Chris is an artist that I have been meaning to see for YEARS, she didn’t disappoint. The band was rocking, the fans were loyal, and Chris was freaking adorable (and a great musician). Photos are posted at flickr.

Now that the weather is getting nicer and the days are longer, it’s time to get back into the concert swing. I don’t actually know much about Kate, but I have been listening to her new album (My Best Friend is You) for the last few weeks. The album is a rocker. I thought for sure it would be a bright, loud show with a dancing crowd. Well… It was loud alright. I don’t however think that the “all ages/young female crowd” knew what to think of her. She’s British, she’s vulgar, and all the black makeup made her a bit scary. While the die-hards sung-a-long in the front, the applause behind them was getting thinner and thinner. I felt kinda bad for her… She’s got some great songs and was really working the stage. Her presentation just wasn’t really assessable. I hope she has better luck with the rest of the tour.

Photography notes: I’ve recently graduated to a 5D mark II, and just in time cuz this is one of the darkest shows I have shot yet. I shot a majority of the time at ISO 4000, just so I could keep my shutter speed up (yea I realize this was probably overkill, but I would rather have underexposed grainy shots, than blurry ones). My original spot at the front of the stage was soon obstructed by her keyboard, which featured a tarp on it that said, “A cunt is a very useful thing”…lol, yea that wasn’t going to work too well. Luckily I was able to move to the side of the stage, without pissing anybody off.

This isn’t one of my better sets of photos, but if anyone would like to see them, they are on flickr

I have spent the last few months working on a website for a local songwriter named Brenda Belcher. No holds barr on this project… we’ve done outdoor photo shoots, studio photo shoots while she records her 2nd album, and soon I hope to start shooting her at gigs so we can start putting up live shots in the website photo gallery. Looks like I found myself a good little niche to get into… a web designer that enjoys music photography

We’ve done 3 photoshoots so far… the first day we went out in University District and took 700 photos! Good god… that was a lot to post process. Brenda was such a GREAT model for me…. not only was she patient while I tried to figure out the best settings for the camera, but she was creative and had a lot of fun ideas I wince when I look back at the photos and see how long she had to smile for..lol.

The 2nd two shoots were done in the recording studio. Obviously I couldn’t shoot while they were recording (camera shutters are LOUD), so we would “stage” it. Basically I just hung back in the corner with my wine and would pop out whenever they were setting up different instrument and mic formations and have them play a bit for me while I fired off some shots.

Once upon a time I actually wanted to be a sound engineer, so I was in awe watching the whole process. Its INCREDIBLE how LONG it takes to record an album. I think during the 4 hours I was there, they recorded the lead vocals, several tracks of backup vocals, and guitar….for only a chorus! At that rate, it must take them a year to finish 12 songs.

Finally, the 3rd time was so I could get shots of her band mates recording…. they didn’t take nearly as long or had as many overdubs… getting to watch the drummer was badass tho. Kev kept posing for the camera and exaggerating his expressions, yea…looks real natural buddy! I think out of the 30 I took of him, only 2 were anything I could use.

Currently I’m working on the website, and will be posting about that soon.

Well after being locked out of my blog for nearly a month, I’m finally able to post again… wow, that was hell. Save your passwords in multiple places folks!

Anyway, I wanted to make sure I mentioned one of the favorite albums of 2009… Zee Avi’s self titled album. I can’t tell you how many late nights I spent listening to this album on repeat. Her sound is “jazzy folk”, simple songs with some great melodies. Zee is from Malaysian and got her “break” on youtube. Since then shes been playing at festivals and just passed through Seattle last month a small tour.

The show was at the Crocodile Cafe, and this was my first time going there since they remodeled it. OMG…what a makeover! Gone is the large flat music room, with the annoying bar in the middle. Now its “smaller” type feel, with a larger stage and a balcony. I think this is my favorite Seattle club…. especially since they didn’t seem to care about cameras (figures…. since I went through the effort of getting a photo pass).

You know how when there’s an artist you really like, and they end up being horrible live? Yea I was a little nervous…. I’m happy to state that that was NOT the case here. Zee is not nearly as mellow and quiet as I thought she was. Not only did her voice sound exactly like the album, but she had a band as well. And shes funny! Shes generally a lot more charming on stage than I thought she would be.

Photography notes: When it comes to photography, I’m going to take back what I said earlier about this being my new favorite club. The lighting was horrible! The didn’t use a spotlight at all, and just illuminated Zee in colored lights. Even my 1.4 aperture lens was having difficulty getting enough light to get a fast shutter speed. My photographer friend has a full frame camera, and literally smoked my Canon 40d. Sigh…. Just when you think you’ve finally made all your photography purchases, and have all the lenses you need….. there will yet be something else. While I don’t see myself saving up for a full-frame camera (its a lot of money for a amateur), I do see myself upgrading to a 7D….eventually.

Here’s is the song that originally hooked me in:

I first saw A Fine Frenzy a little over a year ago when they opened for Brandi Carlile. Although they weren’t the most exciting live act (Allison stayed mostly at the piano), the music hooked on me immediately.

Fast forward now to the 2nd album, Allison apparently got the memo that its time to rev it up a little and have some fun. The large piano has been replaced by keyboards at the front of the stage. And no longer does she have a shy persona, but instead dances around and strikes theatrical poses. I was with the pack of photographers in the front, so its hard to see what the crowd was thinking. But I know I was enjoying it! I love to see people enjoying themselves, even at the risk of looking stupid.

My favorite moments were “What I Wouldn’t Do”, the cover of Blondies “Heart of Glass” (that was AWESOME), “Almost Lover”, and the extended “Blow Away”. I have heard Almost Lover live before, but the vocals last night were so much RICHER than I remembered them. The crowd sweetly sang the last chorus, and quite a few of us got teared up (myself included).

Opening acts were “Among the Oak and Ash” (Josh Joplin and Garrison Starr folk/rock) and Landon Pigg.

This was my first time shooting at Neumos, and have never realized how much the lighting SUCKS there! All the red backlights make Allison’s hair look like its on fire..lol. And the club doesn’t make very good use of spotlights. Next time I shoot there, I won’t be trying to shoot from the front.

Anyway, great band, great show…  I should be in Portland tonight seeing them again.