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

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