I recently shot a few really great punk/hardcore shows. It started with
Against Me! on 12-17-09 at
Spaceland in Silver Lake, then
Suicidal Tendencies at the
Long Beach Arena in Long Beach and
Against Me! again at the
Troubadour in Hollywood on 12-19-09 and then ended with
Title Fight at
Chain Reaction in Anaheim on 12-20-09.
Against Me! did a short tour of playing in small clubs. They were supported by
Roll the Tanks and
O Pioneers. I bought a ticket to the
Spaceland show and brought my camera in hopes of being able to shoot the show.
Spaceland said I had to have a pass, but I snuck my G10 in anyway. I was ok with this situation, but it turned out my friend, Joe, was now playing drums for
O Pioneers, so he was able to get me a "real" photo pass. So now I was armed with my good camera for what I hoped to be an amazing show. There is no photo barrier at
Spaceland, so the best angle is from the crowd. It has been awhile since I have shot a punk band from the crowd. There have been times where I have thought I was "beyond" that, but I wouldn't have done it any other way that night. I got shoved, hit, yanked, grabbed and elbowed the whole time and it was amazing.
I had to leave the
Spaceland show a little early, but my friend, Joe, offered to put me on their list for the
Troubabdour show on 12-19-09. I told him I would love to go and shoot
Against Me! agian, the only problem was that I was asked to shoot
Pennywise,
Suidical Tendencies and
TSOL at the
Long Beach Arena for my friend who was doing the production. And on top of all of that, it was my friends' Christmas party. So I had some choices I had to make. Also at this point I was feeling sick and didn't want to do anything. After going back and forth with people, I apologized to my friend that I wasn't going to make his Christmas party, drove out to Long Beach and shot
TSOL and
Suicidal Tendencies and bolted to Hollywood where I got to the
Troubadour just as
O Pioneers was taking the stage. The
Troubabdour show was so amazing and I ended up being the only "pro" photographer there. Standing on the side stage as I shot the incredible concert, I realized I made the right decision.
I was asked by
Alternative Press Magaizne to do some photos of a band called,
Title Fight. I had only known the name because I had seen it around. To prepare for the shoot, I started listening to them. I was pretty much stoked on them right away. So much so, I was making it a point to stick around for their show that night at
Chain Reaction in Anahiem. I can't show you any photos from the
AP shoot yet, but keep an eye out for them in an upcoming issue. But here are a few shots from the concert. Holy cow, it was so awesome. I can't wait for
Title Fight to come back in late January. They were good dudes and I left with new friends and a new band I can't stop listening to.
Title Fight @ Chain Reaction, 12-20-09
Cold World @ Chain Reaction, 12-20-09
O Pioneers @ Troubadour, 12-19-09
Against Me! @ Spaceland, 12-17-09
O Pioneers @ Spaceland, 12-17-09
Roll The Tanks @ Spaceland, 12-17-09
Against Me! @ Troubadour, 12-19-09
O Pioneers @ Troubadour, 12-19-09
