| This wild man from Sparrow’s Point was everywhere! On the stage, on top of the speakers, in the crowd, attaching himself to bungee cord and hurling himself into the crowd, and then on top of some kind of platform with shooting confetti and the wind whipping his long hair all around. It was wild and fun to watch! |  dnapushsparrow015 Originally uploaded by Charrmer. |
Once again we went off to club DNA in San Francisco for a thrash metal show. Have I said before how much I often hate the music? Well, this time was different. The entertainment factor far overpowered the experience and I was grinning ear to ear. I LOVED this show. And the two opening acts– PUSH and Sparrow’s Point– were far better and more entertaining than the headliner WASP, who had a strict policy against being photographed so they made us leave the club and deposit our gear back in the car. Ridiculous.
BUT– This is Star, the lead singer for the band PUSH. What a sweetie he is too. You would never know it by the stage persona. He has this wild microphone that he calls Baby Elvis and it has flashing blue eyes.
This is a test post from 
, a fancy photo sharing thing.
Ever the artist I had to start playing with some of the rock images and turn them into art. It’s still kind of a work in progress but here is a sample…
This is a bandmember from The Casualties.
The drummer from Guttermouth.
A sweet face in the cluttered crowd.
Young love in the heavy rain of the courtyard fountain
Wow. Wall to wall people, seven stages, 40 bands, music everywhere and a rigorous pace getting from one stage to the next. So well run though. Everything on time and the security people very cool, letting us do what we needed to do all day– with the right credential of course– but it was a crazy fabulous event out at the Sleep Train Ampitheatre in Marysville. I shot it for www.emusiconnect.com, a very cool and totally useful website dedicated to promoting music and events all over town.
Far and away my favorite band was The Matches. Four young guys from Oakland (and undeniably adorable judging by the dozens of smiling girls singing along in the audience) with great songs, energy and spirit that translates to one word– EXCITING– and I could not get enough. They played on one of the smaller stages but next time I’m betting they are on a main stage having been picked up by a label now– Epitaph– and the incredible talent and stage presence they have.
The Matches rock the SmartPunk Stage.
The headlining band was Story of the year and they deserved top billing. Great performance.
This is one of the NOFX guys making a lewd gesture after someone– what were they thinking?– sailed a breast implant kind of thing at him. Yikes.
See more of my Warped Tour pics at EmusiConnect.com, a great website for all the local music happenings in the entire Metropolitan Sacramento Area and the client I shoot lots of live music for.
I’ve been slacking! It’s been far too long since I posted last and I’ve been shooting lots of stuff too. So, a couple of weeks ago I went to see the amazing 80’s band Berlin– Riding on the Metro– remember that song? One of my favorites. So, they played the Roadhouse.
Terri Nunn is the lead singer and still gorgeous.
At some point she spun and spun all around the stage…
She invited women from the audience to join her for a dance…
The keyboardist had a look… and he loved to pose. Again and again as I raised my camera to shoot him he would give me the “look”, which was very opposite of his normal cute smiley personality, but it definitely worked for him on stage!
Kevin talked to the sound guy traveling with them who had asked about pics for their website… Kevin gave me the info and I followed up so you can see the 29 images I sent them on the Berlin website in their gallery section.
Went out to The Boardwalk last night to see Brand X Savior perform and it was great. There was a sizeable crowd too! The band took control of the stage and wailed. Everyone really worked it, put on a great show and were musically strong. The lead singer Jason prowled the stage and sang hard! They have been nominated for a Sammie too! Go Brand X Savior!
It’s surprising how many bands get onstage, do their thing and get offstage without a word. These guys really engaged the crowd.
The second band was a trio of women– Bottom– loud, screaming, intense. The bass player was just fun to watch because she was flinging her burgundy red hair and smiling so big the entire time… having so much fun!!
I also took part in a Miller vs Budweiser taste test. 
These are the nice girls who administered the “scientifc survey”. First I looked at the color, then experienced the aroma, then tasted the beer. Miller won both the sight and smell portion but I went for the Bud in the taste sampling surprisingly. But then I am a lightweight and like a lighter flavor. I asked how the results were going overall and one of the girls told me it’s been about 50/50. Interesting. Oh, and thanks for the rabbit ears guys!
They had this odd little computer printer camera all rolled into one and at the end of the test took my photo with Kevin and Mike and made me a “I’m voting for Miller” wearable button, which I did not wear. Some cute young guy put himself right behind us dead center and got in the photo too. I didn’t know it till I got the button. Funny.
The Sacramento band Tesla performed to the hometown crowd last night at Memorial Auditorium and thanks to gal pal Anna Marie I was equipped with a photo pass, which took me to the photo pit and solid photo access– for the first three songs. Such has become the protocol for nearly every arena show and I think it is bogus.. however, it certainly makes it easier to shoot when you don’t have to fight the crowd so I’ll get over it! 
This is a view from the balcony during the last song or two of the show. I took the artsy path on this one because it has such an odd feel to it anyway. Each of the band members seem to be in their own little world. The crowd was in heaven.
Frank Hannon wails on the guitar… but Tommy, Dude! Didn’t they tell ya? No smoking indoors!
And what would event coverage by me ever be without this– Yup, me and the lead singer…
Brian Wheat, the king of Tesla, sits back during the after show meet and greet and kindly autographs this woman’s breast. Word is that this is one of the perks of being a bonafide rock star! Brian was so nonchalant about it I guess it really does happen all the time… I’m told that one band member refused her.
Oh, and happy birthday to Chris, the guy on the left of Brian.
The awesome photographer Jesse Vasquez, posing for me, painting with light…
A little piece of art just for you… Artwork by me from photos by Kevin Graft!
