Quite a night : 3 shows, 3 cities, 1 monday

May 23, 2011 by josh

The other monday I tackled not one, not two, but THREE shows in one evening. First I shot Ramblin Jack Elliott for the Washington Post in Rockville, MD. He played a church to a music preservation society crowd. Nice people, and a cool setting. The last time I saw him was at a huge political event in San Francisco, years ago… it was cool to check him out, even for a little bit, in a more intimate space.

Next up was Dirty Beaches at the Black Cat in DC. My girlfriend has been telling me to check out his music for quite awhile, but I must admit I had never heard Dirty Beaches until I stepped into the show. The lights were almost totally down, he was light by what looked like a single light… a white-tshirt clad 50s greaser-looking guy freaking out on a guitar, unaccompanied, playing crazy, fuzzy music out of Blue Velvet or something similar. It was pretty great. I’ve since gone back and gotten several of his records and downloads of his earlier tape only releases, and his music is great! Really recommended.

Finally, I limped back to Baltimore, dead tired, to Cullen Stalin’s No Rule party at Metro Gallery, to see DJ Ayres of the Rub and T&A Records. Ayres is an awesome guy, and a great DJ. I usually only see him at big events like SXSW or My Crew Be Unruly, so I really wanted to make it, say hi, shoot a few shots. Glad I did.

Cheap Time & Murder @ Golden West

May 16, 2011 by josh

Last week, Cheap Time played at the Golden West along with new Baltimore band MURDER (members of Vincent Black Shadow, Triac, Fishnet Stalkers)… it was pretty awesome (as is the norm for Unregistered Nurse shows), though I was dead on my feet from a busy week, I still had a good time. Cheap Time is on tour, check em out. Also, I took some promo photos of MURDER, they will be up in a day or two…

Rye Rye & Say Wut @ Metro Gallery

May 11, 2011 by josh

A few weeks back, Rye Rye and Say Whut did a video shoot at Metro Gallery in Baltimore for the Baltimore Sun. It was streamed live on the internet by a huge camera crew, as part of the promotions for Rye Rye’s debut full-length, which should be out soon (We’ve been waiting for it to drop for like a year or so!)… it was a great time, and while at first it felt a little weird, with all the lights and cameras, as soon as Rye Rye got going, the crowd loosened up and enjoyed the show… really getting into it and even taking the stage. It’s great to see her career taking off lately, and I am excited to see what happens when the album comes out! Click below to see the rest of the shots!

Steve Ignorant’s CRASS Songs Tour @ Sonar

May 11, 2011 by josh

First show back at the newly reopened (thank god!) Sonar, and, minus booze, it was still a great time. I will admit to being extremely skeptical of the idea of Steve Ignorant doing a “reunion” tour of Crass, but after seeing it and experiencing how genuine Steve seemed about the whole thing, my opinion softened. While I don’t think it was the same as actually seeing Crass play (how could it be), it was still a cool show, the band was extremely tight (perhaps too pro at times), and the crowd was extremely into it. My one issue was that it was weird that they even attempted to do the Eve Libertine and Joy De Vivre songs, since they were not on the tour. The singer who did them NAILED it, and was very good, but it was just odd to me (no reflection on her performance at all). I would have felt more “okay” about it had they just done Steve’s songs, since it’s ostensibly his tour.

That said, glad I went, and glad it managed to happen in Baltimore… and very glad Sonar is back!

White Wires, Deep Sleep, Hollywood @ Ottobar.

May 2, 2011 by josh

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.

Wye Oak @ 2640 Space

May 2, 2011 by josh

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?

Mobb Deep’s Prodigy speaks at Enoch Pratt.

April 27, 2011 by josh

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 →

DMV Record Pull – first night.

April 25, 2011 by josh

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.

TV On The Radio – Philly, Baltimore

April 20, 2011 by josh

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.

See all my TV On The Radio tour photos on flickr

Buy Prints from these TV On The Radio shows

Read the SPIN review of the TV On The Radio tour opener in Philly

Hanging the Show.

April 12, 2011 by josh

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.

Double Dagger @ Floristree.

March 24, 2011 by josh

The best rock band in Baltimore. This show was great, their shows are always great. See them when they play near you.

B-Eazy studio shots.

March 3, 2011 by josh

Last week, I had Baltimore Club artist B-Eazy in the studio for some promo shots. Get in touch if you need some promo photos.

Integrity + Haymaker @ Sonar (+ Pizza crowdsurfing)

February 14, 2011 by josh

The other day I was able to see Integrity, a band I have loved for years, play at Sonar with Haymaker, a Canadian band I’ve liked for years, and who apparently have never before played in the States, which seems crazy to me! I also caught the above photo of a gentleman crowdsurfing WHILE eating pizza. Amazing.

Click to see the rest of the Integrity/Haymaker photo set.

Deep Sleep.

February 14, 2011 by josh

Promo shot I did for Baltimore band DEEP SLEEP, to promote their new record. Contact me if your band needs promo shots.

Portrait Session : Rogue.

February 10, 2011 by josh

A couple of weeks ago I did a portrait session for Bmore Original recording artist Rogue. It was a lot of fun, I haven’t been shooting as many promo shots or portraits lately since I have been going to so many shows… it’s something I need to start doing more of again. Pictured are a few shots from the session.

Click here to see more shots of Rogue.

Universal Order of Armageddon, Regents, The Gift.

February 9, 2011 by josh

See more photos from the UOA/Regents/The Gift show here.

I wrote a little thing a couple of weeks ago about this show. Read that after the jump. Continue reading →

Simon Phoenix Bday bash w/ Dave Nada, Stereofaith

January 10, 2011 by josh

Simon Phoenix celebrated his birthday saturday night at the Golden West, and it was a blast… the Golden West is turning into a great, multi-faceted place for shows, the new management and the booking staff over there are among the best things to happen to the Baltimore music scene in quite awhile.

See the whole photo set here

Wu-Tang Clan @ Sonar

December 23, 2010 by josh

Sunday I shot the Wu-Tang Clan show at Sonar… awesome time. I wrote a little mini-post for BYT, I’ll update this when that is posted (today, hopefully!) Til then…

Check out the whole Wu-Tang Clan at Sonar photo set

UPDATE: here’s the BYT story

Wham City Comedy Tour first night!

November 26, 2010 by josh

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!

balmer odds & ends.

July 21, 2010 by josh

been shooting a lot lately… here are a few shots i like:

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

i shot these for Vincent Black Shadow’s upcoming album Baltamont, which is now cancelled since they broke up. look them up if you haven’t hard them, they were a really good noisy punk/rock band.

JOSH SISK

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