The Capitol Sound

Shadows Fall @ Club Sonar - 2/04/2010

2010-03-12T10:51:00.000-08:00

So I had the opportunity to shoot Shadows Fall during the first week of February this year; they played with three other opening bands who were Big Whiskey, The Comdemned, and 2 Cents.

Definitely a fun show and I ended up with some amazing photos to send to the band. I hope they end up using a couple on their site.

More photos can be seen here

Support your open mic nights

2010-02-18T14:08:00.000-08:00

So I've been missing out on something for a while now. I used to go to one of the local bars in the little college town I live in for open mic night every Sunday. The host would get up and do his thing, playing a set of music and then letting the other people on the list come up and play. For some reason, I stopped going.

Well about a month ago, before all of the snow we've been getting, I ended up going to an open mic night that a friend of mine was hosting to play a few songs. It was the first time he had put on an open mic at this particular bar. It ended up going pretty slowly with only a handful of people actually playing, but it was fun and it was a no pressure environment.

So why would you want to see a musician play in a no pressure environment where they're unconcerned about whether or not you hear their screw ups? Wouldn't that make it a much less enjoyable experience? Well to back up my point of view I'll have to tell you about a certain musician from a classic rock band that I know. I was watching him play at an open mic night at Altos Club right outside of Shepherdstown, WV. He was playing Red House with a friend of mine and I've never seen this particular guitar player shred as I did that night. After he was done playing I went up and complimented him on his abilities and asked him why he never did anything that crazy while playing in his band. His reply was that he wanted the band to sound good and balanced but didn't want to over shadow anyone and that when just jamming out, he could really let loose.

So as fate would have it, my cushy government job gave me off president's day, which is a Monday, which in turn allowed me to go out and enjoy an open mic night at the same bar I used to go to every Sunday. I spent a good majority of the night sitting around at the bar, chatting with friends, and enjoying the music.

Did I play? No. Does it make it any less awesome? Not when you get to see a group of performers that get to play in a relaxed environment where there's no pressure of having set lists or practiced songs. Not when you get to see musicians up there doing their thing with members of local bands crossing boundary lines and playing with members of other bands that you'd never thought you see playing together. Especially not when you get to see drunk Droo stripping behind the bar.

Well, maybe that took it a bit too far...

The point is, open mic night is quite unlike the dreaded karaoke night that so many have come to fear and loathe; it's a night where you can see real talent having fun when not under pressure and where you may just hear something you would have never heard from a musician that's under pressure to perform perfectly.

Norma Jean @ The Recher Theatre - 12/13/2009

2010-02-04T11:06:00.000-08:00

Norma Jean was re-introduced to me by a friend several months ago. I have heard of them previously through a coworker several years back but never got around to listening to them besides one or two songs here and there.

I picked up "O God, The Aftermath", "The Redeemer", and "The Anti Mother" and proceeded to dump them into my iPod for my unusual habit of constant repetition.

Time for a tangent... So when I find a band I like and/or can enjoy a whole album of their music, I usually dump the CD into my iPod and listen to the album. Then I listen to it again. Usually I'll listen to it again after that. And then finally, I'll just keep listening to them. It really helps me to get acquainted with the band's sound and nuances.

So after the first couple of listenings I was really digging Norma Jean. This was good as they were the band I was scheduled to shoot several weeks later.

So about the show; that's what this blog is about right? I started my usual Recher routine of hitting up Kyodai's rotating sushi bar a block or two down the street. After my sushi fix, I hoofed it back to the car and grabbed my gear so I could head into the Recher. I was about 15 minutes early for the doors and a line had already formed in time for me to catch it as it was wrapping around the corner. As everyone trudged in, dealing with showing tickets, IDs, and taking care of will call, I waited in nervous anticipation. I always do this, you never know when you're photographing the band and have done all the contact through their management if things will go smoothly or not.

I finally make it to the guys checking ID's and will call and state my name, SSN, and life history.

"You're not on the list", he says.

"Well shit, here goes my night", I'm thinking as I reach into my camera bag and pull out the copies of all the e-mail correspondence I printed off. I've learned that having that can be a valuable thing. The ticket guy scans it over after learning that I'm allegedly there to shoot the band and says that he'll contact the manager and he'll deal with it.

The person managing the Recher that night comes out and we have a brief discussion about why I'm there before he takes the e-mails and heads back to talk to the tour manager. About ten minutes later he reappears telling me that the tour manager just forgot to put me on the list and that she said I could shoot their entire set. Bonus!

So I get my photo pass and head in.

The first three bands were Arsonist Get All the Girls, The Chariot, and Horse the Band. They were all good but I definitely have to mention Horse the Band. They're quite unlike most bands that I've seen. Their singer was genuinely interested in making a fool of himself, the audience, and anything he could think of as well as just having a good time in the name of fun. They had a ton of energy and I was laughing between all the songs.

And it's time for Norma Jean. I squeeze up into the pit between the transition of Horse the Band and Norma Jean. There I was, hanging out in the photo pit all by myself off to the side, enjoying the feeling of being the solitary shooter that night. No other photographers to dodge and no people to have to share with; what can I say, I was feeling a bit selfish.

Then it happened. Heart attack in a string. Their bass player was hitting a few notes for sound test and it felt like my chest was going to cave in at any moment, always a great start to a show. After a few more minutes of setting up, they were ready. Norma Jean came out hard and kept the momentum going. I ended up shooting for about 3-4 songs, getting all the photos I needed and staying long enough to hear "Robots:3, Humans:0" before squeezing out of the pit so as to not bother any of the people up front enjoying the show. I got to hear one of the new songs that they were working on while listening to the rest of the set. They definitely had a high energy performance and kept the crowd going the whole time. I can't wait to catch them the next time they're in town.

You can see more photos here

Bad Fish @ Ram's Head Live

2010-02-04T10:35:00.000-08:00

More photos here