Concert Photography
Highlight Bomb CD Release Show at the 2 Bit Saloon
Stills from the April 5, 2012 CD release show for Highlight Bomb’s “Finals” album at the 2 Bit Saloon in Ballard, WA. Featuring the bands Encourager, Dies Drear, The Whywolves and of course, Highlight Bomb! Fantastic sets by all four bands. I’ve seen (and photographed) all by Encourager before and I never get tired of their music. The new album by Highlight Bomb is worth tracking down. See them live at The Funhouse on April 15, 2012 and pick up a copy there!
Welcome To The Funhouse
Who doesn’t love a cheap rock show? Certainly not me. That’s why my son and I wandered into Seattle to check out The Funhouse this past week. He was off the next day and I was willing to live with just a few hours of sleep. That was a good enough setup to justify a late night of punk rock and a visit to a venue new to us.
We knew one of the bands playing — Dies Drear — so we knew the night wouldn’t be a total loss. Turns out that was never going to be an issue!
The opening act was a band we hadn’t heard before, The Whywolves. Great punk trio, lots of energy on stage. They blasted through a Journey cover song that was one of my favorite tunes of the night.
Next up was a band called Sok and the Faggots. Gotta admit I had a visceral reaction just to the name of the band and I suspect that’s intentional on their part. Wasn’t sure what to expect but what I got was fast-paced, aggressive punk rock with tongue firmly in cheek. Hard to be offended by a band that clearly doesn’t take themselves all that seriously and don’t expect you to either. Definitely on the “see them again” list.
Next the evening took a left turn with a twist as the bands went on break and were replaced by a short burlesque show. Now mind you, I like attractive, scantily clad females as much as the next guy, but I was there to listen to punk rock and the diversion messed with the flow of things.
By the time Dies Drear set up and were ready to close out the evening, a lot of the audience had drifted off and The Funhouse was emptier. Still, the guys didn’t let that stop them from turning in another great performance. Both Matt and I have seen Dies Drear previously and they are firm favorites in our book. They’ll be taking a little break from performing but we’ll be waiting to hear word of their next concert later this year.
All-in-all the evening was a blast and The Funhouse turned out to be a fantastic place to see live music. We’ll be back as often as we can. Although next time, I’ll try to avoid scheduling a 6 a.m. meeting the morning after a show!
Here are a few photos I shot that night. You can click the image above or the thumbnails below to view larger photos.
Saturday Night At The Ballard Mine
Took a little drive to Ballard this weekend to visit The Ballard Mine. First visit to this little venue and sadly, likely the last since they’re closing down the end of this month. It’s a quirky little spot that’s literally a basement underneath another business. Very intimate though, you could walk up and poke the band onstage if you wanted, though these bands would likely poke back!
The show wound up being all-ages at the last minute so my son and I decided my younger daughter needed to join us on this adventure. You know the old saying about the family that rocks together, right?
The line up for this second-to-the-last weekend at The Ballard Mine was a trio of local punk bands — The Estafets, Highlight Bomb and Dies Drear.
All three bands cranked out great sets. Lots of positive energy, obviously having a good time on stage and enjoying the hell out of making music. These are the kinds of bands I love to see live. I’ll be looking for future opportunities to see them perform again!
As usual, I dragged a camera along with me. Since this was a smaller venue I figured I’d see if anyone squawked about me shooting with my big camera and no one did, so here’s a set of photos from the evening. You can click the image above or the thumbnails below to view larger photos.
Thrice
I had the opportunity recently to do a short road-trip from Seattle to Portland with my son to see Thrice, O’Brother, La Dispute and Moving Mountains at Portland, Oregon’s Wonderland Ballroom. Turned out to be an epic concert experience with all four bands turning in amazing performances.
Obviously I love the music at these concerts, but for me part of the experience is shooting photos. For venues like this where I don’t have professional access, I shoot with a Canon S90 point-and-shoot.
The Canon S90 makes a great concert camera for several reasons. It’s small and not considered a “professional” camera. It has a fast f2 lens at the wide end. It has full manual controls and supports RAW.
All of that combined with a little experience can make a memorable concert photo!