Last Summer on Earth at Mohegan Sun: Barenaked Ladies

One of my favorite cassette tapes I used to blast in my Ford Tempo had Moxy Fruvous' Bargainville on one side and Barenaked Ladies' Gordon on the other. When I thought of one Canadian band, I always thought of the other. Just like everyone I knew, I loved the live recording Rock Spectacle and Stunt, but for some reason, I'd never seen the band in person. While their new effort Grinning Streak didn't win me over the first few listens, I told myself to go into this with an open mind. Barenaked Ladies are a live band and they did not disappoint me.

Being the headliner, they had the most impressive/annoying to shoot against light of the night, but it wasn't half as bad as some of the venues I've shot in. Jim and Ed move all over the stage, making it easy to get engaging shots. The entire band jokes with each other, and it really comes through in the pictures. I particularly love the high key black and white photo of Ed, but for me, my personal favorite is the black and white shot of Kevin. I try to focus on each band member equally to find a moment in three songs where they are reaching a peak. Some musicians are not fond of photographers, so I try to remain as inconspicuous as possible. Concerts don't always allow for that direct connection between photographer and subject, but in this instance, it did. I was firing away while Kevin looked the other way, then he noticed me. He looked directly into my lens with a happy little grin as though he appreciated the fact that I wasn't with the rest of the pack of photographers shooting the front man.

I wished that I could've shot more than the first three for BNL more so than any other band because they really hit their stride in the middle of their set. The medley had amazing moments and Tyler stepped out from behind his drums in the encore to sing lead. Still, I'm happy with the pictures I got and to have finally seen BNL live. Photographing them was just icing on the cake.

 

And of course, I leave you with shoes!

Last Summer on Earth at Mohegan Sun: Ben Folds Five

I was very excited to photograph Ben Folds Five for the second time. They are one of my favorite bands and one I'm very emotionally attached to. Growing up, I can remember wanting to photograph them so badly. To be able to live that dream not once, but twice, is beyond amazing. The pit was much larger than at the Capitol Theatre, so I was be able to move around and get plenty of different angles. While the rest of the pack of photographers set up directly in front of Ben's piano, I stuck to Robert's side of the stage. I fully expected them to play the same set that they did in Philly the night before. Unfortunately, they changed it up and opened with Missing the War. What was bad about this is that Ben opens the song alone on piano. With only three songs to shoot, I pretty much stood around for a solid minute, completely out of position. I told myself to wait it out because the other photographers would move and I'd get the shots I needed. Not even a year ago, I would've been rattled by this, but I've become a much more confident and calm photographer.

Piano players are hard to shoot in general and Ben Folds Five are even harder. Ben's piano blocks your line of sight of the other members and Darren does a real good job of blocking his face from both sides with cymbals. It's best to shoot them from farther back if you want a full band shot, but often times that isn't an option when you're in the pit. I stood as far to the right and left of the stage as I was allowed to go and just rolled with it.

What's great about shooting a band that your familiar with is that you know how they move. Ben always turns to greet the fans at the end of his songs. I made my way back to the front and framed him perfectly with the LED lights spelling out his name. I finally got the detail of Ben playing the piano I've always wanted, I got some decent shots of Robert rocking out, and Darren, well, he looked pretty grumpy the majority of the three songs I was allowed to shoot, but I made the best of it. Overall, their set was riddled with slower songs, their banter was minimal and quite frankly, it seemed like they didn't want to be there. When I saw them live for the first time after they reformed in Central Park, there was excitement. Even at the Capitol, the band was having fun. This particular night, they were off, but hopefully you can't tell from the pictures. As I said before, I'm happy to be there shooting this band, even when they aren't on the top of their game.

I leave you with shoes. Ben really walks on the outside of his heels, doesn't he?