Music
All Narfed Up photography and words by Bryan Villarin
I love Story of the Year
I just started listening to Story of the Year’s latest album, “The Black Swan.” I’m not sure how I missed it - it was released in April!
Anyway, they’re one of the few bands where practically every song on their albums rock. I love their vocals, harmonies, heavy guitar riffs and energy. I hope you do, too.
If they’re in your area, you’ll want to see them live. They put on an amazing show.
Enjoy!
R2K
Bryan Villarin | April 17, 2008 | San Diego, CA
50mm * f/1.8 * 1/40 sec * ISO 800
This is Randy “R2K” Strohmeyer from one of my favorite bands, Finch.
Sidenote: His blog, Gazillionaire, is currently running WordPress 2.5 and utilizing some kind of Lightbox plugin. Sweet! Also, rather than uploading the photos I took of them at the Roxy Theatre to their Myspace, I found them on his own blog. Even Randy knows it’s a hassle to upload photos to Myspace! 
My Muxtape
If you like metal, hard rock, progressive rock or punk rock, I think you’ll like this.
Have a great weekend!
Finch concert at the UC Forum
On Thursday afternoon, I drove all the way to the UC Forum at the University of San Diego to see Finch and Saosin. However, this time was different. At will-call, there was an all-access VIP pass with my name on it.1
I got there late, but was fortunate because there was another band2 before Finch and Saosin.
I walked to the front, showed security my pass and got in front of the barricade. There was a ledge there so we could sit and stay out of view from the crowd. I could also go along the sides of the stage, but I couldn’t get clear photos from those angles — they were cluttered with stuff for the next band (Saosin) or the mixer board.
This is what I learned from this experience:
- Wear earplugs or ear filters. I use the Hearos High Fidelity Ear Filters. At times, I was taking photos in front of the speakers. Without them, my hearing would be toast.
- Wear dark clothes so you don’t stand out.
- Keep moving around. If there are other photographers there, it’ll help all of you vary your angles.
- Watch out for crowd surfers. When you see the security staff moving towards your position, that means a crowd surfer is about to fly on top of you. Retreat with caution.
- Favor a waist pack over a backpack. My backpack added used up more space, making it harder to stay clear from the security staff helping crowd surfers.
- Take a lot of photos. You can always delete a lot later when you process them.
- Boast. Did you take good photo? I wouldn’t think it’s rude to share them with others. If I hadn’t posted on Finch’s Myspace, Daniel wouldn’t have got in touch with me.
- Ask. If I didn’t simply ask Daniel for a photo pass, I wouldn’t have gotten one.
Photography notes — Arnold3 was nice enough to let me borrow his Canon EOS 40D and Tamron SP AF 17-50mm F/2.8 lens, so I had that in addition to my Canon EOS Digital Rebel 6.3MP and Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II lens.
Post-processing consisted of various Lightroom presets, which were downloaded for free from Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Killer Tips.
Click here to view all the photos from the Finch concert at the UC Forum (University of San Diego)
- Why? Daniel Wonacott (bassist from Finch) liked my photos of their show at The Roxy Theatre last Monday. So, I asked for a photo pass and he said it wouldn’t be a problem. ↩
- I forgot who they were ↩
- Instead of going to the concert, he took the hit of the ticket price and saw Jane Goodall speak. He met up with me to see the end of Saosin’s set. ↩
Photographing Finch and Saosin tonight
I’m driving down to San Diego and back tonight — for a concert.
Why so far?
Daniel Wonacott (bassist from Finch) liked my photos of their show at The Roxy Theatre last Monday. 1 So, I asked for a photo pass and he said it wouldn’t be a problem. Wicked!
By the way, Saosin will be playing, too. How sick is that?
I hope I don’t act like a spaz. Wish me luck!
Update 4/19/08: I’m uploading the photos to the “Finch at the UC Forum (4/17/08)” photoset. It’s up to 33 photos right now. Expect a recap post tomorrow. Enjoy!
- He said he wanted to use it on their Myspace. Don’t look there yet - they haven’t added them. But, they’re on my Flickr, though. ↩
Show tonight in Pasadena
Tonight, Phantom Scream, Five Mile Town, and Ashore will be at No Future Cafe starting at 8pm. Come on out!
Finch concert at The Roxy
Monday night, I saw Finch play at The Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood. It was my fifth time seeing them live and they never fail to put on a great show. I’m stoked for them — a fan since the beginning.
Someday, Phantom Scream will open for Finch.
Anyway, I called ahead of time to ask for the camera policy for the evening. I was told that no “professional” cameras would be allowed. Saddened, I prepared to bring a point-and-shoot. But, a friend said it should be fine because they brought theirs to photograph Rooney awhile ago. So, I gave her my camera, she stuck it in her purse and we headed for the door.
We didn’t even get patted down or searched. The day is mine!
So as of now, you can enjoy at least 20 photos from the show! If there are more good ones, I’ll upload them as soon as I can.
Photography notes — The Roxy Theatre is a smallish venue. I took my shots from the back walkway, where the steps are located.
I used my 50mm f/1.8 lens. Aperture Priority, set to f/1.8 and kept the ISO between 400 and 800 (depending on the stage lights). No flash.
Lastly, post-processing consisted of using Matt Kloskowsk’s Classic Split Tone presets for Lightroom for most of the photos.
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