Jack Johnson @ Cricket Pavilion

I thought America was just "going through a phase" when Jack Johnson became a hit here. That sappy, folky, pseudo-Jamaican, island music style got really old to me, and really quick. Jack Johnson, Jason Mraz, and lets not forget ... actually, I can only think of two. I suppose OF the two, I'd prefer to shoot (photograph with camera) the former. Still... Cricket Pavilion? For serious?







Yes, for serious. Cricket Pavilion. Serious like cancer. A cancer that an awareness walk downtown won't cure. When I pulled into the parking lot, to where they let press people park, I was shocked at how full it was. They were actually ushering people into the press lot. Madness. Inside, the place was jam-packed. The last time I saw Cricket this full was for Jimmy Buffett... hmm. I kind of GET the appeal of this sort of music... something simple, soothing, and easy to listen to while people smoke pot all day. I get it. But I can't believe that this many stoners can remember to purchase tickets for the show, or have enough spare cash to buy an album in between purchasing bags of drugs.







But in all seriousness, I don't like this sort of thing. I don't know if I'm being clear enough. Regardless, he is a viable photo-op, so I went for it. Luckily, the other photogs in attendance were wrong in thinking he wouldn't bring any lights with him. In fact, it was a relatively easy shoot, none of the band mates really moved from their predetermined allotments... and the stage was sufficiently lit as well... I didn't use the word 'lit' as a pun for everyone on stage being high and using the same flowery style cup to drink juice from in between songs, I meant there was a lot of light... surprising a bunch of stoners would have it THAT bright actually.



Jack Hody Johnson, America's greatest American hero.

KISS @ Cricket Pavilion

When I started this post I realized that it was blog #101. I've cracked 100 posts! But since I didn't notice it while I was posting #100, we aren't celebrating.

KISS, back again... feels like just last December 1st they were here. But, we wanted the best, again... right? Yeah, I'm pretty sure we did. I was up for it, but I can't speak for you. But KISS gave us the best, so stop complaining, this blog just started.





It's not until the heat from multiple 30-foot tall fire balls hit you that you realize we don't actually live on the surface of the sun here in sweaty Phoenix, AZ. While that rank smell and the pit stains on the people to my left, right, and rear would suggest otherwise, after the warmth of the flame left my face, the temperature actually resembled "cool". Thanks KISS, for that at least.





Getting to the front of the stage riding a giant floating platform with smoke shooting out from the underside of it while fire is streaming from all sides of you, is one way to start a show. Sure. But there's always the stand-by 'just walk calmly out and quietly say hello into the mic without looking and be all indie' beginning... but you know, for purposes of good photos, I'd take the platform entrance any day! So thank you KISS once again.





Boredom is not allowed at a KISS concert. Even if you don't know the songs, and God knows I don't... You can still have a pretty ridiculous time. I mean, where else can you see a dude in makeup play his guitar between his legs with his ass up in the air? "Is it Creed? That sounds like a Creed concert. Creed is so awesome." ...No, not even at a Creed show can you see that. How about a dude in 10-inch, bedazzled platform shoes doing a jump in the air after having just been doing a one legged side split at the front of the stage? "ABBA??" No, not ABBA. How about a dude who sings, plays guitar, and crawls on hands an knees to shove his face into your camera? Ok... this is all just Paul Stanley, the Star Child as I refer to him... and then there are 3 other guys in the band still! Well, they don't do as much. Let's be honest here. But still, the show is nuts.





Photo-wise, a guy can't ask for much more. "What about a girl, could she ask for more? Sexist!" When did this blog turn into a discussion? Photo-wise, conditions we're superb. Lighting was ample, the stage was giant, and the players really sell to the camera. Honestly, all I could have asked for would have been a little more room in the pit, and maybe some of those sweet platform shoes... as if I don't tower over all the other photogs already... brew-ha-ha-ha!!





Pyrotechnics, giant video screens, animated characters, and a catalog of hit songs... what more do you need? Nothing! So stop asking! Next time KISS is in town, just buy a cheap ticket and go watch them! It's real life. And whether you like them or not, this band is legendary. You might as well go see them before it's too late.



It's rare that I actually get to meet the band... and it was just as rare this time, since it didn't happen... but I got close... shaw!

Greenday @ Cricket Pavilion

Somehow Billie Joe still has it. I'm not saying he shouldn't have it. I don't think anyone's saying that. I'm certainly not. But, even so, it was refreshing to see someone really attempting to connect with their fans, and seriously rock the house. And in a pair of red and black striped pants and spotted socks, I think he did it.







I think some people are surprised how often I say "I'm not really a fan, but..." in my blogs... so, why stop now? In fact, I was pretty ANTI-Green Day when they really hit hard with the Dookie album. Not because I was a too-cool-for-school-hardcore-true-punk-fan-from-way-back or anything... in fact, I liked 'real' punk even less. I just never liked the 'cleverness' or goofiness to the band back then... fitting words like "melodramatic" into a pop song, and butchering the pronunciation of it to fit the timing. I always grouped them in with the way Ben Folds' lyrics turn my blood and make me want to lobotomize myself. (Or just turn the station) But, that said, I've grown to appreciate them over the years. They fill a gap. And they are very entertaining to watch live.







I shot them last time they were here, at the considerably larger US Airways Center... so they're hugeness may have waned slightly, but they still sufficiently rocked the house. The house, which was only about a quarter full while the opening band (AFI) was playing... did eventually fill up nicely. The stage show was only slightly scaled back from that of the previous show. A lot of the same lights and screens... minus a catwalk and the side perches... but Cricket sort of has those built in anyways.







We photogs were told we'd only get to shoot 2 songs for Greenday, but that the second song would be quite a bit extended. Which, it was. Billie Joe jumped off the stage and ran into the audience... he went searching for a fan and brought him on stage. The fan got to run around on stage, sing a couple of backing vocals, then Billie Joe cleared a space for him... and instructed him to dive off center stage. The kid couldn't believe his luck. I said this before I think... but Green Day had just then turned that kid into a fan for life, and probably made his whole year just then. And what did that cost Green Day?







Lighting, if I'm honest, was good, if a bit boring. Lots of white light meant you could take your time with exposure and get a nice pic... but it wasn’t anything crazy. And the city skyline and flames on the LED screens were a bit, cheesy. But, it was color... and what's the alternative? Rush's shows are crazy, but you don't even know what the hell you're looking at. To be fair, I'm sure the lighting picked up later in the show, they did have a bunch of gear. But I can't complain. This is one of those bands where, if you didn't get nice shots, you probably had the lens cap on.

Toby Keith @ Cricket Pavilion

Walking up to a big country music show is an experience all it's own. Inevitably at any concert, there will always be people tail gating pre-show... drinking... stumbling over their feet before they even make it through the turnstiles. But at a country show they are all clad in straw cowboy hats... "fuck yeah" can be heard quite often... and that unmistakable sound of a steel guitar seems to echo to every corner of the parking lot.

Toby Keith. Here is what I know about Toby Keith: he was at one time, sort of a country music "bad boy". He wears a bandanna, drives a big truck, and sings songs about kickin' the other guys' ass. I will never forget the title of his war rally album, "Shockin' Y'all!". America, feck yeah!

Toby's set felt more like a giant commercial for Alfa Romeo than it did a concert. No wait... not Alfa Romeo... what's that big American car company that makes trucks that are banned in San Francisco because of size and weight restrictions?? Yeah, that one. Before Toby came on stage, the audience was subjected to, basically a shouty 10 minute truck commercial... Toby driving through middle America in his giant FU-4,000,000 crew cab truck, saving peoples lives and fighting off ninjas. Afterwards, the band took the stage, fireworks and flames went off, and then a giant truck appeared behind the drummer on a large riser... followed by another truck appearing under the drum riser, with Toby laying in the truck bed, cowboy boots up on the gate. A small person walked out, lowered the tailgate and set up a mic, Toby got out, a Marine handed him his guitar, and he sang a song from the tailgate. (None of that was made up)

You can't argue that the audience didn't get bang for their buck. In fact, during just the two songs I was allowed to photograph, as many as three bangs could have been heard... who knows how many more bangs the audiences' buck got after I left.

On another point, this was one of the loudest shows I've been to in a while. Toby's gravel filled country draw was so loud, and the frequency of his voice so shrill, that it made my brain start to revolt... it was telling my hands to abandon photographing to protect itself.

All in all I had a decent time shooting. The lighting conditions were altogether fair. Toby gave us plenty of time to get nice shots on the second song. Even tho most photographers will complain about cowboy hats blocking the eyes of the performer, you sort of just get what you can and wait for that one nice moment to present itself. Armed with my 17-40mm and my 100-400mm, I walked away not feeling I missed anything.

Kings Of Leon @ Cricket Pavilion

Kings of Leon, what can I say? They are a sensation right now. A fact that was supported by the near capacity crowd at Cricket Pavilion on Saturday night. It was a muggy, hot evening... and the crowd was getting ancy by the time KOL took the stage.





Right from the get go it felt like I was at a Mariah Carey concert. "No shooting the lead singer straight on"... "Stay on either side of center stage"... "No changing sides is allowed"... "Don't stand on 1-ft tall concrete riser to get a better shot". Being sweaty, covered in camera gear, and told how much I was not allowed to do made this a pretty unexciting show to shoot. On top of that, I left my two nice CF cards at home, and only had a small 512k card to work with. So none of the photos were shot in RAW format, and I only had a few shots to work with.





I managed to skate by and get some decent shots. But you can tell from these photos how difficult it was to get any nice angles. I was positioned in front of the bass player, so I was able to shoot him all night and get neat photos with interesting lights and LED screens behind him. But getting the lead singer meant getting a stage wall as the backdrop. Again... why do bands make their photos suffer?