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.

Vampire Weekend at Radio City Music Hall

For House List. Also a few more on Flickr.

Robert Plant at Bowery Ballroom

"Epic" is an understatement for last night. To see a legendary front man in such an intimate setting... yeah, epic doesn't cut it. I had the pleasure of shooting for NPR's All Songs Considered again. Their recording and mix of the concert will be available soon.

EDIT: You can listen to NPR's edited version of the full concert here.

Mudhoney / Pissed Jeans at Bowery Ballroom

Though I realize that I'm probably never going to top this set of Pissed Jeans photos I took at Music Hall of Williamsburg during the WFMU Fest (someone told me yesterday, "close the book on PJ!"), I'm still going to try. The gig last night was such a dude fest and it was fantastic. I somehow got out of the riot on the first floor unscathed...

Mudhoney was outstanding. Pissed Jeans was as sludgy as ever. White Hills opened; I caught a bit of the set and it sounded really heavy.

Took the Mudhoney pics for House List (more here). More Pissed Jeans pics here.