Wednesday, June 18, 2008

City Stages 2008




So, I got on a few stages this past weekend, and it was friggin awesome. I finagled my way onto the stage with the likes of Al Green, Diana Ross, and one of my favorite bands, The Flaming Lips. I told a couple of my friends who aren't as into the Lips as I am that even if they can't appreciate the music, they would be amazed by the show. I still haven't heard the end of how great it was.

A week or so before the show, I was awaiting backstage passes from a guy I knew from high school who plays guitar in the band Beyond Me. I headed down to the local camera shop, Cameras Brookwood just to look around and lust over equipment I would love to have for the show but could never afford. Long story short, I got to talking to a wonderful gentlemen named Paul, who upon listening to my whining/ expression of my desire to have some better, faster glass for the show - agreed to let me borrow his personal 80-200 f/2.8 lens. Yeah, score, I know.

The show itself was magical, and being on stage was inspiring. Needless to say, I was more than pleased with the results, which after talking to another photog at the event I felt the need to watermark.

Oh, and I met Wayne Coyne (lead singer) after the show, and he was one of the most genuinely kind human beings I've had the pleasure of meeting. I could tell he sincerely enjoyed what he was doing during the show - he was just having a blast, and putting on a great show. And during the set, there were a couple of times when he looked right at me when I had my camera up. I could go on and on...

Edit: I'm sorry, I can't for the life of me figure out how to properly arrange/format the text with the pictures in posts.