A few weeks back, I shot some portraits/promo shots for my friends, DC-based group Volta Bureau (featuring Will Eastman, OutputMessage, and Micah Vellian), to help promote their first release, Hope. Did you know they are named after a historical place in DC?
You can see more of my photos of Volta Bureau (and many others) in my Portraits & Promo Shots gallery.
What a fun show! A combination “back to school”/”Dan’s birthday” show, 350 or so people packed into the parking lot behind Current Gallery at 6pm sharp and got to see great sets by 3 local acts. What Cheer Brigade also played, and were great! They are a 12+ piece brass band from Rhode Island… really fun to see live. They stressed that everyone should be there on time or they would be sold out, which ruled, show started on time, ended on time. The rain managed to MOSTLY hold off, and we got to see an acapella performance by Future Islands after Garrett’s laptop shorted out from the drizzle… hopefully it’s okay. All fun!
Continuing in the trend of photos that I haven’t posted for months, here are shots from the Death Set’s matinee show at the Windup Space a few months back, during Death Fest weekend. Always fun to see these boys. Also included are some shots of Eyeball Skeleton and Adventure (with Mark Brown). And the lovable Russ & Gonz from the Windup Space.
Way late on posting these pictures! In July, Animal Collective finally played Merriweather Post Pavilion, the venue for which they named their breakthrough album. I covered it for the Baltimore Sun and SPIN. It was a great show, with some amazing stage decoration and lighting. They played mostly new material, but the crowd seemed mostly into it.
This past weekend I walked around the city taking photos of different hotels and other business for the City Paper BaltiManual and the Grand Prix Guide. On the way back from one of these jaunts I snapped the above shot of my neighborhood, Mount Vernon. I love my neighborhood.
I hadn’t seen Darkest Hour in years… seeing them at the 9:30 Club on the Summer Slaughter tour was a far cry from seeing them play on a friend’s driveway in 99, which was the first time I saw them, but it was still alot of fun. Definitely one of the highlights of the Summer Slaughter 2011, the other of which was Dying Fetus, of which I will post photos in a few days…
This was a really fun show. I wasn’t super familiar with this band before the show, but they are a total over the top rock band from Mexico, sort of a Latino U2 or something. More lights on stage than I have seen at almost any show ever!
Driving to a City Paper photo shoot, me and my friend (and talented photographer) J.M. Giordano saw the above… some driver who was foolish enough to try and drive through several feet of standing water on North Point Boulevard. I ran out through the rain and grabbed a few pics, the best of which is above.
2 cool shows at the Golden West, one photo post! Milo from the Descendents even made an appearance at the Scott Reynolds show and was nice enough to pose for a few photos!
Shot several shows in Hampden last week… 2 at the Golden West presented by Unregistered Nurse and another at Fraziers. Saw several new bands, including Denny Bowen (of Double Dagger)’s new band Roomrunner, and Ryan Kidwell (Cex) and Jeremy from Ponytail’s new one Sprayer. Great times all around.
Two fun, light-hearted vaguely internet-oriented bands at the Kennedy Center to celebrate a decade of the Millenium Stage, which showcases free bands EVERY DAY, which is crazy when you think about it. Pamplamoose was full of fun stage banter, while Ok Go!’s show was lots of bombast, with a big video screen that didn’t quite work, 3D glasses, confetti cannons firing every few minutes… quite a spectacle!
Two shows I shot recently for the Washington Post. Sade was interesting… totally packed, yet very chill, a very grown-up crowd (obviously). Beautiful voice and very professional, yet you got the impression that she didn’t really like being on stage, which makes sense considering her famous reticence at being in the spotlight.
A Night In Treme, which closed out the DC Jazz Fest, on the other hand was an unabashed party. Total abandon and fun from all the musicians (and famous actors, and Louisiana Congressmen) on stage. They even did a second line, right through the crowd!
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Tearsheets for the first half of July. You can see a selection of my favorites on my Tearsheets page, here. Click any of the above to see some of my Tearsheets from the last week or two. Animal Collective/Black Dice show coverage, the Big Music Issue of the City Paper cover, a few shots of mine that were used on an IFC show, and more…
Also, there was a City Paper Low Budget Photo Show downtown, where various City Paper photogs sold work. Here is a picture of my stuff on the wall:
I worked with Sam Sessa at the Baltimore Sun on a piece about the breakdancing scene in Baltimore. The monthly party 4 Hours of Funk (at Wind Up Space) and the weekly Dig (at Joe Squared) are both hotbeds of breaking, as well as popping and locking. Both parties are fun, even for the uninitiated like myself. It’s pretty impressive just to hang back and watch their moves.
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I shot Big Freedia at DC9 for the Washington Post, one of the first shows after their re-opening, I believe. I was worried at first that it might be a low turnout, but DC crowds are expert at showing up JUSSSSST before the artist they want to see plays, and suddenly it was packed! Great show, one of the funniest I have been to this year. So much ass-shaking, which is to be expected. Freedia was really nice too, I managed to get a quick portrait before the show. I’ll always shoot a bounce show if I get a chance!
Three shows I shot for the Washington Post. Adele was the most packed I have -ever- seen the 930 Club, but all of these were sol out.
Monday night’s Ice Age show with Give and Death Domain at the Golden West (brought to you by Unregistered Nurse Booking)was a lot of fun… cool to see such a buzzed about new band play Baltimore as their 3rd show of their first US tour! Give was also a band I’d heard alot about and really enjoyed… they seem to be part of this current movement of looking back to hardcore and punk’s earlier days, but I like that! They were fun to see. Ice Age (or is it iceage? I’m unsure.) were fun and somber and Danish and VERY YOUNG. They seemed a little awkward at first, but got into it after a few songs… and the crowd certainly responded, there was lots of slamming and dancing going on, at least at the front. Good times.
I shot a few quick portraits of Scottie B and Cullen Stalin for a City Paper article, on stands now.
Cullen Stalin and Scottie B lay No Rule to rest – read the City Paper article here
Dillinger Escape Plan played a not-quite-secret-but-unpromoted show at the Talking Head, a very small venue behind Sonar after their recent two days opening at Sonar for the Deftones. It was pretty crazy! Everyone that showed up was a devout fan and there was alot of diving, surfing, moshing and other shenanigans. By the end of the show, the ceiling air duct was destroyed and the guitarist’s face was covered in blood. Wild times.
