Saturday, October 25, 2014

Black Label Society, at Aftershock (and this weekend, at Knotfest)... and a wall of Marshall amps

Black Label Society, Aftershock 2014
Black Label Society, Aftershock 2014
Perhaps the band with the biggest stack of Marshalls on the planet, Black Label Society are taking their show to Knotfest this weekend. Lots of heavy metal and headbanging and a real, good, show. Go bezerk!!!

John DeServio, bass, Black Label Society
John DeServio, bass, Black Label Society
All the Toon's Tunes photos are in the Black Label Society photo gallery!

Zakk Wylde, vocals and guitar, Black Label Society
Zakk Wylde, vocals and guitar, Black Label Society

Friday, October 24, 2014

Catfish and the Bottlemen: sometimes you just have to embrace the red

Catfish and the Bottlemen, Sacramento, October 2014
Catfish and the Bottlemen, Sacramento, October 2014
I was kicking myself, earlier in the week, for almost missing last night's Catfish and the Bottlemen's show at the Assembly, Sacramento: this is their first USA tour, they have sellout dates lined up back in the UK, and they have already built a fine reputation for working at their art. So glad I remembered in time... and I was not disappointed, and neither were those fans who had been at their show in San Francisco the night before, and made the trek up to (or back to?) Sacramento for the next show. I can understand why they did that. I can understand why shows are sold out months in advance in the UK, where they are obviously better-know than they are here in the USA.

Van McCann, vocals, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Sacramento, October 2014
Van McCann, vocals, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Sacramento, October 2014
I think that will change. You've heard Kathleen on the radio? These are those guys.

Benji Blakeway, bass, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Sacramento, October 2014
Benji Blakeway, bass, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Sacramento, October 2014
Catfish and the Bottlemen are Van McCann (lead vocals), Johnny 'Bondy' Bond (lead guitar), Benji Blakeway (bass guitar) and Bob Hall (drums). While they are based in Llandudno in the north of Wales (a nice seaside town), I didn't hear any Welsh accents... I heard more East Midlands, and it sounded like home.

Bondy, guitar, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Sacramento, October 2014
Bondy, guitar, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Sacramento, October 2014
The size of the audience last night must have been a little disappointing, but if it was, the band didn't let on. They played as if before a full house. They thanked the audience for being there, in true British style: "Thank you for having us!". They played like true professionals, and that's what they are. Great music, great show. We had a wonderful concert for all of $12 at the door. You really should have been there, and I think, by this time next year, shows in the USA will be sold out, just like they are already in the UK.

Bob Hall, drums, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Sacramento, October 2014
Bob Hall, drums, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Sacramento, October 2014
Catfish and the Bottlemen's album, The Balcony, is riding high in the UK album charts (it's still an import here in the US but is available through Amazon). Their EP, Kathleen and the Other Three, is avaialble from iTunes. Find out more about them on their website!

If you've not heard them yet, here's Kathleen:



(Last night's show was all red light, every song, no white light at all, just red, all the way through the show, every song. For anyone who's not a photographer: red stage light is the most problematic to photograph, and made even more difficult when the light levels are utterly and ridiculously low, despite a lighting setup that most professional theatres would envy. (Yes that's you I'm talking too, Assembly, not the band!)  Red light washes out all of the detail and texture in photos, and you can't bring it back: the camera cannot capture nuances of shade, expression, texture. We can sometimes convert the images to reasonable black-and-white shots: this time, I wanted to embrace the red images, more as a capture of atmosphere than a documentary... Otherwise you just have to give up the photos, and simply enjoy the music. It is what it is. You'll see it in all its glory in the Toon's Tunes photo gallery for Catfish and the Bottlemen!)

If you like Catfish and the Bottlemen, you might also enjoy Beware of Darkness!

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Bring Me The Horizon, Drown... watch all the way through!


Bring Me The Horizon have just released a video for their upcoming single, Drown (to be released December 7th). It's a little more mainstream than their last album Sempiternal: and Oliver Sykes is showing even more that he can sing, not just scream.

There's a tongue-in-cheek humour to this... watch the video.


I am really hoping to be able to see these guys live sometime soon.

See also: review of Sempiternal on Toon's Tunes.  BMTH tour dates on their website! And you can pre-order a picture disc... go for it!

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

In This Moment: I understand the appeal. But I still don't get it. I do, but I don't.

In This Moment, Aftershock 2013
Maria Brink, In This Moment, Aftershock festival, Sacramento
An In This Moment show is an intensely-visual, over-the-top, Gaga-esque combination of metal mayhem meets S&M meets the stuff of your nightmares... or male dream-fantasy-gone-bad. When I saw them at Aftershock 2013, it was like a dirty nurse almost-soft-port-movie with a metal backdrop, but with "dirty" meaning not only naughty-sexy but "dirty" as in the filthy sort of stuff you don't ever want to find close to an open wound. I was in the pit, surrounded by guys who were having trouble holding their cameras up, because their chins were resting on their boots. Drool, drool.

In This Moment, Aftershock 2013
In This Moment, Aftershock, Sacramento
I do get it: the visuals are compulsive viewing, the antics are... daring, the anti-Madonna, the burlesque, S&M Gaga, the more-than-decent band (who maybe-unfortunately become just a backdrop to Maria Brink and her dancers or "blood girls").  And I do understand why this type of production gains a major following; people love that kind of drama. It is, after all, easy. And no, I'm not a Lady Gaga fan either (though I do have a lot of respect for Madonna).

In This Moment, Aftershock 2013
In This Moment, Aftershock, Sacramento
But it's just a tad too over-the-top visually, and not-enough musically, for me. I need the music to stand up on its own: the theatre, the show, which the best performers put on is a wonderful extra. But the music, and the vocals, come first in my list of priorities.

In This Moment, Aftershock 2013
In This Moment, Aftershock, Sacramento
Absolutely yes, I would go to another of their shows--if only to keep working on understanding my reaction to them, or to work out why the Maria Brink voice that I remember from Aftershock is nothing like the Maria Brink voice I hear on their recordings. Definitely, a show worth seeing (but no, I wouldn't take kids, in case anyone's wondering). They'll be at Knotfest next weekend, and have a huge tour ahead including a date at San Francisco's Fillmore in December.


The first single from In This Moment's upcoming new album, Black Widow, which will be out on November 17th. I'm looking forwards to hearing it (without the show, just the sound). The single Sick Like Me is out now: watch on YouTube and make your own mind up!




Sunday, October 19, 2014

Next weekend, I know I will miss you... FFDP, Slipknot, and so much more... KNOTFEST!!!


I was hoping and planning to be at Knotfest next weekend in San Bernadino, Southern California, but... it's the beginning of a major week of conferences in Vancouver, Canada, TAUS, Localization World), so I'll be a lot further north than San Diego!

Slipknot, headlining both evenings! Darnit... I'd love to see that. Unique shows both nights, so you really do have to see both. New masks. New music (The Gray Chapter drops on October 21st.) Slipknot.

I'm talking about Knotfest, of course. And I have to miss it. Sigh. I'm sure you'll all have a wonderful time and will have millions of great stories to tell... and yes, I want to hear all about it! Terrific lineup over three days of music festival!

Alex Varkatzas, vocals, Atreyu, Aftershock 2014
Atreyu, Aftershock 2014
Danzig, Anthrax, Black Label Society, Hatebreed, Testament, In This Moment, Butcher Babies and so many more on Saturday.

Ivan Moody, Five Finger Death Punch, Aftershock 2014
Five Finger Death Punch, Aftershock 2014
Five Finger Death Punch, and Volbeat, Tech N9ne, Atreyu, Of Mice And Men, and much more on Sunday!

VOLBEAT, Aftershock 2013
VOLBEAT, Aftershock 2013
Five stages, all the headline and supporting acts, plus a whole slew of Japanese rock bands too. But this is so much more than a rock festival--like Sacramento's TBD fest, there's much more going on than the music.  Pyromaniacs can rejoice in the Fire Zone, and there will be constant fights in the Thunderdome. Pagan performers may make you jump (I wanted to see that!) and there's the Ring of Fire carnival ride (I didn't want to ride it, but I did want to see your face as you did!) And... there's a petting zoo. Not just any-old petting zoo, but one specially for all of us metal fans. It's GOATS!!! Go pet a goat to your heart's content while you work up the courage to venture into the tattoo parlour. (Someone--remember to take goat-size ear-protectors for the goats, please!) There's a drum circle unlike any other: you drum on junkyard cars. And watch out for those flames, even when having your fortune told... There's a carnival too, a Slipknot museum and--what everyone has always wanted at a rock festival--a zipline! There is! It's on the map--take a look!

In This Moment, Aftershock 2013
In This Moment, Aftershock 2013
There are still tickets available, but you'd better get a move on!  If you're looking for the VIP package or camping tickets, which would have gotten you into the Friday night show too (THAT would have been one heck of a birthday party, Alison!) tough, should have done it earlier... those are all sold out. But you know you can find somewhere to stay, right? Loads of hotels in the area, and AirBnB etc. Make it happen!

(Maybe I could just hop on a plane in November: they're doing it all over again. Knotfest Japan, anyone?)

Soundtrack to a beautiful, sunny Sunday morning... Steve Rothery's "The Ghosts of Pripyat"

Marillion, Cropredy festival, 2014
Steve Rothery, Cropredy festival, 2014
Released in late September, Steve Rothery's album, The Ghosts of Pripyat, was my soundtrack for this sunny, calm and restful late-October morning. Some beautiful yet haunting guitar compositions, wonderfully executed.

Steve Rothery always appears so serene to me, on stage. He's making wonderful music, and he appears totally at peace with the world. That's what comes across to me in The Ghosts of Pripyat, too.

Steve Rothery, guitar, with Marillion performing Brave, UK Marillion weekend, 2013
Steve Rothery, Wolverhampton UK, 2013
The album was funded, almost overnight, by fans and followers through a Kickstart campaign. With guest perfomances by Steve Hackett on a couple of tracks, and Steven Wilson on The Old Man of The Sea--three wonderful guitarists, one piece of music--it's something for every guitar lover's collection. But not only guitar fans... just take a listen. It's for you, too.


http://www.marillion.com/shop/albums/ghosts-specialedition.htm

The Steve Rothery band is currently on tour in Europe; see the Steve Rothery web site tour page for details.

More photos of Mr Rothery in the Toon's Tunes Marillion photo gallery.

Saturday, October 18, 2014

My first-ever fashion shoot, and it was pure accident... at TBD Fest


Fashion show at TBD Fest, Sacramento
TBD Fest 2014, Fashion show


I've never shot a fashion show before.

There happened to be one, at TBD Fest, aligned with Sacramento Fashion Week; some of the clothes on display were Mission Impossible, some another brand.

I learned a few things:

- To make sure all the outfit is in the frame, and that includes the shoes... and to leave room within the shot to straighten and to crop as appropriate.

- To look for the fun moments (like the team of models running away, behind the flag.

- To try to catch the model's eye.



Next time I'll do better!



There's a full photo gallery from Toon's Tunes at TBD Fest. If the models would like to contact me I'll make sure your names are credited and you have copies of the photos.

Fashion show at TBD Fest, Sacramento
Fashion show, TBD Fest, Sacramento 2014

More from TBD Fest: Kurt Vile and the Violators on a very sunny afternoon

SACRAMENTO, 5TH OCTOBER 2014: Kurt Vile, guitar and vocals, Kurt Vile and the Violators, performing at TBD Fest, West Sacramento.
Kurt Vile and the Violators, TBD Fest, Sacramento 2014
On a surprisingly still-very-hot, and sunny, afternoon on a dry and dusty weekend, TBD Fest in West Sacramento, October 5th 2014. Kurt Vile and the Violators on stage, with a sound that is connected to, yet different from, The War On Drugs who had performed the previous day.

SACRAMENTO, 5TH OCTOBER 2014: Kurt Vile and the Violators, performing at TBD Fest, West Sacramento.
Kurt Vile and the Violators, performing at TBD Fest, West Sacramento
Another one of my favourites from the festival; yes, both The War On Drugs and Kurt Vile (and some of the others) had some sound problems but very few people expect concert-hall perfection at an outdoor festival: the good people of Sacramento spend many dollars going to concerts at the local basketball arena where the sound can be horrible even when it's all working, so guys, it was fine.

SACRAMENTO, 5TH OCTOBER 2014: Kurt Vile and the Violators, performing at TBD Fest, West Sacramento.
Kurt Vile and the Violators, performing at TBD Fest, West Sacramento
I did wonder if I'd be able to find a picture of Kurt's happy face, as most of the show he was hiding (from the sun? the crowd?) inside a mass of long, wavy hair. But then he smiled through.


SACRAMENTO, 5TH OCTOBER 2014: Kurt Vile, guitar and vocals, Kurt Vile and the Violators, performing at TBD Fest, West Sacramento.
Kurt Vile, TBD Fest, Sacramento 2014
All festival musicians should wear sunglasses. Mirror sunglasses preferred. I love looking for reflections: see the ones in this gallery!

SACRAMENTO, 5TH OCTOBER 2014: Kurt Vile, guitar and vocals, Kurt Vile and the Violators, performing at TBD Fest, West Sacramento.
Kurt Vile, guitar and vocals, Kurt Vile and the Violators, TBD Fest
Kurt Vile and the Violater's latest album, it's a big world out there (and I am scared), is out now from your usual outlets. They will be playing in Los Angeles in November: keep an eye on the tour page for new dates.

For all the photos from Kurt Vile's show at TBD Fest 2014, see the Toon's Tunes gallery!


Friday, October 17, 2014

Christmas shopping already? Here's an idea... country fans or not!

Trace Adkins and his band, Citrus Heights, 2013
Trace Adkins, Citrus Heights, 2013
Trace Adkin's Christmas DVD The Christmas Show is now available, with songs from his album, The King's Gift, and more.

OK, you got me. It was just an excuse to review my photos from the show in Citrus Heights, 2013, and to say once again, Trace could, and should, play Reacher.

I've moved the photos to the new gallery but the earlier blog posts still reference the old site. Working on it!!!)

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

TBD Fest: MS MR, another gem, and here's something for Halloween?

Lizzy Plapinger, MS MR, TBD Fest, Sacramento
Lizzy Plapinger, MS MR, TBD Fest, Sacramento
Going to a music festival can be a bit like taking a box full of assorted chocolates and eating a little of each and every one, knowing that there were some you enjoyed more than others, but not really having the time to savour any one until you feel a little overwhelmed and overfull, and the flavours have all mingled into one wonderful weekend experience. Especially if you're running around the festival site, taking in a few songs from this artist, a few from that band, a few more from the DJ over there and then rushing back to the main stage for the next big show. It's a bit like a sampler; no in-depth listening, no relaxing in an easy chair to enjoy, but an exciting, overwhelming ear-and-brain-full, with an excited and throbbing crowd intensifying the experience. I can sum it all up as, "the TBD Fest was fantastic!" but that doesn't do justice to the individual performers.

Luckily, I have (far too) many photos to work through, and which remind me of the performers that I want to hear more of than a few minutes at a festival: one of those from this year's TBD Fest is New York's' MS MR,

Lizzy Plapinger and Max Hershenow, MS MR, TBD Fest, Sacramento
Lizzy Plapinger and Max Hershenow, MS MR, TBD Fest, Sacramento

Lizzy Plapinger, MS MR, TBD Fest, Sacramento
Lizzy Plapinger, MS MR, TBD Fest, Sacramento
Tonight, I'm working through the MS MR shots. Lizzie Plapinger is totally entrancing; lithe, tuneful, beautiful and sparkly-eyed. She attracts the camera lens; she plays with the audience, serene, coy, shy as Diana... and then bursts out laughing. She's beautiful when she laughs, and the crowd loved her.

Lizzy Plapinger, MS MR, TBD Fest, Sacramento
Lizzy Plapinger, MS MR, TBD Fest, Sacramento
MS MR put on a very tight, professional live show; Lizzie Plapinger and Max Hershenow are the core of the band, but when touring there's a drummer and bass player too (and if anyone can name them for me, I'll be able to credit them). Indi-pop-alternative-rock?

You may have heard their earlier single, "Hurricane". or last year's "Fantasy". If not... check out the official video for Hurricane. It's spooky, it's a dreamy nightmare, it's special... and the atmosphere is perfect for this time of year, just before Halloween.


This coming weekend (18th October) you can see MS MR at the Chipotle Cultivate festival in Irving, (Dallas/Fort Worth)Texas, and then a couple more dates in Las Vegas and Los Angeles. Keep checking the tour page on their website for more info on shows.  And also check out Secondhand Rapture, the album that was released in 2013.

Many more photos in the Toon's Tunes photo gallery for MS MR. Take a look!

Sunday, October 12, 2014

Blondie, amazing as always, at TBD Fest 2014

Debbie Harry, vocals, Blondie, TBD Fest, Sacramento 2014
Debbie Harry, Blondie, TBD Fest, Sacramento 2014
Blondie, co-founded by Debbie Harry and Chris Stein, still drawing huge crowds, and one of the main headliners at this year's TBD Fest in West Sacramento.

Blondie and fans, TBD Fest, Sacramento 2014
Blondie and their light show, TBD Fest, Sacramento 2014
As per the last time I photographed Blondie, all photographers had to remain away from the stage, back at the sound desk. So if these shots look a little distant, it's because they were (at TBD the sound desk was way further back, and behind many more people, than at the Sunrise At Night show). As a performer, there has to come a moment when you're fed up with seeing lenses directed towards you.

Debbie Harry, vocals, Blondie, TBD Fest, Sacramento 2014
Debbie Harry, Blondie, TBS Fest, Sacramento 2014
The light show was beautiful, and so are Ms. Harry and the band of great musicians that are Blondie.

Debbie Harry and Chris Stein, Blondie, TBD Fest, Sacramento 2014
Chris Klein and Debbie Harry, Blondie, TBD Fest, Sacramento 2014
Tommy Kessler, guitar, Blondie, TBD Fest, Sacramento 2014
Tommy Kessler, Blondie, TBD Fest, Sacramento 2014
Many more photos from the TBD Fest Blondie show in the Toon's Tunes gallery.  Keep an eye on Blondie's website for new concert dates!

Blondie and fans, TBD Fest, Sacramento 2014
Blondie and huge crowd, TBD Fest, Sacramento 2014

Saturday, October 11, 2014

Zeroclient release album "Omnia", celebration concert at the Assembly, Sacramento last night

Zeroclient album launch, Assembly, Sacramento
Zeroclient "Omnia" release concert, The Assembly, Sacramento, 2014
Surrounded by fans and by fellow musicans from Sacramento's lively rock music scene, Zeroclient last night celebrated the release of their first album, Omnia. Rock at times blending to prog, it's well worth a listen, and check out the artwork too!

Zeroclient album launch, Assembly, Sacramento
Zeroclient, The Assembly, Sacramento, 2014
Some, no, all of the photos are grainy and dark. The venue was dark, darker than usual for the Assembly, and despite resorting to a 1:8 lens it was still tricky to capture any light. I hope these pictures carry across some of the atmosphere! And maybe Reality Check TV obtained some decent footage? They were there!

Zeroclient album launch, Assembly, Sacramento
Zeroclient, The Assembly, Sacramento 2014
There's a full Toon's Tunes photo gallery for last night's Zeroclient Omnia album release show!

Heroin Diaries, and why I'm not reading them any more


I can't read Nikki Sixx's Heroin Diaries. I have tried, valiantly, but no... it makes me feel sick: in my stomach and my soul.

I understand why he published them. I applaud and respect his recovery, and the desire that no-one else falls as deep. But me, personally, I cannot read past a few pages.

I hope that kids who read this are not as affected, as I was, at age 12 or thirteen or something even more precocious by Go Ask Alice. When you're painting a dark picture, there's always the danger that someone sees their own light in it.

Me? I'm one of the lucky ones; coffee is my vice, plus the cigarettes that disappeared with the last day of 1999. But not everyone makes it through. And that's probably why I can't read Nikki Sixx's book. It also might be because I'm just not cool-enough... or because Motley Crue were never one of "my" bands... or because the splattered publishing and authoring style is so distracting it gives me a migraine.

I just. Can't. Read. Any. More.

(In Heroin Diaries? On page 27, I already want to slap the person that "Vanity" has become. I'm going to use the book to stop my heavy bag stand wobbling. I might feel better after punching a few rounds.)

Thursday, October 9, 2014

The War On Drugs, and I've been listening to them forever: TBD Fest, 2014

Adam Granduciel, The War on Drugs, TBD Fest, 2014
Adam Granduciel, The War on Drugs, TBD Fest, 2014
Occasionally, very occasionally, you come across a band, a musician, a sound, and though you've never before heard a single song, the moment the first note hits your eardrum, you've known them forever.

I'm like that with Marillion's songs: they hit a chord so deep that it feels like part of eternity. And, on Saturday, The War On Drugs did the same thing. It was just as if their songs, which I'd never heard before, had already been playing somewhere just-beyond my hearing, waiting to be set free and known..

The War on Drugs, TBD Fest, 2014
The War On Drugs, TBD Fest 2014, Sacramento
I'd never heard The War On Drugs before: never experienced Adam Granduciel's guitar, hadn't even had a clue what to expect, musically, because there were so many bands playing at the festival, and not enough time to preview each and every one in time for the weekend... and the PR description, try as it might, can't paint sound and emotion.

The band was getting ready to play; there were some challenges with the sound, it was taking a little longer than expected. On of the phototographers was muttering about "the guitar techs giving the show", but who could have heard one note of Granduciel's guitar and not known it was the real thing??? So worth waiting the extra few minutes for...

Charlie Hall, drums, The War on Drugs, TBD Fest, 2014
Charlie Hall, drums, The War on Drugs, TBD Fest, 2014
Photographing festivals, we shoot the first three songs of one band, then zoom off to the next stage for three songs there, then the next stage, then the fourth, three songs each show, never hearing an entire set; and as festival sets are condensed versions of a band's usual tour show (forty-five minutes, or an hour maybe, instead of an hour and a half, two hours or more). Sorry, other bands whose sets overlapped with The War On Drugs: I stayed there, and listened to the entire show.

Robbie Bennett, keyboards, The War on Drugs, TBD Fest, 2014
Robbie Bennett, keyboards, The War on Drugs, TBD Fest, 2014
Like my favorite parts of Bob Dylan and Dire Straits, blended with a manic, insistent and persistent drumming, and something very unique and heartfelt and born of pain and joy and darkness and morning. "Under The Pressure" has been playing in my head ever since Saturday... so very glad I was there for this show at TBD Fest.

Adam Granduciel, guitar and vocals, The War On Drugs, TBD Fest 2014
Adam Granduciel, guitar and vocals, The War On Drugs, TBD Fest 2014

More photos in the Toon's Tunes photo gallery for The War On Drugs.

More about the band on their website: many upcoming tour dates are already sold out, so grab tickets fast: USA, UK, Europe and Australia coming soon.

YACHT: a little Talking Heads, some Electro Pop, a smidgeon of Annie Lennox and just a pinch of Fitz and the Tantrums... TBD Fest 2014

Claire L. Evans, vocals, YACHT, TBD Fest, 2014
Claire L. Evans, vocals, YACHT, TBD Fest, 2014
YACHT, (yes, it's all capitals, and no, it's not a boat), mostly Jona Bechtolt and Claire L. Evans, but with help on tour from Jeffrey Brodsky and Rob Kieswetter (I hope I named everyone?): a very lively show at TBD Fest last weekend in Sacramento.

Jona Bechtolt jumping, YACHT, TBD Fest, 2014
Jona Bechtolt jumping, YACHT, TBD Fest, 2014
Taking to the stage as night fell, a backdrop of two giant CDs on display; Jona and Claire took turns jumping onto, and spinning on, the part of the stage that projected into the audience.

Claire L. Evans, vocals, YACHT, TBD Fest, 2014
Claire L. Evans, vocals, YACHT, TBD Fest, 2014
Crowd loved them! Easy on both the ear and the eye, what's not to like?

Jona Bechtolt, YACHT, TBD Fest, 2014
Jona Bechtolt, YACHT, TBD Fest, 2014

More Toon's Tunes photos from YACHT's set in the photo gallery.  Info about YACHT on their website!