Specializing In Live Music
Aerosmith made their MA stop on their latest tour and invited Boston faves The Dropkick Murphys along to open the show. You can check out some of my photos posted on The Boston Phoenix website here. Aerosmith was on my short list of bands I wanted to shoot before my shooting days came to an end so it was very exciting for me!’
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.
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)
