She Wants Revenge

After an explosive set by youngsters Be Your Own Pet, She Wants Revenge dimmed the lights and brought on the crushing Dark Wave tones to the Pageant.

Headlining the 2008 Nylon Summer Music Tour, the Los Angeles-based band’s epic, brooding performance was anchored by Justin Warfield‘s deep vocals and Adam Bravin’s sinister bass lines.

Photographer’s Notes:

Alright, so this set was dark. Really Dark. But if this show offers up anything, it’s the lesson that there are different kinds of darkness, with She Wants Revenge bringing a moody, sinister brand that utilized heavy color washes without a hint of white light. Much different than say, pitch blackness with strobes.

Heather Marie Ryan, who worked this tour, was super cool and hooked up a little back stage access so I could pick up some drummer shots. As per my instructions, I hung back behind the bass speakers for a few shots from both sides, which was nice treat. I was even lucky enough to get a bit of catchflash during this time, the only white light I saw during the set.

Lighting:

Deep color washes dominating this set, with nearly no front-lighting to speak of. Lighting for the first song was primarily blues and purples, which gave way to orange-reds for the rest of the alloted time.

Before the show, I was chatting with the lighting engineer at the venue and he warned me that it was going to be dark. He even said that the band had requested no front-lighting at all, and basically wanted only background effects with heavy smoke.

Lenses & Gear:

I used the Nikon D3 and a variety of lenses for this set, including the Nikon 50mm f/1.4, Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8, Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8, and Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8. Basically, I threw everything I could at these guys.

Exposure & Metering:

I shot between 1/40 and 1/80 for this set at f/2.8, between ISO 3200 and ISO 6400. Needless to say, it was pretty dark.

End Notes:

Despite the challenges working with this set’s lighting, or lack of it, it was actually a slightly refreshing change in some respects. And going in, I didn’t expect anything more or less, which goes a long way toward sucking it up and working with what’s available.

Again, thanks to Heather for hooking up the backstage access for a song!

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, June 22nd, 2008 at 7:51 pm and is filed under Music Photography and tagged with 2008, be your own pet, byop, darkwave, images, Justin Warfield, live, magazine, Music Photography, nylon, photography, she wants revenge, tour. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.