Def Leppard + Poison @ Cricket Pavilion

I've always sort of been a Def Leppard fan. Any time a "Pour Some Sugar On Me" comes on the radio I crank it up. I was ready to be 80's rocked last night for the Def Leppard and Poison show. I think I was pretty adequately rocked too.

I've said it before, but at some shows 'getting the shot' is difficult, making listening to the show is tough. I could hear enough to know that it was a good show, however. I'm not super familiar with Poison, having only just been born in the 80's, but they rocked it. The crowd was absolutely into it.

Bret Michaels could still reel in the crowd and C.C. DeVille could still shred the solos. If piles of female undergarments are any gauge of a good rock show, this one rocked pretty hard. (see pic below)

When Def Leppard came on stage, I was pretty excited. Seeing Rick Allen atop the drum riser, fist raised in the air, ready to rock some faces off, the crowd roared. By the time I saw Joe Elliot and Phil Collen, I was torn between wanting to watch the show and wanting to photograph. (that wasn't a pun)

I was surprised at how together the band was. I had some fears they might not be as solid as they once were, but from what I could hear I can't knock em. I didn't notice any missed notes on Elliot's part, or any flubbed guitar licks by Collen. I would have really enjoyed watching this show. I especially regret missing a chance to hear "Love Bites" live. A personal favorite. It might be cheesy by today's standards, but there are some interesting musical devices and changes in that song that I appreciate.

Guitar players with no shirts on has never looked cool to me... a straight man... but I think when it comes to Phil Collen, you pretty much expect it. I wonder what he does when they tour Russia?

All in all, shooting conditions were pretty manageable. The stage was high, with lots of floor monitors, making it difficult to get the epic, centered wide angle shots I love... but I got what I could get. There was a long cat walk, and the photogs weren't allowed to shoot from that section... which meant no changing sides. You take what you can get.

Lil Wayne @ Cricket Pavilion

It's been a busy week, so my posting got held up... but I managed a little time to throw up a few pics from the Lil Wayne show.

Going in to this, I've had yet to be thoroughly impressed at a rap show. Normally, it's just a dude rapping to a pre-recorded tape, a guy scratching records on top of that, and 25 other guys acting as the 'posse' on stage occasionally yelling "yea" into a microphone. It also didn't help that the photogs were told we'd be shooting from the sound board at Cricket Pavilion... which is a lengthy throw.

But as fate, or something, would have it, I was a little surprised... there was quite a bit of production value for this show. There was a band set up, dancers, and minimal posse. I guess I didn't put it together before, but most rap shows in Phoenix take place at the Celebrity Theatre... a 2000+ capacity venue. But Lil Wayne was playing Cricket... a 20,000+ capacity amphitheater. This was definitely a different ordeal. Too bad we weren't allowed to shoot up front.

I used both my 5d MkII and my 20d for this shoot. At first I strapped the 100-400mm to the 5D, and my 28-105mm to my 20D... and half way through I swapped. Switching from a full frame sensor to a 1.6x crop meant I got a huge range out of the lenses. I suppose, with the resolution of the 5D I could have just cropped the photos... but thats not something I like doing.

Aerosmith / ZZ Top @ Cricket Pavilion

Pretty much any show at Cricket Pavilion is a big deal... but last night was a pretty special classic rock show. Aerosmith and ZZ Top. I'm not a particularly huge fan of either, but I'll rock out to some Aerosmith when its on the radio! And who didn't own their "Get A Grip" album? Come on!

ZZ Top opened the show with their many classic songs to an appreciative, if tame, crowd... still building in numbers as they played. Billy Gibbons, vocals and guitar, appeared to be having a great time on stage... he would occasionally pose and smile real big at the crowd.

The three-man band really created a nice full sound. I was actually surprised how big it sounded at times. But maybe having large beards and chrome semi-truck exhaust pipes for mic stands make up for a lot of the possible emptiness. The "show" CAN fill in the gaps. I had a good time watching them.

After our allotted 3 song partition of ZZ Top, we photographers are escorted back to a very warm trailer. Myself and another photog chose not to hang out in there. There's something odd about a room full of photographers... they start to complain uncontrollably. You'd think this beats a desk job? But soon, the hour break between ZZ Top and Aerosmith was up, and it was time to walk down to shoot again.

So, there was 11 photogs present at this show. Large numbers always makes it interesting, but at this show in particular our shooting position inside the barricade was very small. Let me tell you this, photographers can be cutthroat, especially when their already in a bad mood... because of their job, where they are a photographer. But we all finally picked our spots, this time limited to one side of the stage of the other, no shifting. Aerosmith started their set behind a large black curtain with a blisteringly loud rendition of "Eat the Rich". The crowd went nuts.

Seeing Steven Tyler prance around on stage in person was something interesting to behold. These guys who become icons of their field and even parodies of themselves sometimes get overlooked for how good they really are. There's not a single singer out today who can match his level of camp and exuberance. There's something to be said for really just putting it all out there and giving the people a show. Whether that means starting the show in a gigantic ladies hat or not. :)

I had a great time shooting Aerosmith, but I will say this: this show was a lot of work. The lights were changing a lot, and Tyler and Joe Perry tended to hang out on the opposite side of the stage... plus, there were photographers and videographers everywhere. But it was a great game of shooting what you can manage. Camera settings were constantly changing on the fly. I had my 20D and my 5D MkII... which was pretty at home around ISO3200 for this shoot.

I'm very happy with what I got from the whole show. I absolutely love what I got of Steven Tyler, I only wish I could have got a few nice shots of Joe Perry. But a great time all around... save for the ridiculous heat maybe.

Killswitch Engage backstage @ Cricket Pavilion

Friday was the Rockstar Mayhem Fest at Cricket Pavilion. I didn't end up shooting it for the New Times, but my pal at the AZ Republic, Jim Louvau asked me along to assist on a few backstage band photo shoots. These are just a few pics from the 10 minutes we had with Killswitch Engage.

Things were a little hectic. There really wasn't anywhere to set up the lights that I brought, so the shoots ended up being really quick and chaotic. We had a lot less time with each band than we thought. We actually ended up shooting All That Remains also, but it happened so fast that I didn't even get my camera out.

The Killswitch Engage shoot was just in their dressing room. We just threw them up against the most interesting looking wall and snapped a few off. They were cool with it, and did whatever we asked them to. I basically just documented the happenings. Check out the rock star food. Neat.

One of these buses was Slayer. Rock.

No Doubt @ Cricket Pavilion

Some shows... right before the band starts... we photographers get to peek behind the giant curtain. We can see the band take their places, and see what they are feeling. When Gwen Stefani walked on stage, shielded from the massive sold out crowd by a huge white piece of nylon at the front of the stage, she couldn't help but smile. Frankly, it was nice to see the humility from such a huge star. It was also, for me, another one of those "whoa, this is a big deal" moments. It doesn't get much bigger than Gwen Stefani... reunited with No Doubt.

Keeping with the 'big' aesthetic, the stage set up for No Doubt was both massive and really fun to look at. There was a ridiculously large screen at the back of the stage.  Drummer Adrian Young with two touring back up band mates sat atop a large white spider-like drum riser. Everything on the stage was white. Even the screen was white at the start. Which, as simple as it sounds, makes for a really cool and clean look.

The band was perfectly together. Musically tight, and thriving off each other.  Every one seemed to be having a great time. Gwen, Tom Dumont (guitar), and Tony Canal (bass) could all be seen jumping around and kicking wildly into the air. It was a very genuine good time. The crowd couldn't have been happier. The screams were nearly as loud as the music.

I'm really glad I got to shoot this show. I thought it would be a big deal, and it was. Probably more than I expected. Lighting wise, it doesn't get much better, or easier. With a f2.8 lens, I was able to keep my ISO at 400 and my shutter between 1/200 and /250. It was a great environment for shooting... and the subjects don't get much more entertaining.

Paramore @ Cricket Pavilion

Last night was No Doubt at Cricket Pavilion, and Paramore is on tour as their opener. I felt I needed to give No Doubt their own full post... but I still wanted to post a few pics from Paramore's set.

Paramore isn't a band I've followed, but its a band you cant help but hear about. And while orange hair isn't really a new thing, Hayley Williams manages to stand out as the only one doing it in the pop scene today. 

Nominated for a Grammy in 2007 for "Best new artist", and a song on the Twilight soundtrack... Paramore are now a staple on the pop rock scene. Their performance was fun a light hearted. They played to the audience, and the audience responded. A pretty typical poppy-punky-rockish type sound thats easy to swallow and inoffensive make for a pretty successful recipe. Why don't more bands do it? (Sarcasm, kids.)

All in all, it was a good set. Lots of energy and no slow spots. Shooting them was pretty fun and easy too. The lights never really changed so conditions were stress free.