Last week I was able to shoot Kylie Minogue’s show for the Washington Post… it was a pretty amazing affair. I am not a huge fan, or even a casual fan… in fact I can only think of one Kylie song off the top of my head! But the show was really fun, full of drama and pomp and an INCREDIBLE stage setup and performance… some of the most over the top stage stuff that I have ever seen at a concert. I was told that the tour cost $25 million… and I believe it. Check out photos below:
A little while back, I had a chance to shoot BIG K.R.I.T.’s sound check at the awesome DC venue, the U St Music hall. I love shooting here, the staff is always great. They have a policy that we have to shoot the sound checks, not the show itself, which is real different from most clubs, and has it’s good and bad points. The good is we get to shoot portraits of the artists, if they are down, like the quick one I shot of Big K.R.I.T. above. He was really chill and his soundcheck sounded great. Check the links below to see more photos and read a review of the actual show!
This show was REALLY fun. Brought to you by Unregistered Nurse, this was a good time sunday rock and roll show upstairs at the Ottobar, a great venue for punk/rock shows… great bar staff, lots of room, good prices… I love the Ottobar. I imagine it must be a bitch to move all those amps and whatnot up the stairs though…
Anyway, good times, good tunes, friends. Deep Sleep and Hollywood are local Baltimore bands, Hollywood is more on the garage side of things, while Deep Sleep is a fast hardcore band, fronted by Tony from Celebrated Summer records. The White Wires are from Canada, which they kept referencing, and were also REALLY DRUNK. They kept talking about how many centiliters of whiskey they had drink, which was funny since no one in the crowd probably had any idea how many centiliters are in a normal shot… or maybe even what a centiliter is. They were great live though, and tore through a quick set of poppy rock songs.
A couple of weeks back, I caught an assignment from the Sun to shoot Wye Oak’s homecoming show at the 2640 Space in Baltimore. This is a great venue, a retired/decommissioned church in Charles Village… huge, and beautiful, withc great acoustics. I have seen a lot of great shows there over the years, such as Celebration, Future Islands & Arboretum and negativland.
Wye Oak was extremely tight, coming off a month(s?) long US tour in support of their new Merge Records album, Civilian, and the sold out crowd was super receptive… after a weird incident with a drunk guy screaming about how he loved Titus Andronicus ended with crowd members escorting him out, anyway. As Erik Maza from the Sun said to me after the show, “Who gets drunk on Sunday BEFORE going to see Wye Oak at a Church?!” But back to the show… Wye Oak were good, and supplemented with a horn section for a few songs, which I thought was interesting and sounded good, I wonder if that is going to become a normal thing?
Yesterday, I got the photos back from last month’s photo show at the Windup Space. Before I do anything else with them, I figured I’d give people a chance to buy prints from the show. All are mounted on standout boxes, so are ready for hanging. Here’s what I’ve got left: Continue reading
NYC rapper Prodigy, best known as half of the influential hip-hop duo Mobb Deep who created such classic records as …The Infamous and Hell On Earth in the 90s, spoke last night at Baltimore’s Enoch Pratt Free Library. On tour supporting the release of his autobiography, My Infamous Life, Prodigy had quite a bit to say during the roughly 60 minute Q&A, hosted by AJ from 92Q’s Rap Attack.
I’ve been a fan of Mobb Deep since 1995, when I moved to NYC and was exposed to their sophomore album, …The Infamous. I still consider this to be one of THE classic records of the 90s and it’s one of my favorite albums of all time. He also has a successful solo career as well with albums such as HNIC and 2007’s underrated Return of the Mac. In recent years though, Prodigy is more well know for a series of beefs, an abortive signing to 50 Cent’s G-unit label, and his 2007 gun possession conviction which led to him being incarcerated for 3 years.
Prodigy talked about this all, and more. Some highlights: Continue reading
DJ Excel, DJ Booman and Bmore Original helped organize what I hope becomes a regular event, a record pull at Club Reality in Baltimore City. Labels, artists, DJs, Producers, and media from DC/MD/Va got together and talked, met each other, networked, performed, and had a dialogue. A cool event and very chill, low-stress, very little drama. Follow the record pull on facebook, or check out the new website.
I had never seen TV On The Radio before, nor ever been the hugest fan, but after getting the chance to shoot their tour opener in Philly, then a show a day or two later in Baltimore, I am a bit of a convert… they were GREAT live, full of energy, racing around the stage, etc… They seemed to be having a great time. I was surprised to hear that two of the touring line-up was new, thenvery happy to learn that their new drummer was none other than my friend Jahphet Landis from the Death Set! So happy for that dude. Anyway, these shows were great fun and tour opener Celebration also delivered, even though their Philly set was cut short.
This band was not what I expected… I guess the name and the pedigree made me think this would be some driving, semi-aggressive indie rock, but in actuality they are basically the exact opposite… soft rock, made me think I was at a waterfront restaurant in the 80s or something. Not bad, though, and the crowd certainly enjoyed it…
This is a good example of why I have always liked shooting on assignment… I would never have gone to this show on my own, as I don’t really know much about African music, but this was quite a lot of fun, and fun to shoot as well. I had never shot in Lisner Auditorium before, but it’s amusing how basically every college auditorium feels and looks the same… a nice venue though, and really friendly staff.
The other week, I caught King Tuff at the Golden West in Hampden… fun show courtesy of Unregistered Nurse Booking.
Here are a few shots from the hanging of Kyle and I’s photo show, Full Speed Or Nothing. It’s at the Windup Space in Baltimore, and the opening is this friday (4/15)! Come out! For more information, click here, or click over there on the left.
Celebration went on tour with TV On The Radio, I shot them in both Philly and Baltimore. (Read the SPIN review of the TVOTR Philly show here). The Philly show at Electric Factory was cut a little short, or seemed to be, but the Baltimore show at Rams Head was absolutely great. Packed house, sold out, great sound for Celebration’s set, friendly audience… a great show. Both shows showcased how together they are as a band and how the new “Digital Tarot” material they have been releasing online (and their new record) is really starting to shine live. Go see them!
Also : come to my Photo Show friday 4/15 at the Windup Space in Baltimore. Photos of Celebration and many other artists will be on display.
This show was awesome. OFF! is, of course, a sort of supergroup featuring Keith Morris, and they were really tight musically… their set was sort of made up of mini-sets punctuated by discussion by Morris on the history of punk, the bands he and his bandmates have been in before, the state of music and politics today, etc… but don’t let that fool you, it was a blast. Trash Talk was intense too, full of energy and the singer was in the crowd pretty much the whole set. Good times. Nervous Impulse, the new band from the singer of the Goons was good too.
I had never been to the venue, the Red Palace before. It was okay, a smallish show space but they had a nice beer selection and a really cute cat who lives at the bar.
This show made me realize I am getting old. I didn’t “get” this band. I liked aspects of their set/performance but… as a whole, just didn’t get how they gelled together. But the kids there to see this band seemed STOKED, so whatever. I’m old.
Great show. This was organized by Friends Records at the 2640 Space, a retired church in Baltimore. Great venue for a show, it’s a beautiful old building… the show was packed, too, and they did a lot of special decorations and stage setups… huge clouds made out of cotton candy (no joke!) and helium balloons floated around, lots of projectors situated around the room displayed dreamy images on the various walls… it was really impressive. All the bands were excellent, too… Celebration are playing later this month up and down the east coast with TV On The Radio, go if you can get tickets, you won’t regret it…
Every year I like to pick (with a little help from friends and readers) my best photos of the year. I’m posting it a little late this year, but it’s a fun tradition and a good exercise, looking through a whole year’s worth of output. I recommend it to any creative/craft type person. It’s also a good excuse to present my newly launched photoshelter page, where you can buy prints of mine (this set is the top gallery/slideshow there).
So, that out of the way, on with the post!
Lemz, promo photo
Janelle Monae, 9:30 Club
Fucked Up, RNR Hotel
DJ/Rupture, Big Ears Festival
Near Croakeye, North Dakota
Billy Idol, HFStival
Joanna Newsom, Big Ears Festival
Lords of Acid, Bourbon Street
Andrew WK, Big Ears Festival
Usher, Verizon Center
Dope Body, Whartscape
Arab On Radar, Whartscape
The Spark, CCAS
Paramore, Merriweather Post Pavilion
Bmore Original Crew, promo photo
Dancer, Deep Sugar
Double Dagger, Whartscape
Burning Car, Mount Vernon
Slayer, First Mariner Arena
Lake Isobel, Colorado
Benny Stixx, promo shot
as i mentioned above, you can buy prints of all of these at my new photoshelter site.
if you are really curious, here are all the photos i considered for inclusion here.
also, here are my best of lists from:
I love the Ex. I am a late-term fan, I first saw them with the new line-up, so a lot people may think less of them now with their more guitar-oriented sound… but I think they are terrific, and they are always spectacular live… this was definitely one of the best shows of the 60 or so shows I have seen so far this year.
I was supposed to shoot her concerts in DC and Bmore for the Baltimore Sun and the Washington Post, but apparently at the last minute her people decided no press coverage. In Baltimore, I just didn’t go, but the DC-area one I showed up, and was even in the club when the word came down, no photos of the show… on my way out I spied a bunch of guys with cameras and was asking them who they shoot for and they were a bit evasive… I realized after a minute they were paparazzis! So I hung out with them for twenty minutes or so and then snapped these, my only examples of paparazzi photos I’ve ever done (and likely ever will do). The paparazzi guys were cool, and had some REALLY funny stories!
These photos aren’t that great, but I’m posting them just because of the story.
Caught Robert Glasper’s RCDC Experiment at the Bohemian Caverns the other day on assignment. Fun place to see music, go here if you haven’t… This group is made out of a bunch of accomplished players more well know for working on other artist’s albums, all jamming together. Fusion jazz/hip-hop type stuff. Not my normal bag, but they sounded good and were obviously having a great time.
I also was assigned to shoot Chateau Marmont, a Parisian band playing as some sort of French Culture Festival in DC… at the Velvet Lounge of all places. Remember when that place was the dive-y-est spot on all of U Street? Weird to rub elbows with a bunch of internationals at this show.