Tag: rock ‘n’ roll photog

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2015: A Year in Pictures

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Hello, darlings. I hope you are having excellent holidays, or at least excellent days.

Normally this feature is just a year’s worth of shows – or a year and a bit – but I’m doing something a little different this time around. 2015 has been amazing, at times, and brutal, at others, and as I uploaded my images, it occurred to me that some of the silences had as much of an impact as the instances of joyful noise.

So, here it is: a year of pictures of rockstars, and some other things, too.

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Book of Love, Terminal 5, New York, NY, Dec. 31, 2014

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Andy Bell, Erasure, Terminal 5, New York, NY, Dec. 31, 2014

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Kennedy (tuxedo) and Nikita (fluffball), dozing, New York, NY, Jan. 17, 2015

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Nikita, 2001-Feb. 16, 2015

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Kennedy, Feb. 28, 2015

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Alina in the snow, March 1, 2015

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Snow, birds, intrepid traveler, Brighton Beach, March 20, 2015

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Fort Tryon Park/George Washington Bridge, Easter Sunday, April 5, 2015

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Nick Morrison, Mumblr, Emerson House, Brooklyn, NY, April 24, 2015

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Emerson House, Brooklyn, NY, April 24, 2015

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Bonfire at the Mumblr show, Emerson House, Brooklyn, NY April 24, 2015

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Flowering tree, Brooklyn, April 24, 2015

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Kennedy, 1998-May 21, 2015

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The beach at Corpus Christi, TX, June 27, 2015

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Karma Killers, Warped Tour, Jones Beach, July 11, 2015

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The Dirty Nil, Warped Tour, Jones Beach, July 11, 2015

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Metro Station, Warped Tour, Jones Beach, July 11, 2015

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Family Force 5, Warped Tour, Jones Beach, July 11, 2015

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Black Veil Brides, Warped Tour, Jones Beach, July 11, 2015

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Rivers Monroe, Warped Tour, Jones Beach, July 11, 2015

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The beach at Jones Beach, July 11, 2015

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Z Berg, the Studio at Webster Hall, New York, NY, July 21, 2015

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Alex Greenwald, PHASES, the Studio at Webster Hall, New York, NY, July 21, 2015

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Z Berg and Michael Runion, PHASES, the Studio at Webster Hall, New York, NY, July 21, 2015

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Father John Misty, Central Park, New York, NY, August 5, 2015

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Austin Plaine, Rockwood Music Hall, August 12, 2015

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Plastic Cannons, Rockwood Music Hall, August 12, 2015

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Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Cleveland, OH, Aug. 20, 2015

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House band at the Dixie Stampede, Pigeon Forge, TN, Sept. 23, 2015

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Patriotic finale, Dixie Stampede, Pigeon Forge, TN, Sept. 23, 2015

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Elvis Presley at the pancake house, Pigeon Forge, TN, Sept. 24, 2015

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Elvis Presley (impersonator) at the State Fair, Jackson, MS, Oct. 10, 2015

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The Famous Maroon Band comes marching in, Starkville, MS, Nov. 14, 2015

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Tombigbee River, Columbus, MS, Dec. 13, 2015

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Miss Gay Oklahoma 2014, Rick’s Cafe, Starkville, MS, Dec. 15, 2015

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Postcards from the Pit: Panic! at the Disco / The Colourist / X Ambassadors, Roseland, 2/4/2014

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It’s a rare thing, getting to watch a band grow up.

My first (indoors) Panic! at the Disco show was at Roseland Ballroom in May 2008. I say indoors because my actual first Panic! at the Disco show was at Bamboozle a few days earlier, and when I saw them I couldn’t really see them, because I had just broken my glasses in the Bouncing Souls pit. I could hear them just fine, though, and against all odds – they were in their hippie phase, wore lots of beige and had four tattoos between them – I loved them.

But at Roseland I could see them, and they looked like sweet-faced deer in the headlights. Their stage presence was probably best described as “charmingly awkward.” But the songs still made me happy. And so, for good or for ill, I was in for the long haul.

This past Tuesday night – six years, two records/style-shifts, and three line-up changes later – they were at Roseland again, one last time before the places closes down in the spring.

The openers this time around were X Ambassadors and The Colourist.

X Ambassadors had a dark dreamy-draggy-occasional-burst-of-thundering-drums vibe going, which I rather liked. Plus their lead singer is also their saxophone player, which was unexpected and awesome. Verdict: A++, would see them at their own show.
 

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The Colourist was a little bit bouncier; apparently they describe themselves as “majestic rock” and/or “math pop” which, okay, I guess that makes sense. All I can tell you is they had super-intense, high-energy drums (majestic, indeed) that were precise but not cold or stiff, and that when they were done I definitely wanted to see them at their own show as well.
 
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And then Panic! at the Disco came out, and – though I have seen them many times since 2008, I’ve watched the show evolve, I know what’s coming – I was struck, again, by how Brendon Urie has evolved as a front man. Gone is the almost-bashful boy who once wore a ringmaster’s costume, and his place is an actual showman in a glittery jacket and skin-tight leather trousers with a signature back-flip move – which he deployed twice – who finally seems comfortable in his skin.

(I really love that back flip. So graceful, and he makes it look effortless. I live in hope someone will put him in a Broadway show while he can still stick the landing.)

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Wax Fang, The Astronaut

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Wax Fang - The Astronaut Cover

The Astronaut, by Wax Fang, is everything you would want from a space opera: lush, sweeping, majestic, a little bit mysterious, and, since it’s about a lone space traveler who gets separated from his vessel, sucked into a black hole, and made into an interstellar god, a little bit tragic, too.

After I had listened to it a couple of times, I had some questions for the band:

Why a space opera?

We wanted to do something big and bold, something experimental and transcendental that was in accord with our tastes in art and music. A metaphysical musical adventure set in the deep reaches of outer space just seemed like a perfect fit for us.

At first I thought the three singles [The Blonde Leading the Blonde, Hearts Are Made For Beating, King of The Kingdom of Man] were independent of the space opera, but after repeated listenings to both works, the singles now sound, to me, like they should be part of the space opera. Were they conceived separately, or in conjunction with the opera? Why were they released separately?

The singles were all written long before the idea of the Astronaut came to be and, as such, have little, if nothing, to do with one another, save that they all come from the same place, that is, us.

How, if at all, does Alpha Man fit into the narrative universe of the space opera?

In my mind, each of our songs is its own microcosm. Therefore, Alpha Man and the Astronaut inhabit separate universes (or alternate dimensions of the same universe, perhaps?). But who am I to tell you what to believe?

And with that, dear readers, here is The Astronaut, in its entirety, so that you may decide for yourselves:
 

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Two Songs From: Passenger Peru

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Passenger Peru (formerly Pet Ghost Project) is: Justin Stivers (vocals, guitar, bass, synth, drums, drum machines) and Justin Gonzales (vocals, guitar, synth, piano, samples) and their latest self-titled release, due out next week, was recorded in Brooklyn and Alaska.

According to their bandcamp their genre is neo-psychedelia mixed with garage rock and noise pop, which I’d say is about right. There’s certain amount of dreamy noodling but it’s dreamy noodling with weight and discernible structure.

Here are two songs from the record:

Heavy Drugs: Because you can only escape for just so long; sooner or later reality will force itself to your attention. Here is a song you can listen to in the last few golden moments before the hammer comes down.
 

Dirt Nap: It is what it says on the tin – a meditation on death – but an oddly soothing one.
 

Passenger Peru is available on tape and digitally; the digital version comes with two additional songs, including cover of My Bloody Valentine’s Don’t Ask Why as well as four (!) free Pet Ghost Project records.

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Video: Empires, How Good Does It Feel

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Empires, scrappy little band of my heart (Chicago division), is getting ready to release a new record, to be called Orphan.

As a preview, they’ve put out the video below, for How Good Does It Feel. The edges are a little less jagged than they usually are, but the propulsive energy is still there and Sean van Vleet’s voice is still the perfect seductive blend of silk and whiskey.
 

Empires - How Good Does it Feel Live From the Basement

 
In other Empires news, they will be headed out on tour of the Midwest starting in February:
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For further updates: see their Facebook and/or Twitter pages!

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The Paraffins, Subhuman

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The Paraffins are from Glasgow and Subhuman is their second record.

It’s also a dramatic change of pace from their previous work. Created during and partially inspired by a long Ayrshire winter, Subhuman is dense, gloomy, and maybe a little bit claustrophobic. Like being snowed in, in an old house that creaks at random times and maybe has a ghost or two rattling crankily in the attic.

Hippopotamized is not the first song on the record, but it is the first one I listened to. Continuing the house metaphor: this would be playing when the door to the front parlor banged open of its own accord and you got a good look at some of the things on the walls.
 

Deep Space: for when you have put the kettle on and settled down to read the old journals you found in one of the bedrooms, while the wind whips the snow around outside.
 

Intrigued? You can listen to the rest of it at their bandcamp page.

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Housekeeping: A Note on the Change in Administration

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Good morning darlings. This is Jennifer, just here to first say thank you for all of your kind words yesterday, as the NTSIB community bid a sad and fond farewell to April, our founder and fearless leader, and secondly to confirm that while April is retiring from music blogging, I am not.

There may be some hiccups in the next couple of days and weeks while I get things re-organized, but NTSIB remains open and afloat!

I look forward to having many new musical adventures, and I hope you will continue to join me.

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Postcards from the Pit: Andrew WK / Team Spirit, Irving Plaza, 12/31/13

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My first post of the new year goes to my last concert of the old year and/or first concert of the new year: Andrew WK and Team Spirit at Irving Plaza.

The night began with punk rock heavy metal karaoke – live band, audience participation – which was more sublime than ridiculous, due mostly to the assembled crowd, which included multiple generations of headbangers, punks, and miscellaneous People In Black as well as others who had come down to capital-P Party with Andrew WK.

I was there because, frankly, 2013 was kind of shit, and Andrew WK – in many ways heavy metal’s holy fool – is about fun in an uncomplicated way that I find very attractive. And that was how I wanted to start 2014, with uncomplicated fun.

But back to karaoke. There were a lot of beautiful moments: the dude in the Lil Bub hoodie who led us in a sober, stirring rendition of War Pigs; the girl who grabbed Oh Bondage Up Yours! by the throat and made it her own; the girl and the guy who led a gleeful sing-along of Fight For Your Right to Party; the last dude, who slammed through Communication Breakdown like he did it every day. They were all rock stars, and I have the pictures to prove it.

The first band was Team Spirit, who I mostly enjoyed, though their set started to drag a little bit towards the end.
 

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And then, as midnight approached, Andrew WK’s band slowly began to appear:
 
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There was a countdown, and at the end, the clock and year flipped over, Andrew WK walked out and the pit went bananas. All pictures after this juncture were taken while I was being moshed into the barrier and/or during lulls in crowd surfers. Make no mistake: it was a hot, sweaty action-packed good time and I enjoyed myself thoroughly, but I was glad I had that barrier to cling to.
 
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After the final encore, as the band was walking off, the crowd the started chanting Thank you, Andrew, which surprised me, and made me wonder if his pit does that all the time, or just on special occasions. In any case, then and now, I echo the sentiment. Thank you, Andrew WK, for dropping us into 2014 on a tide of sweaty enthusiasm, grace and the simple but beautiful pleasure of jumping up and down and banging our heads.

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2013: A Year in Pictures

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A full year of rock ‘n’ roll pictures, January to December, New York to Boston to Philadelphia to Brooklyn. They might not be the best pictures ever, but they are mine.


Magic Trick, Webster Hall, New York, NY, January 14, 2013
 

Father John Misty, Webster Hall, New York, NY, January 14, 2013
 

Wildstreet, Best Buy Theater, New York, NY, January 24, 2013
 

William Control, Best Buy Theater, New York, NY, January 24, 2013
 

Andy Biersack, Black Veil Brides, Best Buy Theater, New York, NY, January 24, 2013
 

Andy Biersack, Black Veil Brides, Best Buy Theater, New York, NY, January 24, 2013
 

Ashley Purdy, Black Veil Brides, Best Buy Theater, New York, NY, January 24, 2013
 

Jake Pitts and Jinxx, Black Veil Brides, Best Buy Theater, New York, NY, January 24, 2013
 

Jinxx, Black Veil Brides, Best Buy Theater, New York, NY, January 24, 2013
 

Pete Wentz book signing, New York, NY, February 21, 2013
 

The Naturals, The Bowery Electric, New York, NY, April 6, 2013
 

Wise Girl, The Bowery Electric, New York, NY, April 6, 2013
 

Mud, Blood and Beer, The Bitter End, New York, NY, April 13, 2013
 

El Sportivo and the Dirty Palms, Mercury Lounge, New York, NY, April 24, 2013
 

Roadside Graves, The Bowery Electric, New York, NY, May 4, 2013
 

Brian Barthelmes and Scott Thompson, Tallahassee, The Bowery Electric, New York, NY, May 4, 2013
 

Shawn Carney, Tallahassee, The Bowery Electric, New York, NY, May 4, 2013
 

Scott Thompson, Tallahassee, The Bowery Electric, New York, NY, May 4, 2013
 

Wayne Coyne, The Flaming Lips, The Great Googa Mooga, Prospect Park, Brooklyn, NY, May 17, 2013
 

Father John Misty, The Great Googa Mooga, Prospect Park, Brooklyn, NY, May 18, 2013
 

Ryan Hunter, Billy Rymer, and Isaac Bolivar, NK, House of Blues Boston, May 26, 2013
 

Billy Rymer and Isaac Bolivar, NK and Joe Trohman, Fall Out Boy, House of Blues Boston. May 26, 2013
 

Patrick Stump, Fall Out Boy, House of Blues Boston, May 26, 2013
 

Pete Wentz, Fall Out Boy, House of Blues, Boston, May 26, 2013
 

Fall Out Boy, House of Blues, Boston, May 26, 2013
 

Patrick Stump and Pete Wentz, Fall Out Boy, Electric Factory, Philadelphia, May 30, 2013
 

Andy Biersack, Black Veil Brides, Warped Tour, Uniondale, NY, July 13, 2013
 

William Beckett, Warped Tour, Uniondale, NY, July 13, 2013
 

Beebs and her Moneymakers, Warped Tour, Uniondale, NY, July 13, 2013
 

Crashlive, Warped Tour, Uniondale, NY, July 13, 2013
 

Kevin Preston, Prima Donna, Irving Plaza, August 17, 2013
 

Adam Ant, Irving Plaza, August 17, 2013
 

Josh Dun, 21 Pilots, Barclay Center, Brooklyn, NY, September 7, 2013
 

Tyler Joseph, 21 Pilots, Barclay Center, Brooklyn, NY, September 7, 2013
 

Panic! at the Disco, Barclay Center, Brooklyn, NY, September 7, 2013
 

Kenneth A. Harris, Panic! at the Disco and LOLO, Barclay Center, Brooklyn, NY, September 7, 2013
 

Joe Trohman and Patrick Stump, Fall Out Boy, Barclay Center, Brooklyn, NY, September 7, 2013
 

Marky Ramone, Barclay Center, Brooklyn, NY, September 7, 2013
 

Brendon Urie, Panic! at the Disco, singing with Fall Out Boy, Barclay Center, Brooklyn, NY, September 7, 2013
 

Pete Wentz, Fall Out Boy, Barclay Center, September 7, 2013
 

Tyler Joseph, 21 Pilots, Liacouras Center, Philadelphia, PA, September 8, 2013
 

Brendon Urie, Panic! at the Disco, Liacouras Center, Philadelphia, PA, September 8, 2013
 

Joe Trohman, Patrick Stump and Pete Wentz, Fall Out Boy, Liacouras Center, Philadelphia, PA, September 8, 2013
 

Beachballs in the air, Liacouras Center, Philadelphia, PA, September 8, 2013
 

Patrick Stump, Fall Out Boy and Brendon Urie, Panic! at the Disco, Liacouras Center, Philadelphia, PA, September 8, 2013
 

Brendon Urie, Panic! at the Disco, McKittrick Hotel Cabaret, New York, NY, October 8, 2013
 

Brendon Urie, Panic! at the Disco, McKittrick Hotel record release show, New York, NY, October 8, 2013
 

Cassandra Jenkins, Rockwood Music Hall, New York, NY, November 10, 2013
 

Jus Post Bellum, Rockwood Music Hall, New York, NY, November 10, 2013
 

Sean Patrick Carney, The Scandals, Knitting Factory, Brooklyn, NY, November 19, 2013
 

Jared Hart, The Scandals, Knitting Factory, Brooklyn, NY, November 19, 2013
 

Frank Iero, DeathSpells, Knitting Factory, Brooklyn, NY, November 19, 2013
 

Brandon Phillips, The Architects, Knitting Factory, Brooklyn, NY, November 19, 2013
 

Casey Neill, 11th St. Bar, New York, NY, November 24, 2013
 

Tyburn Saints, Glasslands, Brooklyn, NY, December 4, 2013
 

Indigo Street, Shy Hunters, Glasslands, Brooklyn, NY, December 4, 2013′
 

Luke Bentham, The Dirty Nil, Glasslands, Brooklyn, NY, December 4, 2013
 

ALX, Love Crushed Velvet, Bowery Electric, New York, NY, December 10, 2013
 

Ellen Kempner, Palehound, Brooklyn Night Bazaar, Brooklyn, NY, December 21, 2013
 

Lemmy Gurtowsky, California X, Brooklyn Night Bazaar, Brooklyn, NY, December 21, 2013
 

Alex Levine, So So Glos, Brooklyn Night Bazaaar, Brooklyn, NY, December 21, 2013