Blog Archives

Combichrist

10/19/2014

Combichrist
The Glasshouse, Pomona, California
October 17, 2014

Now these guys know how to put on a show! This was also a very difficult shoot, lots of strobes going off constantly, the lights were flashing on and off and the band was in constant motion. But you were always able to see them, and the group made an effort to connect with the audience. Plus with all the face paint and body art it made for some pretty cool photos. I had a great time, the audience had a great time and most importantly it really felt like the BAND was having a great time right along with us. These guys are HIGHLY recommended.

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The Horrors

10/18/2014

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The Horrors
The Observatory
October 14, 2014

Decent show tonight by this English shoegazer outfit, but they may have had the worst light show I have ever seen. It was constant flashing, flickering reds and blues .......but you never got to see the band. The end result was at the end of the concert you never felt you had made a connection with them. It was almost like they were hiding from the audience. Strange choice on their part. Needless to say it was a tough shoot, Got a few decent shots, considering the venue was barely half full maybe they'll try something different next time.

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Moon Duo

10/15/2014

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Moon Duo
The Observatory
October 14, 2014

Moon Duo put on a great show this evening. If you are a fan of NEU, Can, Wooden Shjips, psychedelics or just like trippy jams, then Moon Duo are right up your alley. These guys (and gal) are one of my favorites at the moment. Last time I saw them was at some little dive bar in L.A. It's nice to see them moving up to a bigger stage with better sound and lights. Do not miss them next time they come around, they're fun.

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Terry de ruen & OOzie Blues show

10/12/2014

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OOZIE Blues Show
Malones Bar

One of the really nice things about living in Southern California is that at any given time you can walk into a dive bar like Malones and there on stage (if you're lucky) is a good band featuring a great guitar player. Tonight's guitar hero was Terry "Big T" De Ruen, a New Orleans native who has played with everybody from Etta James to Guitar Shorty. Terry was sitting in w/ The Oozie Blues Show a good sounding combo of veteran players with a great lead vocalist. The lighting at Malones was pretty limited, but having said that, it was good enough for me to get some pretty nice shots. I used a 70mm-200mm/2.8 telephoto for these. Also I decided to mix in several B&W conversions along with the color shots.

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kings Of Leon

10/8/2014

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Kings Of Leon
Verizon Amphitheater, Irvine California
October 05, 2014

Great show to photograph tonight, although it was a bit stressful. The Verizon is enormous at almost 17,000 seats and tonight it was pretty much filled to capacity. Shooting at one of these giant arenas is a little different than shooting at a "normal" sized venue. First of all you are assigned a minder who meets you to verify your media credentials and then escorts you to the photo pit. Before the show you may be given special instructions, in this case Caleb Followill the lead vocalist for KOL requested that photographers not stand directly in front of him so a section of the pit was designated as a no photo zone. This is understandable because after all Mr. Followill is there to perform for his audience not pose for pictures for us photographers. As a general rule I always try to be pretty invisible when shooting a concert, I don't want to intrude on the performers or on their audience who paid good money to see the band.

To make things even more hectic the concert was being filmed this evening so there were camera crews and LOTS of cables to trip over. OK so now we have the ground rules down get ready get set GO! Here come your three songs! And fortunately for me the stage was pretty well lit for photography, there was a lot of dry ice smoke to contend with but I think I grabbed a few nice pictures, and you know what, is sure is a rush to look behind you and see 17,000 fans screaming their heads off!

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Temples

10/6/2014

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Temples
The Glass House
Pomona, California
Sept. 26, 2014

These four skinny Englishmen who look as if they've never even seen a picture of the sun let alone spent even five minutes in it, brought their late 60's inspired vibe to The Glasshouse.

Temples favor one color stage lighting to the extreme, so you get ALL blue, ALL magenta , ALL green, ALL red etc. You get the idea. And they like it dark on stage too, so placing yourself in the right spot to maximize the light that is available is critical on a shoot like this one.

Having said that they guys look dead cool which certainly helps me out and all in all I'm pretty happy with these photos.

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Rival Sons

10/5/2014

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Rival Sons
09/19/2014
The Observatory
This was my first time seeing Rival Sons and I gotta say their talent was jaw dropping. Rival Sons a re a classic rock band with heavy hooks, long fluid guitar solos, and of course an amazing singer in Jay Buchanan. I can't say enough good things about them and I have been telling anyone who will listen to check them out at once. The night of the concert saw the band playing on a stage with pretty good lighting, not great but not terrible either.

As with so many bands these days Rival Sons favor 1 color lighting washes, which look moody when seen from the audience, but which also make it hard to see the performers, and when you're photographing it's tougher to capture depth in the pictures. But not to worry, just open your aperture up wide, bump the ISO up and because Rival Sons is a band in motion ALL THE TIME keep your lens at a fast shutter speed. One trick I have learned is if you don't like the light your getting just take a step to your left or right. It sounds weird but sometimes just that one step either way can mean the difference between an OK shot and a really good one.
As for me I can't wait to see these guys again when they come to town.

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Combichrist

The Horrors

Moon Duo

Terry de ruen & OOzie Blues show

kings Of Leon

Temples

Rival Sons

James Christopher

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