Usenet, anyone remember that? That’s where the Rock ‘n’ Roll Photog, Jennifer, and I met, at a little place called alt.gothic. This week, Jennifer goes back to her gothy roots.
And now, jumping back to the present, with a show I just went to last week: HIM, along with We Are The Fallen, Dommin and Drive A, at Irving Plaza. I was shooting from the balcony, so there are probably better pictures out there. But these are mine, and here are some of my favorites:
Drive A was the lone punk band on the bill. They bounced around the equipment-crowded stage to the best of their ability, and they got the only proper mosh pit of the evening. (Tangent: I love watching the pit form and surge from the balcony. My black little heart grows three sizes when the crowd bells out and the circle coalesces and starts to spin.) At one point the lead singer hopped down to stand on the barrier:
and later he jumped into the crowd:
Next up was Dommin , who have declined to classify themselves on MySpace, but I can tell you they are high-quality gothabilly with a hint of Elvis. Favorite song: My Heart, Your Hands, which is magnificent and rolls like a mighty wave, live.
I think those might be skulls hanging off the keyboard, but I’m not entirely sure:
And then there was We Are The Fallen , which I thought was Amy Lee (Evanescence) with a new band, but is actually Evanescence without Amy Lee. Oops. Sorry, Carly Smithson. I did enjoy your cover of Like A Prayer! I am also sorry most of the pictures I took of you were kind of awful. Here’s one for general flavor:
And then, at long last, HIM , who are a thing of beauty and a joy forever, and seemed to be as delighted to see us as we were to see them. This is mainly a picture of the stage, with a hint of Ville Valo in the middle there, but I like the color, and also the spots of cellphone/camera lights:
I tried to get some close-ups, but that didn’t work out so well. This one of Linde probably came out the best:
And then there’s this one, of Ville Valo and Migé:
It was, overall, a wonderful show. The music was great – atmospherically gothy but not a ponderous doom fest — and they did two fabulous covers, one of Chris Isaak’s Wicked Game and Billy Idol’s Rebel Yell. Ville Valo was chatty and charming between songs, teasing his bandmates and occasionally telling jokes with no punchline, and I basically spent the whole set grinning at them dopily, clapping along and trying to dance and/or headbang without knocking into anyone standing next to me.
— Jennifer
