2016 In Review

Hard to believe it's that time of year again. Seems like only yesterday I was writing my 2015 "year in retrospect" post (maybe that's because I didn't do any other blogging in the meantime?), but it's already time to look back on another year.

2016 was a fun year for me. I got to shoot a lot of bands I hadn't shot before, and a few that I had already shot once or twice in prior years. There were new favorites to be discovered, unexpected help from unlikely sources, some disappointments and rejections, and a lot of lessons learned along the way. I tried to be a little more selective about the shows I agreed to shoot, and more disciplined about pressing the trigger when I did go and shoot (after all, you've got to sift through all those millions of shots in the hours after the show, and that's not nearly as much fun as it sounds...)

But without further ado, here's a sampling of my favorite moments from the last year. And like last year's review, these may not be what I'd consider my best shots - rather, they might be shots that capture something that reminds me why I love shooting shows, or they may have some other special significance to me.

Here goes.

Troye Sivan

Troye Sivan

In the vein of new artists I shot this year but didn't expect to, here's one of Troye Sivan from his show early this year at the Fox Theater in Oakland, CA.  I hadn't heard of Troye until I went back to Michigan last Christmas and my teenage niece mentioned she was planning to drive 3 hours to see him. Any new artist that gets a teenager to drive that far for a theater-sized concert is probably someone worth paying attention to, because you can bet they're going to be huge soon. I immediately jumped on the chance to shoot his tour stop in the Bay Area, and was not disappointed. Oh, and that thing I said about "going to be huge soon"? After playing the 2,800 seat Fox in February, he came back and sold out the 8,000 seat Bill Graham Civic Auditorium across the bay just 8 months later. Needless to say, I'll be going over my niece's playlist again this Christmas.

Jonathan Richman

Jonathan Richman

If Troye Sivan is the next big thing, then Jonathan Richman might be the exact opposite. Richman has been around since the early 1970's, and is partly known for being in a band that later spun off members to The Cars and Talking Heads. Richman has been tremendously influential in his own right, however - I'll save you the history lesson, as you can learn all about him on Wikipedia - and he's still going strong playing clubs on the west coast. I caught him opening for The Growlers at the Fox, and honestly wasn't prepared for the madness to which I was treated. He has a childlike quality to his performance, wide-eyed and full of enthusiasm and wonder, and you can't help but smile wide and go along for the ride. There's nobody out there quite like him. Jonathan Richman reminded me that night of why I'm addicted to the surprise of live music... and why I always plan to show up for the opener.

Ok, what else?  Well, I was thrilled to have the chance to shoot two supremely talented artists who caused quite a bit of confusion among Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran fans back in 2015 thanks to their uncannily similar names: Foy Vance and Vance Joy.

Vance Joy

Vance Joy

Foy Vance

Foy Vance

You've probably heard Vance Joy's song "Riptide" somewhere in the last year or two - on radio, TV, movies, etc. It's been pretty much everywhere. But Foy Vance remains somewhat under the radar, despite some pretty sweet gigs opening for Ed Sheeran and Elton John, among others. I'd recommend checking out his excellent new record "The Wild Swan" if you get the chance.

The award for my most intense, and perhaps most fun shoot of the year has to go to the band Foals. Their show at the Fox (yeah, I spent a lot of time there this year) was everything I expected and hoped it would be, which was loud, energetic and unpredictable. Foals is one of those bands that truly gets it when it comes to music photography. They want photographers to capture them at the show's peak - when they're sweaty, tired and cranking the energy to 11. So unlike every other band out there, Foals has the photographers shoot their last three songs instead of their first three. 

The results are kind of spectacular. It's the end of the show so they're playing their biggest hits, the crowd is going crazy, there's guys jumping off the stage... it's a photographer's dream (as long as you've got good insurance on your gear, I suppose.) When the chaos was over, I had a stupid smile on my face that wouldn't go away for hours.

With that show, Foals might've entered my top 5 of bands to shoot.

Foals

Foals

One of the most unexpectedly cool shows I shot this year had to be Bon Iver at the Fox.  I knew Bon Iver - aka Justin Vernon - was an impressive talent from listening to his records, but I didn't anticipate how impressive his live show would be. I've never seen so much gear packed onto the Fox's stage - instruments, lights, an imposing array of enormously tall video screens... there was hardly room to walk on the stage! It certainly wasn't at all what I expected from a guy who's known for some fairly melancholy electronic folk. While Justin was fairly reserved and stationary throughout the show (save for an amazing synchronized dance party at the end with his support act Francis and The Lights), the staging made for some incredible photos, even if it was challenging to get a clear shot at times and I wasn't given much time to shoot close-up. But I was the only photographer approved, and best of all I was given permission to shoot the entire show (except for the aforementioned dance party), which is a rarity for artists of his stature. So this one stands out as one of my favorite shows of the past year.

Bon Iver

Bon Iver

Bon Iver

Bon Iver

And finally there was Twenty One Pilots.  

To say they've have a meteoric rise in the last few years is a severe understatement. They went from playing in Yahoo's cafeteria a few years ago to playing Saturday Night Live and selling out arenas around the world on their latest tour. I'd been fortunate enough to shoot these guys twice in the past two years, both times at the Fox in Oakland. I've always been amazed by their showmanship and the passion of their fanbase, known as the "skeleton clique", not to mention their remarkably candid and thought-provoking lyrics and the simple fact that they just seem like real, stand-up guys. So when they came to town yet again, this time playing not one but two sold-out shows at the venerable Greek Theatre in Berkeley, I knew I had to be there. And even better, they brought along one of my all-time favorite bands, MuteMath, as support. This was a must-shoot show for me.

Thanks to unexpected help from a friend of a friend who knows a guy, I was given the chance to shoot the first night. I wish I could say serendipitous opportunities like that come along all the time, but truthfully it doesn't usually work out that way. So I'm beyond grateful when it does. Shooting that show was truly the highlight of my year, and I'm already crossing my fingers that I'll get the chance to shoot them again in 2017.

Twenty One Pilots

Twenty One Pilots

Twenty One Pilots

Twenty One Pilots

And as I mentioned, one of my favorite bands - MuteMath - opened the show. That was a big one to check off my bucket list. I'd narrowly missed shooting those guys a couple of times previously, and wondered if I'd ever get the chance. Thankful to have gotten some really great shots of them this time around.

I've noted in the past that if there's one thing I love to shoot, it's passion. I love artists who lose themselves on stage and give their all to the performance. It makes for great photography, to be sure, but even as just a fan I find it intoxicating. There's nothing quite like being at a show surrounded by people who all feel the same euphoria about what they're experiencing, and the feedback loop generated with the artist in that moment can be incredible. So here's to those fans and the shows this year that brought the passion in spades. It truly is what keeps me coming back for more.

Here's to a great 2016, and much more to come in 2017.

Want to see a few more? Check out my Flickr album "Favorite Concert Shots of 2016 and the slideshow below!

2015: A Few Favorite Shots, With Words

At the end of a year, there’s a lot of time spent retrogazing online. Everybody seems to do it - there’s the year's top news stories, top search terms, best-of lists everywhere… And concert photographers are no different. The end of the year brings a (relatively) calm respite to the constant barrage of must-see tours, and it allows us a moment to look back at all the fun shows we’ve shot (and yes, some miserable ones too.) And many photographers take a moment to pick our their best images from the year and post them in galleries online.

And music photographers aren’t alone - this year, a tool came along that helped Instagram users identify their “nine best” images from 2015, as ranked by total “likes”. So naturally, I ran my Instagram account through the wringer and, well… I wasn’t totally impressed. It seems that the photos that got the most likes in 2015 were often not my favorite images, but were popular more because of who was in them. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.

So like many photographers, I took a few minutes and gathered up a few of my favorite 2015 images from my Flickr feed. I quickly came up with 22 images, each of which was special to me for some reason. Perhaps there are more I could’ve included, had they been uploaded to Flickr, or perhaps 22 was already more than enough - there’s something to be said for editing oneself, after all. At any rate, it was good enough and I posted a link to my gallery and moved on.

After returning from holiday travel, I felt that I needed to do something more. It isn’t enough to name your favorites if there’s no context given as to why they’re your favorites, especially since in my case my favorites aren’t necessarily the most unusual, or the most technically excellent exposures that I’ve taken - sometimes they’re my favorites simply because they speak to me in some way, or carry some special memory from the show. 

So here goes nothing - a small sampling of my favorite photos from the year, with words.

First off, here's my most viewed photo of 2015: rapper Lecrae with 2015 NBA MVP Stephen Curry of the NBA Champion Golden State Warriors. After shooting the usual three songs from the pit, which was unusually empty this night, I moved to the back of the room to watch the show. And almost immediately I noticed the MVP standing by the soundboard, as is typical for VIPs. I kept an eye on Steph through the show, not wanting to bother him but dying for a photo op. And to my relief, midway though the show he was whisked backstage and soon after appeared on stage to accompany Lecrae for the song "I'm Turnt". And thankfully I had my long lens ready for the moment! This image was originally posted to Instagram during the show with a very rough edit, and afterwards it was re-grammed by Steph himself to his 7 million followers. My post got 57 "likes" - his post got just shy of 300,000. That's gonna be hard to top in 2016.

Sometimes shows don't go as planned. This is one of those shots I look back at and cringe a little. It's a shot of Gregory Alan Isakov performing at the venerable Fillmore in San Francisco. It's pretty much the only usable shot I got that night. I arrived at the venue late, had problems picking up my photo pass, and then got in only to find there wasn't a photo pit that night. Worse, there aren't many spots at the Fillmore that allow you to shoot over the audience's heads, and I didn't bring a step-stool this night - big mistake. And the balconies were either off-limits or packed full. I took this picture standing on my tiptoes while leaning up against the bar that runs along the side of the venue, tucked inside an arcade of sorts. It was a miserable night, but I was glad to get such a cool image given the circumstances. 

Sufjan Stevens on the Carrie & Lowell tour in Oakland, CA.  This show meant a lot to me, as I detailed in a previous blog post.  This shot gives me goosebumps because it comes at a moment in the show when Sufjan is left alone on the stage, surrounded by the mess of instruments and tools of his genius, working out his grief as only he can. Goosebumps.

I love capturing passion in a performance, and these two images do it in spades. Above, Mikey Hart and Jack Antonoff of Bleachers, and below, Jon Foreman of Switchfoot. Amazing performances from both of those bands this year. I'd gladly shoot nothing but those two bands all year if I could, they make my job so incredibly easy.

Here's a shot that wasn't actually taken during a show - instead, it was taken just before Lord Huron took the stage in Oakland, CA on their Strange Trails tour.  I love those moments before and after the show when there's often a nice, soft stage light and a sense of calm on the stage. Having grown up in Michigan, I was admiring the Michigan state flag draped over Miguel Briseno's bass rig - when suddenly a roadie walked over and posed like this for no apparent reason. The roadie made the image so much better, I think!

SRC_6799.jpg

Drummers are incredibly hard to shoot well much of the time. When I get a good one of the drummer, it can feel like winning the lottery. I love this picture of Finish Ticket's drummer in particular because of the intensity with which he plays. You can see the tendons popping out of his neck!

Lastly, here's another black and white that I'm still enamored with. Such a simple portrait of John Bell of Widespread Panic, but I love the pained expression and furled brow, and the asymmetrical lighting across his face. Sometimes passion can be expressed quietly, too.

It's been a good 2015, and here's to many more great shows in 2016!

That Time I Shot Taylor Swift

This Friday and Saturday, quite possibly the most popular female singer in the world at the moment, Taylor Swift, is going to bring her ridiculously over-the-top 1989 World Tour to the home of the San Francisco 49ers, Levi's Stadium, only a short distance away from my office.  She's probably going to pack 70,000 people into the stadium each night, some paying hundreds of dollars per ticket to see her belt out those songs you couldn't avoid on the radio and TV if you tried.  You simply can't avoid her in the media.  She's huge.

And to think, she was one of the first artists I ever shot. 

Now mind you, I didn't shoot her in a stadium with 70,000 screaming fans behind me.  Instead, I was sitting on the lawn at Yahoo HQ back in 2007 with probably no more than a couple hundred fellow employees (and more than a few of their teenage kids) around me eating their lunches.

I brought my trusty little Nikon D70S to work that day, since I had heard a little of Taylor's music and figured it'd be worth getting a few shots.  I wasn't even dreaming of doing concert photography at that point, and I was still just learning the basics of using my DSLR.  Some of my coworkers made fun of me for even going to the show - a teenage country singer?  Really?

Taylor was just a seventeen year old kid with big dreams and a debut record under her belt - a newly certified gold record, to be fair - and some pretty kickin' cowboy boots.  She was every bit the teenager you can imagine, introducing nearly every song as being about some boy who had broken her heart, even warning us that writing songs when boys do such things is how she gets revenge (little did we know what was to come in future albums!)  

I took a few photos and posted them to my Flickr page, and then moved on.  

They're not my best photos.  The poses aren't anything special, the compositions somewhat boring.  They're all taken from the same spot in the grass where I was sitting because I was too shy to get up and move around during a performance in those days.  Frankly, they're not photos I'd put in my portfolio, not even close.  They're snapshots taken with a consumer-grade SLR and lens, shot by someone who hardly knew how to properly use his camera on anything but 'Auto' mode.  It's a miracle any of the photos were in focus.

But you know what?  To this day, those photos are my most viewed photos on Flickr, by far.  Eight years later they still get views every day from people searching for "Taylor Swift".

So what's the moral of this story?  

First, bring your camera with you whenever you get a chance to shoot an artist.  You really never know who's going to be the next Taylor Swift, and there's something pretty awesome about shooting a future star when you have absolutely no restrictions. But you'll only know they're a star in retrospect, and by then it's too late.  So bring your camera, and get those pictures.

Second, the thrill of shooting those little shows on the lawn at my office were what got me into music photography.  Having access to Taylor and countless others like Collective Soul, The Band Perry, Capital Cities and Taylor Hicks is what got me interested in learning my camera and learning the art of music photography.  They formed the beginnings of a very rough portfolio, though I didn't know it at the time.  So when you've got an opportunity to practice and get better, take it.  These opportunities are stepping stones to bigger and better if you want them to be.

Who would guess that some of those stepping stones would turn out to be the biggest stars in the world one day?