Last Friday I stopped by the Riveria Theatre in Chicago and took some amazing shots of Tame Impala and Mini Mansions. I actually never shot photos before at The Riv and it was all new to me. Crammed up on stage left with security guards overwatching the crowd who are drugged up or drunk, I met so many genuine photographers from other media firms whiling waiting for the bands to start (Chicago Tribune, Chicagoist, etc - all super nice people). I was literally a solo freelance fish in the sea of photographers and held my ground.
The facility has this strict rule of taking shots of the first three songs and that's it. After that, camera's are away - no joke. In the time span of three songs capturing the band's performance, you're completely focused on the shots you can get and the music dissolves as background noise. They opened up "Let it Happen" then into "Mind Mischief" and it was incredible. After shooting photos of both bands, I enjoyed watching the rest of the set from afar - mind you I was a hot sweaty mess from the jam packed stoned/drunk crowd. Alcohol wasn't even on my mind at that point.
I can't wait to shoot more photos of bands, events, and whatnot. I'm starting to really enjoy this photography thing with bands, etc.
