Photos: Clutch @ Pop’s
Opening for Motörhead, Clutch brought their blues-tinged hard rock down like a sledgehammer on an extremely sold-out crowd. Somewhat surprisingly, Clutch also had the most photogenic lighting of the night with just the right amount of haze and big, bold splashes of backlighting.
Photos: Brookroyal @ The Pageant
You know what I love to see? A band that rocks out so hard that not even horrible lighting can stop the goodness from being captured in pixels. Brookroyal is one of those bands, so when they opened for My Chemical Romance, I knew I had to catch their performance – lighting be damned.
Shinedown @ The Pageant
I’d caught Shinedown on a couple occasions over the past years, and every time I’ve photographed them they’ve put on a tremendous, high-energy show. So when I heard that they were doing an acoustic set, my curiosity was piqued. Having just caught Aaron Lewis of the hardrock band Staind in a very stripped down show [...]
Photos: Rob Zombie @ The Halloween Hootenanny Tour
Headlining the Halloween Hootenanny Tour stop at the Family Arena, Rob Zombie and crew ripped into their set with signature zeal and showmanship. While I’d caught Rob Zombie on the Mayhem Fest tour earlier this year, I was just as excited to see what the band would bring this time around.
Photos: Everest @ The Pageant
Opening for Guster at the Pageant, LA-based Everest threw down a set of spacious rock that had the crowd bopping before the main event. I’d caught up with Everest earlier this year for a portrait shoot, but wasn’t able to catch their live set, so I was glad – and impressed – finally getting to [...]
Photos: Guster @ The Pageant
I have to admit – I wasn’t quite sure what to expect with Guster, even after doing a little research on their 2010 tour. To my surprise, the band delivered a great, upbeat show with a surprisingly nice stage treatment for their performance at the Pageant.
Photos: Alice in Chains, Black Diamond Skye Tour
After catching Alice in Chains at the 2,000-capacity Pageant earlier this year, I was very curious as to how the band would transition into an arena show at the Scottrade Center. As it turned out, the band rocked the big house just as deftly as they did the club, with a big production and the [...]
Preview: John 5, Rob Zombie @ The Halloween Hootenanny
Don’t tell Rob Zombie, but he always plays second fiddle for me – When I shoot a Zombie show, my favorite subject is his guitarist, John 5. Sure, Zombie has dreadwhips going for him, but there’s something magnetic about John 5′s more reserved intensity (I know, this is relative – how reserved can you be [...]
Photos: Murderdolls @ The Halloween Hootenanny
Opening up the The Halloween Hootenanny with Alice Cooper and Rob Zombie, Murderdolls put on a fantastic show that proved that showmanship trumps spastic lighting design.
Photos: Mastodon, Black Diamond Skye Tour
Opening for the Deftones and Alice in Chains, Mastodon brought the sludgy, roaring metal to the big house of the Scottrade Center. That, and all the colors of the rainbow in their lighting treatment – as long as your rainbow only includes red, green, and blue.
Photos: Deftones, Black Diamond Skye Tour
Opening for Alice in Chains on the Black Diamond Skye Tour, the Deftones gave an incendiary performance at the Scottrade Center with the lighting as explosive as frontman Chino Moreno’s delivery.
Photos: Hurt
As far as I’m concerned, any performance where the singer comes out to rock the barricade during the first three songs is a good one. Such was the case with singer J. Loren Wince and Hurt’s mainstage performance at Pointfest 27, supporting Avenged Sevenfold.
Photos: Gogol Bordello @ Lollapalooza
After hearing so much about their chaotic and wonderfully photogenic live show, I finally got my crack at Gogol Bordello breaking in the main stage during the second day of Lollapalooza 2008.
Photos: Avenged Sevenfold
What’s the only thing better than two guitarists mirrored in hard rock perfection, shredding for their lives? Probably when you have pyrotechnics blowing up behind them that make it look like there are flames shooting out of their guitars. Headlining Pointfest 27, Avenged Sevenfold brought the rock show to Verizon Wireless Amphitheater and a legion [...]
Photos: Chuck Berry
Do you have a bucket list? Chuck Berry, the father of rock ‘n roll, was on mine up until last weekend. Still rocking at 83-years young, Chuck Berry was a pleasure and an honor to photograph. And not only photograph him, but to do so for the legend’s entire 45-minute set. Hail! Hail! Rock ‘n’ [...]
Photos: Semi Precious Weapons
Opening up for the ubiquitous Lady Gaga, Semi Precious proved their arena chops with a big dose of real rock ‘n roll. I’ve photographed a few bands in my time, but I have yet to see or shoot a band that I’ve had more fun shooting than SPW’s raw, unapologetic, and crassly fun live set. [...]
Photos: Lady Gaga
“27 tour buses and trucks. Fans rocking glitter paint. Monster claws. And 600mm of glass.” That’s what I posted on Twitter before photographing Lady Gaga’s set. With a seemingly notorious photography policy that barred press from her last North American tour and a guaranteed soundboard position for this show, I had to wonder – how [...]
Photos: MUTEMATH @ The Bamboozle
I’d never photographed Mutemath before, but I’d always seen amazing shots from their shows, which told me one of two things: Either photographers who shoot Mutemath are more talented than your average bear, or that Mutemath’s live performance rocks. After shooting the group at The Bamboozle, I can say with confidence that at least the [...]
Photos: Bullet For My Valentine
Having just caught Bullet For My Valentine at The Bamboozle music festival earlier this month, I thought I new what to expect for this show. To my surprise, the Welsh rockers blew their festival performance out of the water with this headlining delivery at the Pageant with a hugely fierce show that had the pit [...]
Photos: Motion City Soundtrack @ The Bamboozle
It’s been a couple of years since I’ve photographed Motion City Soundtrack, so I have to admit that I’d forgotten just how fun these guys are to shoot when I caught them at The Bamboozle.
Photos: Drive A
Live Music Photography Rule #98: Any jump shot is a good jump shot. Opening for HIM at the Pageant, young punk rockers Drive A delivered a high energy set that gave the perfect opportunity to put this rule to the test.
Photos: Breaking Benjamin
For me, photographing Breaking Benjamin’s opening performance for Nickelback was a waiting game. With three songs, the end of a very long thrust where photographers positioned, and 10,000+ roaring fans – would Benjamin Burnley make use of the ramp and say hi to my 24-70mm f/2.8?
Photos: The Aquabats @ Bamboozle
Matching spandex uniforms, jump kicks, pop punk madness. Naturally, The Aquabats are a band any music photographer can love. Photographers, and the cheering crowds of The Bamboozle 2010 in East Rutherford, NJ.
Photos: Julian Casablancas
As a concert photographer, I really have to smile at the fact that Julian Casablancas covered Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing in the Dark” at the Pageant, as that song’s title is a haiku-worthy description for the singer’s performance.
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