Finger Eleven @ the Pageant — 2008.04.16

If what came before didn’t do the job, it was the triple-threat at the end of the performance that sealed the deal for Finger Eleven as they stormed the Pageant.

Ending their 50-minute set, frontman Scott Anderson led his band through back to back covers of Franz Ferdinand’s “Take me Out” and Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall,” the latter of which had the entire venue singing the classic chorus.

The knockout punch, however, was the deliver of the band’s smash hit, “Paralyzer,” from their album Them vs. You vs. Me (2007).

Photographer’s Notes:

Frontman Scott Anderson belted it out, taking mostly a stationary position at the mic during the first three songs. In contrast, guitarists James Black and Rick Jackett, who flanked the singer on either side of the stage, were in constant motion, thrashing about and truly difficult to track.

At one point, Jackett spun his guitar around by its headstock, whipping the cable before reigning it back to resume with his crunchy riffs.

Overall, it was Anderson’s presence on stage that was most captivating to photograph, not to mention that the singer was naturally the best lit of the group.

Given the singer’s fairly static position, I was given the luxury of waiting for some of the roving rear lights to create some interesting rim lighting on several occasions.

Lighting:

This set saw lots of blue backlighting with strong magenta from the front. Alternate schemes included a reddish-orange mix from the front. Yellow, white, and magenta lights from the back also punctuated the first three songs.

Overall, there was much less light on the sides of the stage and even less on drummer Rich Beddoe. Anderson saw the lion’s share of the bright light.

Exposure & Metering:

I shot between ISO 3200 and 6400 for this set, at shutter speeds between 1/160 and 1/250 at f/2.8.

Lenses & Gear:

I used the NIkon D3 with the Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 and Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 for this set. The midrange zoom was great for covering everything but the tightest shots of Anderson, which the 70-200mm picked off with ease.

End Notes:

A big thanks to Steve and Wind-Up Records for setting up credentials at the last minute. Steve hooked it all up and even followed up via phone. How many publicists do that these days?

About the author: Todd Owyoung is an internationally published music photographer specializing in concert photography and band portraits. He also grills a mean steak.

Contact Todd for image licensing and assignments wherever the rock show lives. You can also get in touch with Todd via Twitter.

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 20th, 2008 at 11:04 pm and is filed under Music Photography and tagged with 2008, alt rock, canada, chevelle, concert photography, finger eleven, images, James Black, live, Music Photography, pageant, photography, Rich Beddoe, Rick Jackett, Scott Anderson, Sean Anderson, set list, spring, tour. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.