Tag: Concert Photography

DOE EYE| First City Festival | 8/23/14 [PHOTOS]

To Check Out Other Acts that I Caught At First City Festival, CLICK HERE.

THE ACT: DOE EYE | Facebook | Website

INSTAGRAM VIDEOS: CLICK HERE

SOUNDS LIKE:

THOUGHTS:  When deciding which acts I was going to check out, I trolled Facebook to see which artists had similar tastes that I did. I noticed that DOE EYE was a fan of How To Dress Well, so I decided to check out the first 15-20 minutes of her set before heading over to see … How To Dress Well. A little ironic, huh? DOE EYE is Maryam Qudus’ recording project, and her music is a blend of ethereal soundscapes and heavy rhythmic tempos. She was scheduled to play a 35 minutes set, but I could only stay for the several songs. I wish I could have stayed for her complete set to get a full sense of what her music and style were all about, but I guess she can blame it on Tom (aka How To Dress Well).

To Check Out Other Acts that I Caught At First City Festival, CLICK HERE.

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CocoRosie| First City Festival | 8/23/14 [PHOTOS]

To Check Out Other Acts that I Caught At First City Festival, CLICK HERE.

THE ACT: Cocorosie | Facebook | Twitter

INSTAGRAM VIDEOS: CLICK HERE

SOUNDS LIKE:

THOUGHTS:  Bianca and Sierra Casady are CocoRosie. Their music has been called “freak folk”, “folk-tronic” and “hip-hopera” … but whatever you want to call it, you can’t deny that it’s sublime. Currently based in Paris, France, I believe that this performance at First City Festival was one of the first concerts that they have performed in the United States since November of 2013, and even as the first act to hit the Main Stage of the festival, they drew a sizable crowd for their 2:30 set times. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one interested in seeing them perform their intriguing style of music. I left their performance in awe of their unique sound, and tried to sum it in my head. A mix of Bjork, Fiona Apple, Grimes … I don’t know how to describe it. It was CocoRosie.

To Check Out Other Acts that I Caught At First City Festival, CLICK HERE.

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Miniature Tigers | First City Festival | 8/23/14 [PHOTOS]

To Check Out Other Acts that I Caught At First City Festival, CLICK HERE.

THE ACT: Miniature Tigers | Facebook | Twitter | Website

INSTAGRAM VIDEOS: CLICK HERE

SOUNDS LIKE:

THOUGHTS:  I only had a couple songs to listen/watch this band play because I had to show up to the press tent 15 minutes before main stage acts took the stage to be led into the photo pit, but I was immediately drawn to Miniature Tigers bassist. In fact, over half of my photos from what I caught of their set were of the bassist. LOL. My brief encounter with their music left an upbeat, fun impression.

To Check Out Other Acts that I Caught At First City Festival, CLICK HERE.

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Speedy Ortiz | First City Festival | 8/23/14 [PHOTOS]

To Check Out Other Acts that I Caught At First City Festival, CLICK HERE.

THE ACT: Speedy Ortiz | Facebook | Twitter

INSTAGRAM VIDEOS: CLICK HERE

SOUNDS LIKE:

THOUGHTS:  Really, really dig this band. I grew up in the 90’s, and their sound took me back to my days listening to the Pixies and Pavement. In fact, when I heard Sadie Dupuis sing for the first time, I thought of Kim Deal singing “Gigantic”. This band has been getting a lot good press recently (part of the reason why I wanted to check them out), and it really is well deserved.  Hopefully, they’ll come back to California for some more gigs sooner rather than later.

 

To Check Out Other Acts that I Caught At First City Festival, CLICK HERE.

 

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Strangers You Know | First City Festival | 8/23/14 [PHOTOS]

To Check Out Other Acts that I Caught At First City Festival, CLICK HERE.

THE ACT: Strangers You Know | Facebook | Twitter | Website

INSTAGRAM VIDEOS: CLICK HERE

SOUNDS LIKE:

THOUGHTS:  The first band I got to catch was a young group of fellas called Strangers You Know. For the earliest set in the day, I was quite surprised that they had pulled a decent sized crowd (which consisted of mostly young girls). With solid pop-laced, indie-rock melodies and a confident swagger that impressed me and good looks (which I’m assuming impressed their young female crowd), I was glad that I got to the festival grounds early to catch some music that I was unfamiliar with. If these guys have been writing their music, they’re off to a good start. I’m interested to hear more from them.

To Check Out Other Acts that I Caught At First City Festival, CLICK HERE.

 

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Lee “Scratch” Perry | Twilight Concert Series | Santa Monica Pier | 8/28/14 [PHOTOS]

CLICK HERE to check out other acts performing a Twilight Concert at the Santa Monica Pier!

Lee “Scratch” Perry. The Upsetter. A Grammy award winning, seminal Jamaican reggae producer whose innovative production techniques redefined reggae music as we know it. And he graced the stage with the Subatomic Sound System at the Santa Monica Pier for the Twilight Concert Series. Wow.

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At 78 years old, I was impressed with how spry and energetic the Upsetter was. Performing some classic reggae tunes (i.e. “Sun Is Shining”) and doing his best to jump around the stage (literally), he got the crowd feeling irie. If the weed in the air was any indication, the crowd was definitely plenty irie. lol.

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I do have to admit, I was a little surprised with some of what he was singing/speaking towards the end of the set. He spent several minutes singing about how much he “loves white pussy”. I wasn’t sure where it came from, but he was preaching it to the crowd. He also mentioned how much he loved the white man for “paying his bills.” I saw a few confused faces in the crowd.

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Perhaps, his biggest “rant” came at the very end where repeatedly insisted that “hip-hop was dead, reggae is live.” Perhaps, making reggae loving hip-hop heads in the crowd a bit uncomfortable. Well, they don’t call him The Upsetter for nothing.

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I couldn’t find a setlist online, but you can CLICK HERE to check out a collection of Instagram Videos of Lee “Scratch” Perry and Subatomic Sound System performing.

 

CLICK HERE to check out other acts performing a Twilight Concert at the Santa Monica Pier!

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First City Festival | August 23 & 24, 2014 | Homepage

This is the “Homepage” for the links to all of the blog entries posted about the acts I was able to catch at First City Festival, August 23 and 24, 2014. Below are links to Instagram video posts, photos and some brief thoughts about each band that I was able to enjoy in beautiful Monterey.

To read my “Love Letter” to First City Festival CLICK HERE.

Saturday, August 23th

Sunday, August 24th

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The Record Company | Echo Park Rising | 8/17/14

To Check Out Other Acts that I Caught At Echo Park Rising, CLICK HERE.

THE ACT: The Record Company | Facebook | Twitter | Website

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THOUGHTS: The Record Company. Seeing them perform at Echo Park Rising marks the 5th time I’ve seen them live the past year and a half. Needless to say, I’m a fan of their sound. You can read my thoughts about them here, and here, and here … and … here. A week after Echo Park Rising, I was at First City Festival when another photographer stopped to compliment The Record Company t-shirt I was wearing and agreed that they were a hell of a band. If you are a fan of blues rock, you should probably check them out.

 

 To Check Out Other Acts that I Caught At Echo Park Rising, CLICK HERE.

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The Zombies | Twilight Concert Series | Santa Monica Pier | 8/21/14 [PHOTOS]

CLICK HERE to check out other acts performing a Twilight Concert at the Santa Monica Pier!

When I was approved to shoot The Zombies at the Santa Monica Pier, I was giddy. Being a supreme music dweeb, I was fully aware of their impact in popular music. Their sound basically redefined rock music.

I’d try to wax poetic about how amazingly (and truthfully, surprisingly) they performed on the summer eve, but Bob Lefsetz, a noted music writer, already wrote everything, and more, that I would have not so eloquently put pen to pad. CLICK HERE to read his stellar review.

The fact that two of the original members, Colin Blunstone and Rod Argent, both 69, are still in prime form was wonderful to witness. If you weren’t there, you missed out on a legendary performance, or legendary music, by legends. Your loss.

CLICK HERE to check out a collection of Instagram videos of some of the songs The Zombies performed at this concert.

The Zombies | Twilight Concert | Setlist

 

CLICK HERE to check out other acts performing a Twilight Concert at the Santa Monica Pier!

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Myron & E | Echo Park Rising | 8/16/14

To Check Out Other Acts that I Caught At Echo Park Rising, CLICK HERE.

THE ACT: Myron & E | Facebook | Twitter | Website

SOUNDS LIKE:

THOUGHTS: I’m a big fan of throwback R&B and soul, and Myron & E do a pretty damn good job at it. I was hoping that they would have had a brighter lighting setup for their set so that I could snap some decent pics, but good light was hard to come by. Oh, well. Caught their act for the first time at The Beach Ball Festival: Soul Revue festival in September 2013, so I won’t rehash what I wrote about them then, here. If you love that classic R&B sound, you should check them out. Nuff’ said.

 To Check Out Other Acts that I Caught At Echo Park Rising, CLICK HERE.

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