Wednesday, September 4, 2013

08.04.13 Under the Sun Tour Part 1: Fastball & Gin Blossoms


If you had told me at the start of the year that I'd be covering this ridiculous celebration of 90's glory, I would have laughed at you. I'm actually still chuckling a bit when I think back on this concert. It was as though the music videos of my senior year of high school came to life right before my eyes. I covered the Under the Sun Tour for Surviving the Golden Age and Adam wrote a pretty fun review of it you can check out here. I processed the photos fairly quickly as I was leaving for vacation that week and really didn't have a chance to finish up the final set until this week.

Newport Yacht Club was outdoor, but underneath a giant white tent. For the photographically inclined, this was the second time I relied mainly on the 35-350mm lens. While it's not great in low light, I have learned to love the range of the lens in the day time. The down side to it is the weight of the lens and by the end of the night my shoulders were screaming.

Oddly enough, the bands I was most excited for were Fastball and the Gin Blossoms; I bought their albums back in my high school days. Fastball is a band that just never caught on after their massive hit The Way, which is sad because they have plenty of great songs. They opened with a solid set even though the audience was still trickling in. Guitarist Miles Zuniga was banged up and bandaged, to which he only commented, "You should see the other guy." Robin Wilson of Gin Blossoms was a ball of energy, hopping between the two metal platforms, encouraging the crowd to sing along and tossing tambourines into the audience like they were guitar picks. He was a blast to photograph.


Mark McGrath played MC for the night, introducing each band.

Fastball
















 







That overly excited Fastball fan in the blue shirt? That would be Adam.



Crowd dancing during The Way.

Gin Blossoms




















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