Monday, March 28, 2005

Fall Out Boy


pete3830
Originally uploaded by Charrmer.
Fall Out Boy headlined a show at the Colonial last night and I was shooting it for Your Music Magazine, which included interviewing the bands founder and bassist Pete Wentz. Great interview. These guys are hot right now! So hot they have even been selected to play the Main Stage on Van's Warped Tour this year.
Pete, all of 25, is surprising. He's the band spokesman for a reason... articulate, insightful, chatty. Showing his character he even stopped the show in the middle of performing to yell at two idiots in the crowd for being too rowdy. Saying basically 'This is our house and you need to get the f*** out right now!' It was impressive.
What was also impressive was the astounding level of whirling dervish physicality of Pete and the guitarist Joe Trohman as they each literally whirled, twirled and jumped over and over again while still managing to play their instruments with skill and precision.

Saturday, March 26, 2005

Kissed by the PM5K bassist!


pm5kboardwalk
Originally uploaded by Charrmer.
Powerman 5000 headlined at The Boardwalk the other night and within 10 seconds I was already in love. They put on an amazing show both musically and visually. I was so happy to be there!
The bassist (see photo) posed quite a bit for me and I got some great shots of him, including one where he is licking the neck of his bass after spitting on it.
After the show he came up to me for a fun chat. He scrolled through the pics on the back of my camera, delighted with what he saw, laughing and laughing. Upon goodbye he hugged me and planted a lovely kiss right on my lips. Yeah!
The lead singer, Spider, is Rob Zombie's little brother and the band is getting bigger by the second.

Atreyu! For those of you with Migraine Headaches, We Salute You!


atreyu
Originally uploaded by Charrmer.
Atreyu headlined the Colonial show all wearing white top to bottom, one even with a red bowtie! Incongruous but cool. Meanwhile this may have been one of the most annoying shows to shoot EVER because in addition to the insane crowd the lighting consisted mainly of huge strobe lights. Maybe because I was still feeling pissy from the surfing incident I was hyper-aware of every little thing and became obsessed with the safety of every person in the audience who might suffer from migraine headaches, which thankfully I do not.
I was shooting blindly on this one. Camera on auto, Go Go Go, hope for the best. Whew, it worked!

Unearth at the Colonial


unearthcolonial
Originally uploaded by Charrmer.
Unearth at the Colonial Theatre last night was great! Let's be clear about something though. Great to me also means vital, visual, exciting to watch and photograph. It's not music I'm likely to put on the CD player and bop around the house with. This is hardcore rock, heavy, screaming, metal, blindingly loud and an ugliness that to me is stunning to photograph. Capturing the energy of shows like this is really hard, scary, physically taxing and technically so far on the edge that you can't be positive you've got anything until it's long over. For this pic I'm standing in the photo pit, narrow enough for this guitarist to span the divide and stand right on top of the crowd, which is only too happy to have him there.

Used and Abused, the hardcore realities


colonialcrowd
Originally uploaded by Charrmer.
It's often a hazard to your health to attend a hardcore show and last night's show at the Colonial Theatre on Stockton was one to be remembered. When you look back it's a war story, with wounded on the battlefield... me. Not badly wounded but add one more to the list of injuries I've endured while on assignment over the years. All headaches aside the real damage was done to one of my camera lenses while shooting Unearth and a young guy came surfing over the rail and fell right onto me ripping the lens and mount right off my camera then followed that with a hard kick to my head, which not only pissed me off but slightly disoriented me. Thankfully it was the very last 30 seconds of the song so I hightailed it away for a much needed break from the insanity. I went back in for the headliner because I am made of hearty stock and you gotta be in it to capture it!

Tuesday, March 15, 2005

Body Painting again!


tabpeacock
Originally uploaded by Charrmer.
We had another body painting extravaganza at my place this weekend. This time Paula turned our darling model Tab into a gorgeous peacock. It was a breathtaking costume, which included real gold leaf, yards and yards of tuille and so many hours put in by Paula creating all the various pieces, leggings etc. it's a bit mind-boggling.
This kind of stuff just whets my appetite for more!

Thursday, March 10, 2005

Clown Day Afternoon


clown4650
Originally uploaded by Charrmer.
Was on a job last week at a local hospital and while waiting for my contact saw this odd little scene, so out of context with the happy, silly gregariousness you expect whenever a clown is around. Did you know that there are a enormous number of people who have a real fear of clowns? It's called Coulrophobia. Someone has even devoted an amusing blog to the topic called ihateclowns.

ADDENDUM: I just logged into Yahoo and this was the headline on my news page!Ask Yahoo What are the chances?!

Friday, March 04, 2005

John Waite at The Boardwalk


Waiting for Waite
Originally uploaded by Charrmer.
This was one of those nights that you think nothing unusual will happen. But by the time I left the club I had a head full of people and events that stood out like a red wool coat in a milky white blizzard.
It happens a lot lately-- people see me coming and they kindly step aside. This night they did more than that. I was physically pushed, pulled and even dramatically fondled by one woman eager to get me a better spot from which to shoot pics. The fondler wrapped her roving arms around me, moved many others aside and maneuvered me to the front edge of the stage, practically against my will. When the fondler finally let me go I was about five feet from Waite with nothing but the longest lens I own so that his face filled the frame entirely. Not too many people can stand that kind of camera scrutiny but I think Waite holds up well. :) See more pics here...
Waite came out after his set to sign autographs but ONLY if you bought something. I bought a CD and waited to get a photograph with him. A friendly man cut in front of me then chatted up a storm. However, he never gave up his turn and stood in the very spot where the photo was to be taken, even ignoring my request that he step aside so I could do my thing. He was caught up in the 'I get to talk to one of my idols' mindset. Suddenly John Waite flew the coop and my chance for a photo vanished with him.

Back at his dressing room Waite's watchdog would appear through a crack in the door, call out to people, then slam it shut, sometimes in someone’s face.
A patient trio waited him out because their need was of historic significance. The woman's father, a man she barely knew, had been in Waite’s band in the 70’s and she was now trying to piece her life and relationship to her father together. She had flown out from a southern state to meet Waite at this show, her first courageous step on the journey. Their meeting was too brief. As Waite walked away she and her friend both burst into tears. Probably a combo of frustration and relief.
Even as I watched this whole thing unfold I could never have guessed how truly important a moment this was. Taking me into their confidence, they explained it all to me afterwards. It gives you some perspective on life, family and humanity when you see things like this.

Later the fondler came rushing towards me again with hello’s and more fondling frenzy... Her boyfriend as it turns out was the very man who stepped ahead of me in line, all apologies by then. No worries, I assured him, I got the picture. Waite, on his final stride for the exit had suddenly stopped and turned back to me then kindly posed for the photo.

Kudos to Larisa Bryski and crew who put on an amazing acoustic set and left me humming their closing tune 'Everything' for days afterward. Wish it was on a CD now but she says that my friend Mark Gilmore of Local Licks fame has a copy and plays it on his show. I'll have to keep an ear open for that open Sunday nights!


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