Job For a Cowboy, Gwar, and Lamb of God @ The Wellmont

Let me start this blog by saying this was one of the most entertaining shows I have been to in a while. What a line-up. Job For a Cowboy jump started the show. This was my third time seeing them this year, and they have not disappointed in the slightest. I am happy that there are more death metal bands out there. It is making quite the comeback and I am glad. When I was in college at the University of Florida, I remember spending many of my weekends down in the Tampa area seeing some great death metal acts. Cannibal Corpse, Deicide, Dying Fetus were only a few. Job For a Cowboy take it into the next century and bring a modern flair to a music I grew up loving.

Job For a Cowboy

I will admit that I was a Gwar virgin before this show. They were everything I thought they were going to be. I was so scared that I was going to soak my camera, but alas, I just got some blood or other bodily fluid on it. What a fantastic subject to take pics of. I have to say that Oderus' Cuttlefish of Cthulhu was a little intimdating at first, but made a fascinating subject. I think I got some kick ass pics of it. Blood, guts, cum.. sprayed all over the crowd and myself. Now I call that a show.

Gwar

Then last, but not least, Lamb of God hits the stage. Mark Morton did not play a few dates on the tour, so Doc from God Forbid filled in for him. What a fun fill in that was! I was joking around with friends calling the temporary line up Lamb Forbid or God of God. I think Doc did a great job of filling in for Mark, which is not an easy thing to do. I got some great shots of the band and I had fun jamming out with them. I have to say I took one of my best shots at this show and it happened to be of Doc

Lamb of God

Ok, so now its almost Halloween and to get into the spirit with some zombie fun!

Earlier this month I was part of the phenomenon called a Zombie Walk. This particular one was held in Asbury Park, NJ. What is this and why would anyone want to do this? I will just quote the site here:

WHAT IS A ZOMBIE WALK?

A Zombie Walk is an organized gathering of people who dress up in zombie costumes and then converge quickly in a public area for surprise and fun. Walks usually in urban areas such as shopping malls or town squares. Participants arrive at a pre-determined time (often at a hidden location) and then emerge as a group to creep in a somewhat orderly fashion through shocked and amused crowds, towards a final destination (usually a cemetery, club, bar or after party).

During the Walk, all participants are encouraged to remain in character as zombies, lurching, shambling, dragging limbs and communicating only in a zombie-like manner (such as grunting, groaning, moaning and slurred calls for “brains”.) Zombie Walks are always free events. With the exception of Zombie Pub Crawls, most walks are family-friendly, so participants of all ages are welcome to join in the fun.

A friend of mine, Jason Meehan, and his wife Christina were the responsible party of bringing the "Zombie infection" to the great ol' Garden State. Please visit their website for the NJ Zombie Walk .

Please enjoy some of the fun pics I took at the walk below.

Where the hell is Waldo man?

This is Jason Meehan- He and his wife are responsible for the Mayhem!

Children of Bodom

Thanks to my friends over at Spinefarm records, I was able to grab these pics at the Bodom show. The last set of pics I had up on my site are from the No Fear Tour. That was the tour where Alexi hurt his shoulder when he fell out of his bunk on the tour bus. I still can't believe how many dates he did with his arm fucked up. He is a truly dedicated musician!

Now I just have to say that for the encore songs, Alexi and Hennka where shirtless. If you are a guy, skip reading over this portion. I must have to say that it was breathtaking to see 2 good looking guys playing. I could have snapped away all night! The songs were awesome and the visuals just made it so much better!

Anyhow, getting back to the pics, I think I got some pretty wicked ones of the band. I would love to hear what you think.

To see the entire album go to Children of Bodom

Crap.. so many shows.. so many pictures, so little time!

So, overwhelmed doesn't even begin to describe how I feel about how backlogged I am. I just went out last night to see Children of Bodom and The Black Dahlia Murder at the Starland Ballroom. Last weekend, I went to see Trivium in Allentown at the Crocodile Rock. Like the last post said, I am still working on pics from the Mayhem Tour. Somewhere between these last two shows, I celebrated a birthday.

I am not complaining. I love all of this work. It thrills me to be able to capture these moments in time for other people to look at. I was a woman on a mission the last few shows. I had a decision to make about what lenses to buy. The store where I get my gear was nice enough to let me buy 2 similar lenses and told me to return the one I didn't like. It was pretty cool to be able to do this. I used both at Trivium and was impressed with both lenses. If you are interested in finding out more about my gear, just message me. I will try to keep this to just about the bands and shows. The Trivium show was on September 12th, so one could say I went to celebrate there for my birthday. I found out that Paolo's birthday is the same day, September 14th. Cool people are born that day!

I realized at that show that I really wish I could get on stage more often to get behind the drum kit. Drummers get left out of so many cool shots because us photographers are not allowed back there. I met Travis after the show and was really surprised at how good looking he is. He is usually hiding behind the drum kit with sunglasses and a bandana. I saw him sans his stage uniform and was taken aback. Watch out ladies.. he is a hottie!

Well I really should get back to playing with my pictures. Still have about 5 bands from the West Palm Mayhem show, the Trivium gig, and last nights festivities with Children of Bodom and Black Dahlia Murder.

Oh did I mention I am going to go see Lamb of God/Gwar/Job For a Cowboy on Tuesday! Whew.. more good times.. a mountain of pics to go through...

Till next time.

Trying to Play Catch Up

I took a small break from editing pictures and putting them up. Doing the 2 dates of the Mayhem Festival is a ton of hours of work after the show. I feel ready to tackle them again and I am working on the West Palm date now.

I figured I would start with the bands that I didn't get to take while I was in Tampa. The first set is Killswitch Engage. What a great band to see. I love their "uniforms". They make for an entertaining picture. You can really appreciate the clarity of these pics. I had bought a new lens that would do well in low light specifically with these 2 shows in mind. This lens is a beast and weights a few lbs by itself.

Please enjoy these fun pics. I hope to be able to photograph them again. Follow link to the entire album: Killswitch Enage.

God Forbid blows the crowd away in Tampa

Out of all the pictures I took in Tampa for the Mayhem festival, I think I like the God Forbid batch as a whole. I got some great pics of every member and that is a rare feat for me! This one of Byron really knocks my socks off. I love the detail, colors, and the overall feel of the pic:

Doc shows off his new guitar in this one.. he is looking hot with his new hot guitar!

Here John looks like heaven is shining down on him

This pic of Corey is self explanatory

And last but not least.. Matt.. God Forbid's new addition.. A nice seamless transition

The entire album for this show can be found at God Forbid

All I have to say is fucking SLAYER!!!

This is probably the most exciting thing I have gotten to do in the music world, photograph Slayer. I have to say that it was a dream come true to be able to capture this night. I got some pretty amazing pics that I would love to share with ya!

This one is my favorite of Kerry- He is a fun person to photograph. He has so many cool features about him.

I just love the expression that Tom has on his face in this pic. The blue light around him just makes this pic pop!

The colors that were used for the lighting of this show just brought out interesting sides of all the members of Slayer. The color green suits Jeff well:

Last but not least, here is one of our two favorite guitarists together:

Please do go and see the entire album. There are so many cool pics in this album. Check them out here!

Slayer!!!

Behemoth and All That Remains added from Tampa Show!

I finished these two bands first because I have never seen them live before and they impressed me the most! I really enjoyed both their sets and feel like they are going to be in heavy rotation in my iPod.

Behemoth -they are truly a brutal band. I was dying in my tank top and shorts at this show and complained about the heat. Tampa is definitely not a place you want to be in the Summer. The humidity was high and not only did you sweat, but it just stuck to you and made it worse. These guys walk on stage in corpsepaint and full gear and I got hot just looking at them! They put on an amazing show and had an endurance anyone can admire. If it were me up there, I would have passed out. Later on I find out that they are from Poland! (I am part polish too). That is why they are warriors! The crowd welcomed them with a great pit and I think all had a great time.

Nergal, Orion and Seth were the only ones that I could take great pics of. Poor Inferno was hidden behind the kit, so I did the best I could. Did I mention that I happened to be right under Seth when he spit out "blood" and I got bathed in it? I didn't bother washing it off and a lady came up to me later and asked me if I realized I had blood all over me. I told her yes and kept walking. That was too funny. Here are a few pics from that show:

Behemoth Album on Tormentia Photography

All That Remains puts on an interactive show. They have a great cohesion with each other and Phil really stirs the crowd up and gets them involved. I have to say I really love Oli and Mike's guitar work. Jason just makes drumming look easy; we know its not. I save Jeanne for last because she is living my childhood dream. Back when I was growing up, you didn't see girls in metal, other than Lita Ford and the other chick "hair" bands. It's so cool that she will give a generation of girls out there the hope that they too can shred with the boys. Jeanne, you are one my new heroes!

All That Remains album on Tormentia Photography

Whew.. recovering from all the Mayhem!

So in the last week, I have attended 3 different stops on the Rockstar Mayhem Tour. I attended the one in NJ just as a fan so that I could enjoy watching all the cool bands on this bill. I then flew down to see the Tampa and West Palm Beach stops in Florida. I went armed with my photo passes and went crazy trying to take pics of all the bands. It is going to take at least a week of sorting pics and deciding which ones make the cut.

Just a thought; I understand that the summertime is the time that these all day festival concerts are supposed to go around. Who decided that? Especially in brutally hot states in the south? Wouldn't it be kinder to everyone involved to do these gigs in the fall up north and after hurricane season in the south? I think I must have sweat gallons for those two shows on the 11th and 12th.

Be patient with me as I sort through all of these. I must have shot over 4000 pics in 2 days. That is alot of work when you have a day job.

It's been a while! Catch up time.

I have been so busy with my "day" job and paid event photography work that I have not been able to do as much writing as I have wanted to. I am backed up about two shows worth of pictures. I have been to some cool hardcore shows and I have been glad to get the chance to get out and see some music.

was invited to come out by the guys in Unstable Foundation on July 12th and I had a great time. They played with some other cool bands like Undivided and The Judas Syndrome.

Here are a few pics from that show

Unstable Foundation

Entire Album

Undivided

Entire Album

The Judas Syndrome

Entire Album