Live
Let’s get the hard part over with: talking about pain makes people uncomfortable. And talking about chronic pain makes people really uncomfortable. Chaz Cardigan’s A Year In Glassland isn’t a record about pain; it’s a record about being a person who has pain.
Read MoreThis past fall, A R I Z O N A headed out on the Live For A Night Tour - their first headlining tour since 2019 - and I had the pleasure of photographing the Los Angeles and San Diego shows (10/26/23 at The Wiltern, and 10/27/23 at the House of Blues, respectively) for Substream. Then, in December, I caught their home-away-from-hometown show at The Van Buren in Phoenix (12/16/23), which I also shot for Substream. But… with all three AZ shows, I certainly wasn’t done going through photos when my galleries went live… and that brings us here, where I’ll be sharing some photos I haven’t shared yet, and talking about my editing process.
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I’ve been in Los Angeles for seven and a half weeks now, and still every time I walk around my own neighborhood, or a new part of the city, I get this crazy realization that I actually live here. I’m having so much fun learning my way around my neighborhood, trying new vegan restaurants, meeting new people, and spending time with friends.
The first show I photographed since the move was on July 7: Sam MacPherson and Ruel at the Shrine, next to the USC campus (fun fact: I almost went to USC! It’s wild to think how differently my life could’ve turned out if I had - but hey, here I am anyway!). I had previously been to the Shrine a decade ago, while on tour with PETA and Steve Aoki - I definitely had some flashbacks while waiting in line! Just over a week later, I headed to The Echo in Echo Park. I’d been to The Echoplex years ago (on another tour with PETA, I caught a show there on a night off) but never to The Echo itself.
I arrived early to take portraits of Chase Petra (blog post with those photos coming soon!); with plenty of time to go before doors, I grabbed some pizza next door to the venue (it was super good - really nice, fresh tasting tomato sauce - but I wished I’d ordered a second slice!), and spent some time wandering around a bookstore and a thrift shop and talking to the other folks waiting for the show.
The Echo does not have a photo pit, and the lighting was also… not great. The show was sold-out, too. So my still-pretty-new camera and I were in for a challenge. Chase Petra was up first; I started near the corner of stage left, before making my way around to the other side and then back again. I increased my ISO and played around with shutter speed, and ultimately decided to do the whole photo set in black and white. This way, all my focus could go to capturing the moments I wanted to capture - even if the colors of the lights weren’t flattering. a
By the way, Chase Petra may have been the first act of the night - but that didn’t stop the crowd from cheering for an encore.
Sydney Sprague was up next. I didn’t take as many photos of her set; the crowd was intense (in the best way!), and I needed a breather and also some water. So, after I got a few shots, I filled up my water bottle and sat down to watch the rest of her set.
Finally, Pool Kids closed out the night and holy shit, I knew they would rock, but they put on such a good show. I’d known Andy Anaya since the days of You Blew It! (RIP, btw), and it was great to see him again. (It’s so fun for me to catch up with people as they ask about the move and how I’m liking LA - honestly, I’m thriving and couldn’t be happier that I’m here). Pool Kids put on the kind of show that it didn’t matter if you knew their songs or not; you’d be having a blast either way because that energy was off the walls. (As were the crowdsurfers.)
At shows like this without a barricade, I usually shoot the first three songs or so; depending on the room and depending on the photos I captured in the first three songs, I may go in for a few more shots. Pool Kids had everyone pull out their phones to light up the room towards the end of the set, and you know I had to get a photo of that.
I wanted to share two, non-photo related things I really enjoyed about this show:
The crowd went OFF for all three artists! You know how most shows, the crowd goes OFF for the headliner, but not so much for the openers? (Or there are the rare shows where the crowd goes OFF for one of the openers, but doesn’t seem to care about the headlining act?) That was not the case here. The energy was on 10 all night.
Gender diversity in ALL THREE ARTISTS! When I started photographing shows and interviewing artists in 2011, it was a Big Deal to me if there was ONE single woman on stage in a three-act show. Have I mentioned that Genevieve, the guitarist of Chase Petra, absolutely SHREDDED? Because she did, and that was SO COOL. I saw so little representation of women on stages when I started out, and it makes me so, so happy to see that happening more now. Here’s to even more in the future.
Since I started photographing live music six years ago, I've been able to photograph so many artists I never thought I'd get to photograph, and many of my long-time favorites as well. Good Charlotte has been my favorite band since I was 11; I loved shooting them on Warped Tour last summer and was excited when I saw they'd be stopping at one of my favorite venues, the Sherman Theater in Stroudsburg, Penn.
Read MoreWhat an interesting year it's been so far. But when times are changing, music- especially punk rock- is as important as ever. Our new president was inaugurated on Friday, and like many of you, I was nervous, and scared of what the future had in store. So what did I do on Thursday night? I went to a punk / hardcore show.
The Meatlocker is a grungy, graffiti-covered DIY venue right in the middle of Montclair, N.J. It feels out of place in the area (there's a Lululemon store across the street- among plenty of other "nice" chains and restaurants) and it's been "shut down" multiple times in the past (but it always comes back to life). I went to see Sharptooth (melodic hardcore from Maryland; I know their bassist Phil through his other band, Something More) but the other two bands I saw, Bad Off (hardcore, also from Maryland) and Psychodynamic (punk, from Jefferson, N.J.) were great as well.
Read More2016 has certainly been an interesting year. I shot 129 shows in 2015 but I shot significantly fewer this year, since I was on the road with PETA and peta2 most of the year. I spent this spring on the road for peta2's college campus tour, and made it a point to check out shows on my nights off whenever I was able to. I spent this summer working for peta2 on the Vans Warped Tour, which was a dream come true. I worked hard at outreach, and whenever I had a break or a day off, I was shooting sets. I spent the end of the summer and the beginning of the fall in Orlando as the Tour Administrator for PETA's I, Orca exhibit, where I was able to catch some shows at Backbooth and The Social. This fall and winter, I've worked ten shows for peta2 around the Northeast as a Concert Rep.
This year, I was able to travel to Thailand and Israel (blog post coming soon, but there are a few images up on my Instagram already). I never thought I'd be able to visit either of these places, so to go to both in one year was absolutely incredible.
I'm so grateful for all of the traveling I was able to do this year. I narrowed it down to 22 of my favorite live music images from 2016- some of them I've posted before but some have yet to be seen by anyone but myself. These images were taken in 15 cities across 12 different states; 7 are from Warped Tour and the rest from other shows. There are local bands and some of my longtime favorite musicians.
Without further ado, here are my favorite and most important live music images from 2016.
Read More(The title of this post is a reference to "Homecoming" by Green Day.)
The day after Indiana, we were in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio- having spent four years living in Cleveland for school, this was my "second-hometown" show! I had a feeling when I woke up that it was going to be a good day, and it was. I ran in to so many friends, and I hit goal early which meant I had time to go shoot Good Charlotte again.
Read More(The title of this post is a reference to "Moving On" by Good Charlotte.)
Virginia Beach to Syracuse, New York was probably the longest overnight drive of the tour. We had an early bus call, but with over 500 miles between stops, we didn't reach Syracuse till after 9am. This meant getting ready while the bus is still moving- putting my contacts in while we were rolling was quite the feat!
Because we got there so late, as soon as we reached the venue it was time to "hit the lines". We walked out to a decent line of kids (Warped Tour had never been to Syracuse, so these kids were probably very excited!) and as we made our way down the line, passing out free wristbands and stickers as they activated with our campaign, the line grew longer and longer.
Read More(The title of this post is a reference to "To Be Free" by Tonight Alive.)
After we finished training, it was time to begin the 1400 mile trek from Los Angeles to Dallas. You might be wondering how we managed to fit a 20-by-30 foot tent, all of our gear, ten activists and all of their luggage in to one 15 passenger van and one smaller car. The answer is a real life game of Tetris, with the longest tent poles slid under the seats of the van, boxes and gear and luggage piled on top of that (a few suitcases stayed under our feet!). We left Los Angeles on June 19, and drove to Flagstaff, Ariz. that day, where we had dinner at Red Curry Vegan Kitchen.
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