The other week, I checked out Trans Am playing the entirety of their FUTUREWORLD record, along with local stalwarts Dope Body and the blissfully droney (and foggy) The Psychic Paramount. An all around great show, in the club room at Sonar, but to me the best part of the evening were The Psychic Paramount, who I had somehow never seen before… a great set, a wall of noise, feedback, fog, light, riffs… really good experience. Check them out.
Last month to celebrate the birthday of local booker extraordinaire Dana Murphy (of Unregistered Nurse Booking), Pissed Jeans played a crazy show at the Golden West… complete with bottles of champagne, drag queens handing out cupcakes and shots, and plenty of other craziness.
I am currently displaying 3 pieces in New York Photo Festival’s juried exhibition Audio/Visual, at PowerHouse Arena in Dumbo, Brooklyn. It’s a show about music & photography, which pretty much means photos of musicians, though there were some interesting shots that didn’t quite fit that mold. You can read more about it here. The show is up all month, so if you find yourself in Dumbo, stop in!
Here are the photos that are in the show (Janelle Monae, Monotonix, The Spark):
Great show, best night. I stage dove, in fact all the photographers stage dove… wait, EVERYONE stage dove. Denny’s dad held it down at the front for the whole show! So much fun, what a good send off for one of the best bands the city has ever seen. Thanks for the memories, guys.
If you are interested, you can also:
Continuing the Double Dagger last shows train, last Thursday I went to see them at Death By Audio in Brooklyn… the kids there love DD, apparently, and the show was so full of singalongs and stagediving and crowdsurfing, I was nervous the Baltimore true finale might find it hard to top this…
This was a fun show, and pretty packed, in the Backstage of the Black Cat. The popular belief is that DC kids do not dance at shows, but that was proven untrue here… while it was not as wild as Baltimore or NYC, Double Dagger fans got moving and the band worked up a sweat. It was a great time, and a great start to 3 days in a row of me seeing this band.
This was a fun little show, put on by Unregistered Nurse booking. Highlight – when the singer/guitarist grabbed an excited girl from the crowd and taught her how to play his guitar part for the current song! (pictured above).
Last week, Future Islands played a show at Baltimore bar the Depot, a fairly small place, to celebrate the release of their new album, On the Water. The place was PACKED OUT, and they didn’t disappoint, playing a mix of new and old songs… the temperature had to go up like 10 or 15 degrees in that place by the time they were done. They are going on a nationwide tour starting next week, so check the tour dates and don’t miss your chance to see them!
Last week marked the beginning of Double Dagger’s last shows. The first was at Baltimore’s Charm City Art Space, a totally DIY-run venue that has existed for the better part of a decade (or maybe more? i lose track). I first met Nolan as a result of this venue, actually I probably met a lot of my friends as a result of this venue, and it’s incredible it is still going strong.
This show was GREAT, the space is small, but with higher ceilings than the old CCAS, so kids were free to crowdsurf, dance like crazy, and basically go wild. Tonight is Double Dagger’s last show in DC, at the Black Cat, so don’t miss out!
As most readers of this site probably know, this week ends with the last 3 Double Dagger shows ever. The band is calling it a day… one of the best punk bands, the best bands in general to ever come out of Baltimore, and all friends of mine as well. I have been seeing their shows for years, photographing them for years. In fact, Double Dagger was one of the first bands I shot after deciding I wanted to pursue concert photography seriously, and the above close-up of Nolen with the microphone was from that very show. It was taken while he was precariously standing on my chair (why were there chairs at Hampden Fest? I’ll never know… obviously they were expecting a different kind of band), singing down at me the words to “Camera Chimera”, their song about the over-whelming presence of the camera eye in our lives. Sorry, Nolen! Right after I took it, the guy next to me turned to me and said “That’ll never come out.” A week later, it made Explore (the top 200 photos on Flickr).
One of the best things about Double Dagger is their sense of humor; their smart/punk sensibility. After a “drums in the crowd” issue the previous year’s Whartscape festival, Dan Deacon told the guys specifically “don’t throw any drums in the crowd this year”. So of course, that was the first thing they did in 2010 – throw plastic inflatable drums! There are about a hundred more examples, too.
They also are a band who managed to write songs about important topics in out lives, and within our communities, but at the same time kept them fun & catchy… something so few punk bands have managed to do. So many of their songs resonate to Baltimoreans (but I imagine, everyone also) as reflecting aspects of the city and community we live in. It’s great to see so many younger kids at their shows… inspired not just by the wild stage hijinx (though there is plenty of that), but by the thoughtful content of the songs.
They are going to be missed. Come out to the last shows, I’ll be there.
Wed, October 19 – Washington, DC – Black Cat – w/ Imperial China, Holy Ghost Party
Thu, Oct. 20 – Brooklyn, NY – Death By Audio – w/ AIDS Wolf, Zomes
Fri Oct. 21 – Baltimore, MD – Ottobar – w/ awesome secret guests!!!
See more of my photos of Double Dagger below, or click here to see all of the ones I have up on Flickr.
This weekend, I saw one of my favorite metal bands, THOU, who are on Southern Lord and a myriad of other labels, and who hail from my hometown of Baton Rouge, Louisiana (minus the singer Bryan Funck, who is from New Orleans). I have known Bryan for years and he is a stellar dude in the world of diy booking, touring, and all around everything… and the band is pretty incredible. Challenging modern doom that doesn’t fall into the familiar cliches of the genre… recommended. You can find out more about them, and download songs and whatnot, at their website.
Baltimore band War On Women stopped into my studio the other day… we didn’t have much time but we had a fun shoot, I think some of these may end up on their new record, but I am not 100% sure. Get in touch if your band needs promo photos or the like.
This was a really fun show, way moreso than I expected… I only knew Ke$ha’s hits, but all the songs I saw were fun, and well-done live… full of energy. The crowd was also more psyched than almost any crowd I’d ever seen before, cheering and dancing to the music they played between acts… and totally dolled/glittered up, as well.
I’ve seen them a couple of times this year already, but TVOTR are always good live, and they were one of the highlights of this year’s Virgin FreeFest at Merriweather Post Pavilion.
Two bands with club in their names that played at virtually the same time at the FreeFest 2011! It took some wrangling, but I managed to get to shoot both bands and even got a aerial view:
Closing out the main stage, and the last rock band of the night, the Black Keys (who I’d never seen before) had the crowd anticipation stoked high before they came on stage… and they didn’t seem to disappoint, though I was way too burnt out to really appreciate their set. I’d like to see them again someday without having to work for 11 hours before they played!
Raver culture was there in full effect at Virgin Fest this year… perhaps fitting, since we are apparently in the midst of a full-fledged rave/dubstep takeover… Deadmau5 brought out a huge throng of kids, who stayed til the very end of FreeFest, the west stage area by the ferris wheel reaching the biggest capacity it had all festival.
There were also a lot of dudes doing Deadmau5 cosplay:
I never expected to see Patti Smith live, but was very pleased to be wrong about that… she put on a great, fiery show at FreeFest, and was one of the only artists I heard speak about politics and other weighty topics (which DID generate a few boos from some people in the audience). Her band was tight, she was full of energy, playful… great show. I’d love to see her again in a setting where she had time for a full set.
