Best of 2010

Twenty-ten was a year of some damn good concerts. I started out in January with old favorites and fellow Columbia alums Vampire Weekend and concluded two days ago my new favorite, Yelawolf. Though I didn't go out much during the first half of the year while slaving over my thesis, I made up for that lull with a mind-blowing Bonnaroo adventure.

My top 5 favorite concerts this year (photo or no photo) are

1. Robyn at Webster Hall (twice)

2. Miike Snow at Terminal 5 (who I fell in love with during Bonnaroo)

3. Daryl Hall and Chromeo at Bonnaroo

4. Delorean / Tanlines at Bowery Ballroom

5. Diamond Rings at Mercury Lounge

and Pissed Jeans at Cake Shop (my perennial must-sees) as an honorable mention because I always like checking them out.

The following images are some of my favorites from 2010:

Crowd During Dropkick Murphys | Bonnaroo | June 13

Pissed Jeans | Cake Shop | June 18

Goldfrapp | Hammerstein Ballroom | June 23

Crowd During Ted Leo | Siren Festival | July 17

The Dead Weather | Prospect Park Bandshell | August 3

Local Natives | Governor's Island | August 7

Crystal Castles | Terminal 5 | August 21

Scissor Sisters | Terminal 5 | August 25

Pavement | Central Park | September 22

MNDR | Terminal 5 | October 7

The Drums | Webster Hall | October 20

Guided by Voices | Terminal 5 | November 7

Kate Nash | Terminal 5 | November 19

And here are some passes:

And finally, I have some photo-related resolutions for the new year:

1. Shoot more

2. Shoot more outside of concerts

3. Shoot more non-Bowery stuffs

4. Make website

5. Upgrade lens

Happy holidays!

Yelawolf at SOB's

I've been listening to Trunk Muzik 0-60 nonstop!

Bear Hands at Bowery Ballroom

I went to check out Bear Hands yesterday and take some snaps for House List. I'm not too familiar with this band, aside from the snippets I heard during CMJ during the Maker's Mark, Fred Perry, and Insound.com event at Stratosphere Sound. The photo below is from that day (also, check out the "outtakes"):

Drummer wasn't there that day... Why is it so hard to photograph the drummer?

Anyway, the lighting was pretty tough that night. The stage alternated unrelentingly between overblown red hues and dimmed lights. Though there were sporadic bursts of white light, the night was pretty atrocious. In terms of tunes, Bear Hands was pretty catchy at times. (However, I need to take another listen, since I tend to focus on the visual and not aural when I'm shooting.) The second opener was Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. - also enjoyable, but the visual elements were really distracting.

Photos for House List are here, and the rest of my Flickr set is here.

From the Vault: Mew Outtakes

One of the things I like most about Flickr is its analytics function and the ability to check out popularity trends in your images. For me, I like seeing what band photos have disproportionate amounts of "favorites" or views (i.e.: Vampire Weekend). Well, long story short, another person favorited a photo I took of Mew a year and a half ago for a Sup Magazine feature, and it occurred to me that I have outtakes that never saw light of day. And I know that my pics of Mew have been "image macro"-ed and Tumblr-ed, so I figure I should post these up for people to check out. If anything, this is an excuse to gawk at handsome Danes ;)

For the ENTIRE Flickr set, click here. Check out the Sup Magazine feature here (while you still can).

Diamond Rings at Mercury Lounge

More at House List.

Tennis at Mercury Lounge

Tennis is a husband and wife duo from Denver that makes dreamy, dreamy pop. I really enjoyed their sold out set at the Mercury Lounge. Check out my photos on House List (along with Jason Dean's review) and even more photos on Flickr.

Delorean at Bowery Ballroom

Delorean returned to the Bowery Ballroom with sunny beats and air horn loops. Once again, the Spainards boasted impressive openers -- Lemonade is a must-see! Check out pics from their previous visit here, and the many more pics from last Sunday on Brooklyn Vegan.

Kate Nash at Terminal 5

I think the last time I saw Kate Nash was at the Bowery Ballroom, so this was a big step up. Her set was mostly charming and cutesy, save for a disorienting grrl riot-y interlude. The high point was definitely fan favorite "Foundations." Kate lingered on the stage after the last song, with Hole's "Violet" playing in the background, so she could toss copies of (what I presume to be) the set list to the hungry crowd. Taken for House List. You can also check out more pics on Flickr.

The 1900s at Mercury Lounge

I heard of this band and wanted to check it out. The Chicago sextet brandishes an enjoyable brand of pop. A few more at House List!

Guided by Voices at Terminal 5

For House List.

Paper Spaceship's CMJ30 Photo Exhibit

Paper Spaceship has an exhibit of concert photography from CMJ from the past thirty years. I have some images in that, along with images from many amazing photographers. Check it out at P.J.S. Exhibitions at 238 W. 14th St. (at 8th Ave.) until the 30th.

Muse at Nassau Coliseum

A few more at House List soon. This was a shoot from the soundboard, which is both good and bad; while there was no way of capturing the impressive stage set up from a photo pit up front, it was also taxing to shoot from hundreds of meters away.

CMJ 2010

This year, I managed to catch Kids of 88, Zowie, Kisses, Restless People, Salem, MEN, Sky Larkin (big photo story for Sup Mag!), Surfer Blood, The Drums, Eli Escobar, Nomi Ruiz, DOM, Bear Hands, Surfer Blood, Ma.Mentor, Woven Bones, Penguin Prison, The Postelles, Diamond Rings, and Braids. In that order. A selection of images from this year's CMJ:

The Drums at Webster Hall

Braids at Cake Shop

Diamond Rings at Knitting Factory

DOM at Stratosphere Sound for an Insound.com recording session

Nomi at Le Bain at the Standard Hotel for the Bond Music Group CMJ showcase

Sky Larkin at Ben Sherman in-store in SoHo

New Mexico

I have been away for a week visiting Albuquerque with a college friend for a wedding and some general sight seeing. I have never been in the Southwest before. Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and the few places in between I visited really live up to the state's nickname, "Land of Enchantment." I can't imagine what it's like to live in a city with such gorgeous weather, gorgeous sunsets, and gorgeous mountains (Sandia) right there, everyday. I have never seen an area with architecture that is so consistent (or try to be consistent), from the historic city centers to the suburban outskirts! This is one of my favorite sights from my brief trip, taken somewhere in Jemez Mountains. Just beautiful.

Anyway, I got back just in time for the insanity of CMJ Music Marathon. I'll upload a few more pics from the trip before all the CMJ stuff (and Muse!).

Miike Snow / MNDR at Terminal 5

This was a challenging shoot. Unlike the last time I saw Miike Snow, the lighting was extremely unforgiving and the band decided to invest heavily in a fog machine. Nevertheless, the jackalope-loving electro masqueraders delivered a riveting set that stuck with tracks from their eponymous debut album (albeit with heavy ornamentation and tweaking) and delivered an impressive remix of Vampire Weekend's "Kids Don't Stand A Chance". MNDR opened and also performed in the dark. Still, I am pretty in love with the shot above because you can still make out Amanda's humongous glasses. I was shooting for House List -- check out a few more pics here, along with Aaron Stein's write up.

Pavement at Rumsey Playfield, Central Park

For Brooklyn Vegan. More photos here.

Klaxons at Bowery Ballroom

A few more photos at House List and my Flickr.