Let’s just be honest: I’m a few months late putting together my annual look-back.
It’s not because I didn’t have anything to say about my year last year. On the contrary, 2023 was a pretty great year, even if I didn’t shoot as much as in some previous years. I shot a couple of the biggest tours on the planet, and some artists that are the very definition of “legends” (look the word up in the dictionary, I’ll wait!) I have been trending toward being a little more selective about what I shoot in recent years, in an effort to balance my personal and working life with my photography life. I’m not chasing as many up-and-coming artists like I used to, which is a little sad, but much easier to manage (after all, those club shows tend to start and end a lot later!)
So what are these big tours and legends I had the chance to shoot this year? Let’s start with THE tour of 2023, The Eras Tour by one Taylor Swift. Photographing her show in Santa Clara was an amazing experience made even better by her incredible, thoughtful and helpful team. I don’t normally stick around till the end of shows anymore because I like to avoid traffic (it’s no fun editing your photos till two in the morning, and even less fun if you have to stay up till 4am because you decided you had to stay and watch the whole thing) but for this tour, I stayed for all three and a half glorious hours. No regrets.
Taylor Swift
The Eras Tour was the tour every was talking about this summer, but it wasn’t the biggest show at Levi’s Stadium I shot this summer - that honor goes to Ed Sheeran, who set an attendance record of 77,000+ for his show there. Finally getting to photograph Ed was a treat. Even better, he played an intimate show at the Fox Theater in Oakland the night before, which I was also able to get a ticket to (no photos allowed for that one sadly!) Two nights of Ed in two very different sized venues made for some pretty special memories.
Ed Sheeran
As great as these huge spectacle shows are to see and photograph, there was one small show this year that was my favorite. I was given the chance to cover the annual “Acoustic-4-A-Cure” benefit show held at the (legendary) Fillmore in San Francisco. Hosted by Sammy “The Red Rocker” Hagar of Van Halen and Bobby Weir of the Grateful Dead, Acoustic-4-A-Cure is a wonderful night of surprises as incredible, legendary (there’s that word again) performers come together to benefit the UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital. This year’s lineup was stunning along with the hosts included: Joan Baez, Taj Mahal, Michael Anthony (Van Halen), Chris Isaak, Don Was and Nancy Wilson (Heart). Seeing all these incredible performers, a few of which had been born out of the San Francisco music scene during its 60’s heyday, was awe-inspiring. There were moments, such as when Bob Weir and his Wolfpack trio were playing the Dead’s hits, or when Joan Baez and Taj Mahal played their guitars as I crouched in the pit at their feet, that I just had to put my camera down and soak it all up. Goosebumps.
This year I made my return to the BottleRock Napa Valley music festival, where I had the chance to photograph a number of artists that I’ve always wanted to see live, including Nile Rodgers, Carly Rae Jepsen, Lizzo, Dogstar (with Keanu Reeves), Leon Bridges, Danielle Ponder, and many more. Festivals are exhausting and at times chaotic in the pits, but they can really pay off with some special performances.
I got to shoot another artist who I grew up listening to on the radio, and whose record So is in my all-time top 5 of favorite albums: Peter Gabriel.
Peter doesn’t tour a lot and takes his time putting out new records, so when he does release new music (the incredible I/O) and goes on tour in support of it, you knew I had to find a way to cover it. Thankfully I was able to for RIFF Magazine. This is one of those shows where as I’m standing in the pit taking pictures and Peter glances in my direction, I can’t help but wonder how I got to be so lucky to be there in that moment. A bucket list show for me.
Peter Gabriel
Last but not least, there’s DEVO.
This was a personal one for me. I happen to have a small family connection to Mark and Bob (aka aka "Bob 1") Mothersbaugh, lead singer and guitarist respectively, of the influential and should-be-in-the-Rock-Hall-of-Fame synth-pop outfit. The Mothersbaugh family were members of the church my Dad pastored in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, where I was born. DEVO made their debut and soon hit it big during the years we lived there, and while Mark and Bob were off making music and no longer hanging around the church by that point, their parents were still active members and served in the children's ministry of our small church. (General Boy taught my brother's Sunday School class - if you're a Spud, you know how cool that is.) We moved away before I was old enough to remember much of Ohio, but this connection has always been a part of our family lore, so I've had it on my bucket list to photograph one of their shows before they stop playing live.
DEVO
Thankfully, I got the chance not only to catch their 50th annivesary tour stop in San Francisco, but to also participate in an interview with a member of the band prior to the show and take a few photos. And even luckier for me, the member that was offered to us for that interview was Mark Mothersbaugh himself. The interview was wide-ranging and engaging, and Mark was a lot of fun to talk to. You can read the interview over on RIFF Magazine, written by David Gill.
As the interview was wrapping up I seized a moment to tell Mark about my connection to his family, and when I mentioned the name of the church, he immediately lit up. He began retelling his memories of growing up there, sometimes playing the organ in the church sanctuary. He got his first pair of glasses - which changed his life, as he tells it - from a shop across the street. He recounted how his Confirmation class photo features him, off to one side, with scrapes and two black eyes due to an unfortunately timed skateboarding incident. I regretted waiting till the end to bring it up, I think we could've talked much longer but his dinner was waiting!
So yeah, bucket list item: ✅
(L to R) Me, Mark Mothersbaugh of DEVO, and David Gill of RIFF Magazine
So all in all, 2023 was a pretty great year. And as always, a big part of what made the year so enjoyable was the fans. From Swifties to Phishheads, Devotees to Sherrios, and everything in between, they continue to be the fuel to my fire, my reason for putting in all the work year after year. Hopefully I bring all of them a little bit of extra joy from my lens. Here’s to more joy in the year to come!
