Black Eyed Peas @ Jobing.com Arena

I shot the Black Eyed Peas a few months back when they were here with U2, but I never posted any of the photos. I don't really know why... I must have just been busy, but they did run on the New Times page. However, this time around, I'm glad to post a bunch of pics!





This was very much a concept show... the show started with a computerized countdown... there was a circuit board projected on to the stage with a large green digital face speaking to the audience, and as it would ready the available instruments, that section of the circuit board would light up and that part of the band would make a noise, signaling that it was ready. The individual vocall band mates rose up from under the stage into their own laser spotlight. Interestingly, Will.I.Am came up after Fergie... I guess he is the big draw now?





Aside from all the cool lighting and the giant catwalk in the middle of the stage, the band also donned their own semi-futuristic customized costumes. Will's outfit looked like a bedazzler's nightmare, but it glinted nicely in the lights. Fergie was clothed in a bizarre black and white circuit board-like spandex jumper under shiny metal armour. I couldn't get the comparison of her to Liam Neeson as Zeus in the "Clash of the Titans" remake out of my head the whole night. She even had a "shoulda put a ring on it" glove on her right hand.





The sound was very loud and boomy. It was difficult to make anything out, for me anyways. But they put on a cool show. The crowd was more than impressed... at one point I looked down and saw at least one pair of women's underwear near the stage floor.





One cool thing about big choreographed shows like this... things always work a certain way, and sometimes the photogs are let in on the secret. Before the show started, one of the video cameramen from the tour walked all the photographers through what was going to happen on stage. We were told they'd raise up from the floor and pretty much stay on the main stage for the first song, then on the second song they would all strut out on to the catwalk. While this information sounds somewhat superfluous, my back-up camera died on me at my last gig. This means I have to stop shooting for 20-30 seconds to change lenses, and at this shoot, which was only two and a half songs long, that means a lot of shooting time lost. But more importantly, having the knowledge of the arrangement, I was able to switch from my zoom on the first song to my wide lens on the second song. Making for the more dramatic photos when the band was standing right in front of me... I was able to draw the stage in the background. Good intel.



I don't like to dismiss openers in general, and in this case, it was a pretty big deal... Ludacris. Who, unfortunately, didn't have quite the stage production value. He came on stage in front of a DJ, a video screen, and a handful of dancers. The more "straight forward" rap shows don't tend to have a large amount of production value in general, I think I just expected more after seeing the giant stage for the first time... but I guess you're not supposed to upstage the headliners.





To be completely honest, Luda's set, from the two songs I heard was not very impressive. He was very much out of key, and the mix was very obnoxious. It wasn't that he was incredibly loud, but his vocals really cut though, and between being out of key and having his rapping partner out of sync, it was not enjoyable.

Paul McCartney @ Jobing.com Arena

Part 2 of my double header day. After lugging my gear across the street from Cardinal's Stadium to Jobing.com I was geared up to shoot Paul McCartney. My back up camera, a Canon 20D, took a dump on me at Wrestlemania. From what I read on the forums, it sounds like my shutter killed itself... it just keeps snapping itself open and closed, even with the power off. For Paul, I knew we were shooting from the soundboard so I wouldn't NEED a wide lens... but when I have the massive 100-400mm attached to a monopod, it's difficult to change lenses... especially in the dark and in a crowd of photographers. Which is why I love having the 20D. More on that later, maybe.





So, the "throw", as they say in the biz, was even farther than we thought. BEHIND the sound board was an elevated platform with about 6 or 7 rows of seating. The photogs were placed behind that. So we were, very realistically, almost at the other end of the floor of the arena. I just relied on the 5D's massive sensor and high resolution to get the nice pics and I could crop if I needed.







I would like to state... I hate cropping my photos. To me, it appears like the photo was taken incorrectly... and it feels like I'm just cheating. I like to frame a shot and have that BE the photo. I don't like to cut corners, as it were.





All that boring photo business aside... The show was great. I only got to catch the first song which was a short medley of Venus and Mars/Rockshow/Jet, and then the first half of "All My Loving" before I was shooed out. But giant screens from floor to ceiling, lots of lights, amazing musicians, and that catalog of music... you really can't ask for a much better show. Plus, the man is a BEATLE! I heard from my writer at the New Times that he played for over 3 hours. You just can't ask for more.

WWE Wrestlemania XXVI @ Cardinals Stadium

Yesterday was a double header for me... I shot the Wrestlemania show at Cardinals Stadium (University of Phoenix Stadium) from 3:30pm - 7:15pm, then hauled my gear across the street to Glendale Arena (Jobing.com) to shoot Paul McCartney. Which do you think was the better show? I'll post two separate blogs... read and see what I thought.





To start off, I used to watch WWF with my dad... but it was always just for a laugh. I mean, who could take Ric Flair and the Macho Man serious? There was never any question (to me) as to the "real or fake" question... I'd just watch it to be entertained. So I can sort of understand where the crazy fans come from... all 72,000+ of them that burrowed into Cardinal Stadium.





This show was nuts... and the people were nuts. I couldn't believe how many die-hard fans there were... grown human adults and kids alike... and even the occasional odd female girl lady. The fans had made their own signs, t-shirts, title belts, and even replica costumes. It was a lot like a Sci-fi convention, but less interesting.





I don't think I could win an argument saying that it wasn't entertaining. But by that logic, I'd probably lose the same argument when it comes to Nascar or New Kids On The Block. It sort of started to bother me how uncoordinated some of the matches were... especially the ladder match. The object is to climb a ladder and grab a case full of money and win... but there are 8 or 10 people in the ring at the same time. You can imagine the hilarity. But at one point, there was only one guy in the ring, he climbed to the top of the ladder... and pretended to not be able to grab the case. He just sort of clawed at it and looked around to see if someone was going to knock him down. Then someone realized "right, that's MY cue!"... smacked him in the stomach, and he flew off the ladder!



Something else I remembered from my high school days... I had a friend who was STILL into WWF in high school... and he would buy the shirts and the watch all the shows... but he'd also collect photos of the WWF "Ladies". At the show last night, they had the new crew, which they call the call the "WWE Divas". Basically, scantly clad women in a ring throwing each other around. I have to say, this match at least proved that the men in the audience were still mannish. It was actually hard to get decent photos because a lot of people in the audience were standing up to watch the fight... which, was actually more high-speed than the guy wrestlers. So kudos to the ladies, it was a great way to break up a lot of sweaty men in their underwear play slapping each other.





One bizarre thing you might not know about a live WWE show is that there is no sound. When the matches are going on, there is no play-by-play, and there is no mic over the ring. So all you can hear during the matches is the hooping and hollering from the people in your section, with the intermittent sound of someone landing on the spring board mat.





From a shooting point of view it was pretty easy. I cranked my ISO up to 5000 so I could have my shutter super quick to catch the flying action. I had it as high as 1/1000 at some points. On the other hand, there were about 30 or so photographers, and we had an elevated platform to shoot from... which got very crowded. But we were able to run around the arena as long as we stayed out of people's way. At one point I was getting heckled by a group of people who shouted "I paid seven fitty for these seats!"





It was definitely an event. There was a lot of time spent in preproduction and camera gear. I mean, this is the real deal when it comes to live events. I had a fun time watching all the camera gear be passed around. Lots of people with ARRI pro gear on steadicams, dollys, cranes, shoulder mounts... it was fascinating to see it all in action. I'm glad I got to shoot it, it really was something else. The roar of the crowd and passion of the fans was surely something to behold. It's just too bad its fake wrestling they're all there to see.

Frank and Derol @ The Phix

On their way from LA to SXSW, the alt-pop band Frank and Derol made a stop in Phoenix at a club downtown called The Phix. Helmed by Codi Caraco on lead vocals and Brandi Cyrus on guitar, the foursome took the stage and brought the venue back down from scream rock to a nice laid back alternative vibe.







My younger sister turned me on to the band, having heard of them through Brandi's sister Miley, she had seen them before in Phoenix and in LA, and I've been waiting for the chance to check them out and get some photographs. The band was very relaxed on and off stage, encouraging people to dance and to stop by after the show and talk. They were very engaging, even to the slightly cow-eyed Monday night crowd.







There were roughly 8 bands on the bill this night, including fellow LA residents, The Colourists. Who reminded me of a lighter and poppier version of Bloc Party. The two bands are on the road together at the moment, on their way to the South By Southwest (SXSW) festival in Austin, TX... which is a crazy monster of an event by which 100's of venues in Austin, from snappy modern bars to street corners, open their doors to bands of all stature. The event is massive, and can be a promising band's ticket into the industry.





From a lighting point of view, it was dark. I relied heavily on my 50mm f1.8 lens. With an aperture like that, you can pretty much shoot anywhere. Everyone should have one of these in their camera arsenal.





After the show, me and my group hung out with the band, snapped a few photos, and talked about the idea of shooting a music video together. Hopefully, we can work something out! All in all, it was a good night of music for $10. Please come and support The Phix and owner Lee Berger... it's a neat venue, and a great outlet for creative music.