ishotguydebord.com

February Part 1

Hard to believe the month isn’t even half over. I find myself having to look at my Flickr, or thinking about things in terms of who I shot and what night just to bring the flow of time into perspective.

Parade Schedule were great. I saw a lot of roots blues in their music, but overhearing a mention of Johnny Cash really nailed in. Not so much in imitation, but Matt (pictured here) has such an air and voice that it’s a strong, true compliment. Sparse light, not a lot of visual dynamics, but very enjoyable.

Firebird one year anniversary show. Previous posters, DICEGRINDER, and The Livers.

I absolutely love this photo of Reverend Peyton. The crowd was real mixed, with people swing dancing and well, trying to dance during the opener, Kentucky Knife Fight. As a photographer you don’t want to butt in on that, so I made sure to let the crowd have their fun. Bummer I didn’t get many good shots of them but maybe another time. Anyways, back to the photo. When I took this photo I was on my knee against the stage, making myself as unseen and compact as possible while affording myself the flexibility to follow Peyton and his wife Breezy. Honestly, I planned to spend most of the set in this position since it was not only a good angle but I wasn’t obstructing the crowd. After a song or maybe two, this girl who had been kicking my camera bag leaned in and said “DID YOU GIT YER FUCKIN SHOT YET???” which was my signal to move and in getting away from her probably made me more of a distraction than anything else I did that night. I didn’t move because I felt like I was in the wrong for being there, I moved because the lack of rationality in her voice said that there was no argument or reasoning to be had and I don’t let someone endanger myself, my equipment, or the band. And I was right. Most of the spectacle of the evening was spent watching her almost crack her forehead on a wedge monitor. I suspected she was on peyote or some sort of household cleaner.

Jemina Pearl had a fit on stage. It’s a long story and I’ve already talked about it to the point where I feel like I’m a huge fuckshit for even mentioning it. Extremely talented young woman, amazing voice, but she needs to meditate or something. It was snowing that night, so only 20 or so people attended. Which made things more awkward.

Her guitarist has serious chops.

Let’s talk Polysics. Thanks to Mike C. and the Firebird, I got a cleared for one of the best live sets I’ve even seen. Three songs, no flash. I can dig it. Their tour manager was a bit blunt about things but in the end, I can’t complain when given such an opportunity.

These guys were a challenge and it felt like the song limit included their introduction and two short songs. I have no problem with that but it did feel like the time tested complaint about shooting at larger venues, that once that 3rd song is over and you’re ushered out of the pit the really interesting stuff happens. I was stuck using my 50mm 1.7 which provided good coverage but when Hiro came to the front of the stage, ended up to be a little too close, which is how I got this photo:

A very unique photo of a very unique band, but not representative of their stage presence or music. Still, it holds water. To get that photo I had to lean back while my friend Clare and a random crowd member held me steady. Some people get it. I’m not in love with this set, the narrative that I was looking for just isn’t there. The photos show and hold value, but don’t gel like I wanted. Even then the show itself was amazing, something I will never forget.

Get This Fool Some Books
When I’m not getting ready for the next show I like to sit down with a good book. Help support www.ishotguydebord.com and my reading habit through my Amazon wishlist. You can always order a print from my large archive of awesome rock shots if you need something rad on your wall.

Questions, Comments?
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This entry was posted on Thursday, February 11th, 2010 at 2:09 pm. It is filed under Photography. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.