Arcade Fire : Reflektor Tour 2014 @ Verizon Center

Arcade Fire @ Verizon Center
Arcade Fire @ Verizon Center
Arcade Fire @ Verizon Center
Arcade Fire @ Verizon Center
Arcade Fire @ Verizon Center
Arcade Fire @ Verizon Center
Arcade Fire @ Verizon Center

I shot the Arcade Fire Reflektor Tour at Verizon Center for the Washington Post. Was a little skeptical at first, having not kept up with them in years, but I thought the show was fun, and fun to shoot. The reviewer didn’t seem to like it much, but I had a good time.

See all the Arcade Fire : Reflektor Tour photos here!
See the Dan Deacon photos from Reflektor tour here!

Dan Deacon: Reflektor Tour 2014 @ Verizon Center

Dan Deacon @ Verizon Center
Dan Deacon @ Verizon Center
Dan Deacon @ Verizon Center
Dan Deacon @ Verizon Center
Wham City members Robby Rackleff & April Camlin lead the crowd in interpretive dance.
Dan Deacon @ Verizon Center

The other day I shot Dan Deacon and Arcade Fire for the Washington Post at their Verizon Center stop of the Reflektor tour. I initially was a little worried that the show would be a little empty, or that the crowd wouldn’t ‘get’ Dan’s typical group-participation antics. I was wrong – though it took a minute for the large venue to fill in, it eventually got packed in there and it seemed like everyone was super happy to join in with Dan.

Some funny moments of the show for me: at these big shows, photographers always have media handlers who take you where you are supposed to be. However, since Dan set up at front of house to play, they were like “wow, I don’t know what’s going on, just do your thing,” which rarely happens. Also, was surprised to find that grindcore legend Scott Hull was in attendance. He asked me what Dan Deacon was all about, I tried to explain it, and assumed it wouldn’t be to his taste… but he loved his show!

See all the Dan Deacon : Reflektor Tour @ Verizon Center photos here!
See all the Arcade Fire photos from Reflektor Tour here!

Little Richard at the historic Howard Theater, DC.

Little Richard @ Howard Theater, DC
I went into this show not sure what to expect – I knew Little Richard was old, I hadn’t heard about him playing any shows in recent years… but was pleasantly surprised overall by what I saw and heard. Sure, it was a little sad that he was brought out on a bench, unable to walk on his own, and he certainly seemed a little fragile – but his charisma and voice were still there, and he cracked jokes with the audience and told anecdotes, and with a iconic artist like this, that’s half of what you hope to see at their show. Backed by a great (and large) band, the music sounded great, too. See more of my Little Richard photos from the Howard Theater here.
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Omar Souleyman at the 9:30 Club.

Omar Souleyman @ 9:30 Club

This was a fun assignment. I have to admit, I knew nothing about Omar Souleyman going in… he is a Syrian singer who performs what sound like traditional songs (to my unknowledgeable ears) with a more modern style drone-y synth music background. Pretty interesting and a charismatic performer, to boot. Apparently he has released more than 500 albums! See more photos from Omar Souleyman’s performance at the 9:30 Club.
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Hot Chelle Rae @ 9:30 Club

Hot Chelle Rae @ 9:30 Club
Hot Chelle Rae @ 9:30 Club   Hot Chelle Rae @ 9:30 Club
Hot Chelle Rae @ 9:30 Club
Hot Chelle Rae @ 9:30 Club

Wow. I had never heard of this band before, though I realized once I was there that I had heard their hit single “Tonight Tonight”, but WOW. This was the first show I have been to where the crowd (comprised mostly of teenage girls) was louder than the music… much louder. A sold out 9:30, all screaming in unison, without much pause! Pretty wild.

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Bruce Springsteen & the E St Band @ Verizon Center.

Bruce Springsteen & the E St Band
Bruce Springsteen & the E St Band
Bruce Springsteen & the E St Band
Bruce Springsteen & the E St Band
Bruce Springsteen & the E St Band
Bruce Springsteen & the E St Band

This was a pretty great time. No openers, just Bruce & the band. I can’t say I am a deep cuts-style Springsteen fan, but I of course like many of his songs and he is an icon… it was great to get to shoot this for the Post. And the (sold out) crowd loved him, as you would expect.

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Van Halen @ Verizon Center.

Van Halen @ Verizon Center
Van Halen @ Verizon Center
Van Halen @ Verizon Center

This was a fun show. Everyone was in good form, DLR looked and sounded good (maybe a bit less acrobatics than the old days, but what can ya do), Eddie seemed healthy, Alex was a machine and… well, then there’s Wolfgang. He seemed to be having fun, at least.
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Massive: Moby, Skream & Benga, Tittsworth, Diplo & more.

Moby @ Fall Massive
crowd @ Fall Massive
Tittsworth @ Fall Massive   Moby's lightshow @ Fall Massive
dancer @ Fall Massive
Scott Henry @ Fall Massive   Moby @ Fall Massive
Skream & Benga @ Fall Massive
Armand Van Helden @ Fall Massive   Diplo @ Fall Massive
crowd @ Fall Massive

This was a lot of fun to shoot, 4 stages, 10,000 or so dance music fans, tons of lights and costumes and dancers and booze and everything else! In the full set, you will find photos of: Skream & Benga, Moby, Diplo, Tittsworth, Scott Henry, Armand Van Helden, Zedd, and lots and lots of fans.

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CMA Songwriter’s Series with Patty Loveless, Clint Black.

Patty Loveless @ CMA Songwriters Series
Clint Black @ CMA Songwriters Series
CMA Songwriters Series

I shot the CMA Songwriter’s Series at the Library of Congress. It was an intimate show where some top country songwriters – the guys who write the songs for the stars – got a chance to shine, tell stories about their songs, and have the chance to perform them along side stars like Clint Black and Patty Loveless.

  • See all the CMA Songwriter’s Series @ Library of Congress photos on Flickr.
  • Read the Washington Post review here.
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    Shelby Lynn @ the Birchmere.

    Shelby Lynn @ Birchmere
    Shelby Lynn @ Birchmere

    Shot Ms Lynn for the Washington Post at her show last week at The Birchmere. I was pleasantly surprised to find that she was touring with just her and a guitar, no glitz, no band.

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    DC Fotoweek 2011 / BYT Young At Heart photo show.

    byt-yah-2

    Last week I was in a photo show that was a part of DC Fotoweek 2011, BYT’s Young at Heart 2. It was a great time, including slideshows and Q&A with 6 amazing professional photographers (Joshua Cogan, Victoria F. Gaitán, Douglas Sonders, Scott Suchman, Nicole Wolf, and Marcus Yam) – you can see some examples of their work here.

    The show also featured slideshows of various BYT photographers, including myself. CLICK HERE to see a slideshow of my work that was on display. And here is the original youtube of my slideshow I made to remember what was in the show, it’s of worse quality, but you get the music that was being DJed so you can “feel the vibe”!

    Chris Young @ the Fillmore Silver Spring.

    Chris Young @ The Fillmore

    Chris Young @ The Fillmore   Chris Young @ The Fillmore   Chris Young @ The Fillmore

    I shot country western artist Chris Young at the Fillmore. Nice room, this was my first time there. Young was certainly a pleasant, fan-oriented artist, even if his music isn’t really my thing.

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    Ke$ha @ Patriot Center

    Ke$ha @ Patriot Center.
    Ke$ha @ Patriot Center.

    Ke$ha @ Patriot Center. Ke$ha @ Patriot Center. Ke$ha @ Patriot Center.

    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.

    Ke$ha Wash Post Tearsheet   Ke$ha Wash Post Tearsheet
    Ke$ha in the Washington Post

    Com Truise @ Black Cat

    Com Truise @ Black Cat

    Fun little show in the Black Cat backstage… they did a cool layout for the Washington Post story, too:

    Wash Post Tearsheet Com Truise Cx2 detail

    Volta Bureau portraits.

    Volta Bureau
    Volta Bureau

    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.

    Darkest Hour @ 9:30 Club.

    Darkest Hour @ 9:30 Club
    Darkest Hour @ 9:30 Club   Darkest Hour @ 9:30 Club
    Darkest Hour @ 9:30 Club

    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…

    Wash Post Darkest Hour Tearsheet Cx1

    Mana @ Patriot Center

    Mana.
    Mana.   Mana.
    Mana.

    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!

    Wash Post Mana Tear Sheet Cx1
    Wash Post Mana Tear Sheet Cx2