breaking up. Double Dagger played too. It was great, though I got moshed HARD and hurt my neck. I’m better now. Jesse Morgan got stitches too!

I also took official “last band pic” shots of The Spark and Never Enough:

The Spark.    Never Enough.

View the whole photo set | Read the BYT post

Die Antwoord & Rye Rye @ 9:30 Club.

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Die Antwoord @ 930
Die Antwoord @ 930    Die Antwoord @ 930

This show was fun. Die Antwoord, at the very least, can actually rap and perform live – something I wasn’t convinced of going in. Unfortunately, none of their other material is as fresh or good as their two singles… but that can be said for a lot of groups. They had a lot of energy, were stage-diving, spitting water on people, generally jumping around like crazy… it will be interesting to see if they can keep the momentum going or if this is it. Rye Rye opened, and did great – though the stage was crazy dark for her set! I was suprised but I guess they decided to keep it low-key. It’s great to see the arc of her career, she is still going strong and I imagine this time next year will be even bigger.

View the whole Die Antwoord/Rye Rye photo set | Read the BYT review

Roger Waters: the Wall in DC.

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Roger Waters, the Wall
Roger Waters, the Wall    Roger Waters, the Wall
Roger Waters, the Wall

Last month, I got a chance to shoot Roger Water’ the Wall tour for the Washington Post and Baltimore Sun. It was quite a spectacle… probably the most complex stage show I’ve ever shot. It was really challenging, with drastic changes in lighting, pyrotechnics, props, animatronics… pretty wild show.

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

October Assignment Round-Up.

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Joey & Rory

Joey & Rory @ the Carlysle Club : Read the Washington Post review.

Joshua Redman @ Blues Alley

Joshua Redman at Blues Alley. Read the Washington Post review.

raul malo @ birchmere.
shannon witworth @ birchmere.

Raul Malo & Shannon Whitworth at the Birchmere. Read the Washington Post review.

La Excelensia @ Artisphere.

La Excelensia at Artisphere. Read the Washington Post review here.

You can see more photos from these shows (and many more) here.

Japanther, the Death Set, Puerto Rico Flowers, Screen Vinyl Image, Lower Dens.

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puerto rico flowers.
screen vinyl image.

Mid October was pretty good for shows… starting out with the super rare performance by former Clockcleaner leader Sharkey’s new solo vehicle Puerto Rico Flowers. How rare? This was apparently their first, last, and only live show. Backed by a temporary group of friends, he played with Screen Vinyl Image and the Pfisters at the Talking Head Club in Baltimore, with the help of Fan Death Records and Unregistered Nurse.

View the whole Puerto Rico Flowers/Pfisters/Screen Vinyl Image set here

lower dens.

Then there was the last Lower Dens show of the year… Lower Dens is a Baltimore band, fronted by former solo artist Jana Hunter, they are pretty new and getting a lot of buzz… they just put out a debut record on Devendra Banhart’s record label and are just about to go out on what sounds like a GRUELING tour, starting with 11 shows at CMJ this past weekend. They are great; check them out.

View the whole Lower Dens set here

japanther.
the death set.

Then I snuck out to Arlington, VA to see Japanther and the Death Set play at the new Artisphere space. The staff, and the space, were awesome but somehow virtually no one showed up! Those of us who were there were treated to what amount to a private performance… really odd but a lot of fun! Both bands played new material, much of it related to the passing of Death Set member Beau Velasco, who died sadly last year. Really great performances from both bands. The Death Set has a new mixtape out next month, then a new full length in January and the songs they played off of that sounded good so pick it up when its out!

View the whole Japanther/the Death Set set here

This post also appeared in a different form on BYT.