Here’s just a taste of Mayhem from Slipknot’s performance.
Slipknot frontman #8, AKA Corey Talor, perched on his ego-riser during the band’s headlining performance at Mayhem Fest.
Other performances I photographed included DragonForce, Mastodon, Disturbed, Underoath, and Machine Head. Stay tuned for those sets.
This entry was posted on Thursday, July 24th, 2008 at 1:42 am and is filed under Music Photography and tagged with disturbed, festival, images, live, mastodon, mayhem, music, Music Photography, nikon, slipknot, st. louis, tour. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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Can’t wait to see them.
Yeah, still creeps me the hell out.
Yeah, pretty creepy. I didn’t photograph all of their set, but did photograph a good half of it.
I thought the masks might have affected the shoot, but I still thought it was an engaging gig.
Thanks for the country, sorry that you couldn’t shoot this one. We’ll have to line something up soon.
Beautiful shot. Love the way you can take such a dreamy shot of such an ugly band.
Your head must have been ringing by the end of the night.
Hey George, thanks for the kind feedback, glad to hear this shot works for you, regardless of the music.
Actually, my ears are just fine. I’ve been using some Hearos earplugs that stop a nice 32-dB of sound, which really saves my ears after photographing 6 hours of metal.
I haven’t had my ears ring once since using these plugs, which I cannot say about the Etymotic Research ER-20s.
“Ego-riser” made me laugh.
I didn’t know this term until I was talking to one of the lighting techs on the Taste of Chaos tour. That’s how he referred to those little platforms.
But yes, funny. :)
As a point of comparison, the ER-20‘s attenuate about 12-22dB according to their literature and which scale you want to use. I still think they’re a great product, but just be aware of the limitation.
Remember, audio is logarithmic. A difference of 10dB is HUGE!
Hearing is believe how much 10dB can make. I think there’s a place for the Ety plugs, but I go to so many shows that even with just three songs, my ears were taking too much abuse.
At the Mayhem Fest I was photographing full sets, so earplugs were a necessity!
So I am JUST getting to my shots now. You totally beat me to it! These guys were just out of this world…so crazy.
It was great shooting with ya, Todd!
Hey Keith, it was great to meet up with you yesterday, I’m glad everything worked out. So, are you hooked now?
Slipknot was pretty insane, though the crowd wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I thought people were going to go nuts with the crowd surfing, but I guess the pit in the amphitheater is actually pretty small compared to the outdoor stages, so the sheer mass wasn’t there.
I’m going to have a look at the rest of these shots tonight, and I’ll watch for your set.
We’ll have to get Chris out next time.
Am I hooked? YOU BET! I already want my next fix. My mission over the next day is to plow through these shots and get some sets up.
Yeah, that pit wasn’t that huge due to all the seating there. I think that made a difference. I look forward to the rest of your stuff!
Great, hit me up if you a show see you’re interested in photographing.
Good shot Todd, I’m eager to see the rest of the set… And the one from Machine Head… So please hurry :P
I’m kidding… I’ll wait for ‘em…
BR
Ha, I’ll see what I can do, Celso. Machine Head has some of the more crazy fans of the tour, they were loving it.
Are you calling me crazy? :P lol
I grew up listening to Metal, although I like to consider myself different from the other metal fans I know, because I can as easily listen to other types of music with no problems what so ever…
BR
ummmmm….I went to visit their site……ok
That some disturbing images. they should have these guys star in the next Batman Dark Knight episode. Slipknot vs. Batman…this would be awesome…….and ummm disturbing
I don’t know what’s the purpose of the masks, but I tell you they are amazing… And seen in full detail they are works of some great artist…
They do their job, create a certain mood… But although they’re music is heavy, there is nothing creepy about them, or their music, and even about their shows…
Oh, I believe it. I’m sure the masks are probably film-quality in their production. I was just reading an interview in which “Clown” was saying how they never wash the masks, too.
The creepiness factor about the look is debatable, but I would agree, the music itself isn’t creepy at all. There was a great deal of showmanship in the performance, which I respect.
Todd
Fabulous website – just started shooting shows myself in the past couple weeks and it looks like you have a great resource here. Your photos are superb so I’ll be reading every post, trying to pick up tips :)
I also use the foam earplugs but not Hearos brand. Believe mine are rated at 32 db too – they certainly work and it makes all the difference in the world, especially being in the pit. Plus they’re a tacky bright orange so they’re easy to find if they fall loose in the camera bag after the lights go out :). Only drawback I’ve found is the squishiness factor can sometimes lead to them opening up a bit and letting unfiltered sound in, but that’s only if you keep poking at them and it fixes itself after a few seconds. Given they’re so cheap, I usually use mine for a few shows then replace them, along with carrying some extras in my bag. Thanks for getting the word out on this – I have tinnitus myself after years of playing in bands and it’s no fun at all.
Keath
Hi Keath,
I’m glad you found ISS, I hope you’ll join in the discussions on this site.
Someone gave me the very good tip of opening your jaw while inserting earplugs and letting them expand, as it changes the shape of the ear canal slightly and creates a better fit while the plugs are in use.
I think wearing earplugs during shows is critically important, especially considering how close we are to the bass speakers, even it’s “only” for three songs. Three songs is plenty to damage one’s hearing!
What an experience! Unfortunately, I had to leave early due to an unfortunate elbow to the eye during Mastodon’s first song, but I’m sooo anxious to see your shots!
Hey Lisa,
That’s awful, I’m sorry to hear you had to leave early. Are you OK?
Mastodon was the first band I shot and I think I must have missed you in the pit. I think there were about 6-8 photographers in the pit for most of the main stage bands.
Hopefully I’ll be posting the rest of the shots from the various sets next week!
I’m pumped for the pics!
Thanks, I’m actually working on them now! Hope to be posting them soon.
Eeep! Great shot, Todd, but now I’ll be having bad dreams for days…
Hey Lori! These guys look totally creepy, but during the show, they really didn’t seem that scary.
The frontman actually talked quite a bit in between songs, so the “scary inhuman” persona didn’t hold up for very long.
Thanks for the comment!
Todd- I am a 41 year old deck builder who lives in Tacoma,WA. I have taken thousands of ameture photos of my decks over the last 20 years.
Recently I stepped up my game and purchased a Canon 5D and some great lenses to go with it to document my art.
My 16 year old son is an extremely talented drummer in a local band named “FRACTURE” and I have used my new toy to document their journey.
I have been trying to find a way to get my son more involved with his passion and I have really enjoyed photographing him and his band, so I would like to try to become a concert photographer. Your information has been very helpful and interesting to me. if you ever get up to the Pacific Northwest, ping me-I would love to shadow you sometime. Any advice to jump start my new hobby would be appreciated. I’m not interested in making an income, just getting my kid to meet the people he idolizes.
Thanks for your time
Jason
Hey Jason,
Have you read this post?
http://ishootshows.com/2009/05/20/becoming-a-concert-photographer/
That’s a write-up of my journey as a music photographer and how I started out – it might be useful for you, too. My advice would be to hook up with publications that can secure you access, and to shoot anyone and everyone. Hope this helps. If I make it out your way, I’ll hit you up. Thanks for the comment.
Ps-we went to mayhem festival and loved Slipknot’s set- great showmen. Too bad the bassist has passed away.