So, the summer is in full swing and the shows are plentiful.  Last night I shot Elvis Costello and The Police.  Strange to see them together but pretty epic nonetheless.  My sister thinks Sting is a God so I got some God-like poses for her.  It was definitely a cool experience. 

Elvis Costello really is just one of the coolest guys on the planet.  I want to be him when I grow up.  I haven’t gone through the photos yet but here’s a quick preview.

This weekend I’ve got two shows:  Maroon 5, Counting Crows and Sara Bareilles and then Boston and Styx.  No rest for the wicked. 

A gallery of my photos from the Warped stop in Mansfield, MA on July 23 is now posted on the Alternative Press website.  You can click on the image below to check them out.   It was an interesting day.  About halfway through the sky got dark and there were tornado warnings….then, the rain and wind started.  The covered pavillion was full of people and flooded in minutes.  About 30 minutes later, the sun returned, and everything went back to normal…until it started raining again in a few hours.  Rinse, wash, repeat.  Highlights for me were of course my guys in Cinder Road, Family Force 5, The Academy Is… and Cobra Starship.

The full galleries will be posted on TheyWillRockYou.com later this week but here are a few quick favorites:

Mike Ruocco of Cinder Road

Chapstique of Family Force 5 melting faces

Gabe Saporta of Cobra Starship getting some air

So I shot the 3 Doors Down, Hinder and Staind show the other day.  Unfortunately, you won’t be finding the photos online…for several reasons, none of which I have the energy to go into right now.  I did however spend eight hours in tornados, torrential downpours, lightning and flying flip flops at Warped Tour yesterday so those photos are forthcoming….stay tuned.

I think all of the bigger stage, well lit shows I’ve been shooting lately have taken me a bit out of my game and have made me a tad spoiled.  I didn’t realize this fact until I went to shoot Shinedown last night at The Palladium om Worcester and was challenged beyond belief by the lights.

I suppose it didn’t help that the entire first song was one big strobe light…and the next two songs the band was pretty much in the dark save for a few spot lights from behind and then those pesky strobes again.

I’m sure for the audience it was a cool ass light show, I however did not enjoy them as much.  Oh well, you win some, you lose some.  This reminded me of one thing, don’t forget your roots….I need to shoot more club shows to keep myself primed and ready for challenging shows like this. 

On a sidenote, the band sounded AMAZING!  Theory of a Deadman opened for them and they were great as well.  The club was packed and it was a hot sweaty mess.  Gotta love it.

The summer concert season is in full swing which means I am a very busy girl! On July 16th the Projekt Revolution started it’s annual tour at the Comcast Center in Mansfield, MA.  Projekt Revolution is a music festival headlined by Linkin Park and brings along a cast of bands that are handpicked by Linkin Park. Being the first date of the tour, I wasn’t really sure what to expect, but the entire line up definitely brought the rock.

This year the line up was:  (On the second stage):  Armor for Sleep, Hawthorne Heights, 10 Years, Atreyu, Street Drum Corps and (On the main stage): ASHES diVIDE, Busta Rhymes, The Bravery, Chris Cornell and Linkin Park.

Since we’re deep into July it was about as hot of a day as you can imagine.  Luckily, once the Main stage bands started we were covered.  (Because this pasty faced white girl and the sun don’t get along very well.)  It was a long day of rocking and rolling. Highlights for me included shooting Chris Cornell for the first time. The show rocked from start to finish but I think my favorite sets were Atreyu from the second stage and Linkin Park from the mainstage. Linkin Park know how to put on a rock show of the grandest scale.  

My photos are slowly making their way up into the TheyWillRockYou.com photo gallery so you can check them out here.

 
Shooting shows during the day can often leave nothing but flat boring photos so thanks to all the bands for bringing the rock and making even the day shots look like a party.  Can’t wait until next year!

It’s been quite awhile since I’ve attended a concert as simply a spectator. I should try to remind myself more often that being a fan of the music is what started this all for me in the first place. Generally, if I’m not shooting a show I’m usually interviewing the band or covering some angle of it for one of the websites or print publications that I work with.  However, Bon Jovi has been one of my favorite bands since I was a wee lad-ette.  It’s sort of tradition to go and see Bon Jovi with my best friend every time they roll through town (or…somewhat adjacent, or not so adjacent towns) so this tour was no different.

The band rolled into Boston for two sold out shows, and I attended the latter with Missy.  Missy’s level of dedication to the band far surpasses mine and in what I call a true karma effect moment, she ended up getting to meet him the first of the two nights by being the lucky recipient in the front row of one of Jon’s very important shirts.  The wardrobe chick made her a deal she couldn’t refuse - if she gave the shirt back, she could meet Jon after the show.  For someone who’s been pining after Jon since she was in grade school, this was one of those life-affirming moments for both Missy and her mother, so, she was already on a pretty big Jovi high going into show two.

Now, I’d hardly be the photographer I am today had I not snuck my camera into camera free concerts in the past so why stop now?  It wasn’t actually as stealthy as I made it sound, I walked right in with my 40D with 50mm fixed lens attached - no questions asked.  We didn’t know where we’d be sitting until we picked up our tickets that night so I was just hoping we’d be close enough for me to catch a few shots.

Again due to Missy’s allegiance to the band, we had fan club tickets and were able to partake in the pit on the side of the stage for three songs (Richie’s side!) so I was indeed able to snap a few keepers.  (And by keepers I mean the one of Jon pointing at Missy in the pit and smiling in that “hey I know you!” sort of way.)  Who would have thought that two shows in Boston would turn my best friend into a recognizable face to Jon Bon Jovi. It’s nice to know that sometimes the good guy (or GAL as the case may be) DO sometimes win in the end. Keep the faith.

..you still have made a choice.”

So as if shooting Tom Petty wasn’t rewarding enough, the following night, I shot RUSH. Again, shooting a band that’s been influencial in rock music since I was a youngster is quite a rus…er..honor.  RUSH doesn’t even have an opening band, they just perform two sets on their own, and judging from the crowd, that’s exactly the way they want it.

The lighting was in abundance for their set so that was a major plus, the only challenge was trying to get more than one member in a shot.  Since the band is a trio, they were pretty much spread out in triangular formation.  I never did get that group shot.

I haven’t gone through all of the photos yet but you can check out a few of them out on my Flickr account.

As a music fan, it was a pretty exciting weekend for me.  On Saturday night had the pleasure of shooting rock legends Steve Winwood and Tom Petty.  Since it was Father’s Day weekend and my Dad is no longer with us it was especially meaningful for me since he always loved Tom Petty.  I knew he would have been thrilled at the idea of me shooting his set.

From a photographer’s standpoint, wasn’t the best show to shoot, I wish I had requested the Boston date instead.  For some reason, there was some extra gear down in the photo pit relegating the photographers to the left side of the stage without a clear front view of the stage or Tom.  (Hence my abundance of profile shots.)  But, hey, as a photographer you have to make the best of any given situation so I’ll stop my bitching now.

Oh yeah…Steve Winwood opened….he’s no slouch either.

You can check out a few shots from each set on my Flickr account.

On June 4th I attended the third annual Larry-oke charity event hosted by New England Patriot special team captain Larry Izzo.  Larry grew up in a military family and has always supported the troops and now is able to use his celebrity status to raise additional funds for military based charities.  The past two events have raised over 200K each and hopefully this year surpassed that!

New England Patriot Kelly Washington

This is not an event I go to work at, I just go as a spectator to help support a great cause and to laugh at some of our boys making asses out of themselves (there’s something to be said for NFL players who don’t mind busting out some New Kids on the Block, dance moves and all.)  We even managed to get one of the players to wear my bright pink headband that I just happend to have in my purse..he wore it while singing “Physical.”  Sadly, I just found out he was cut from the team the next day.   I hope it wasn’t because of the headband.

Mike Dragosavich wearing my headband

I wasn’t sure what the photo policy was and I didn’t want to chance having to bring all of my gear back to the car so I just brought my 40d with my fixed 50mm lens.  I was cose to the stage so I was able to get a few decent shots but I was a bit too close for some of the funnier group performances.

I’ve posted some of the photos on my Flickr account if you want to check them out and please check out Larry’s charity website and help if you can!

 Wide Receiver Wes Welker gearing down

So I spent the weekend hitting up two of the Honda Civic Tour shows. This years line up is: my boys in Phantom Planet, The Hush Sound, Motion City Soundtrack and Panic at the Disco headlining. The first show I went to was in Wallingford, CT. It was my first time at the venue there and it was pretty nice. I was only able to shoot The Hush Sound and Panic at the Disco but I think my best photos of Panic came from this show.

The following night I headed into Boston to see the tour again with my friends Tamiko and Nikki (who thought we were going to see Fall Out Boy). So what if we were the oldest people there!!! This date I was able to shoot all four bands but….considering the first three bands were lit by what seemed to be one red spotlight, the photos are less than stellar. I’ve posted some of the Phantom Planet and Panic photos in the TheyWillRockYou.com gallery so you can check them out there. I’ll work on getting the others up soon! (Phantom Planet here, Panic at the Disco here)