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Aerosmith at the Izod Center (In defense of the "first 3")
2012-07-27
It's
definitely been a minute since I shot a show in a stadium. Most of what
I've been shooting lately has been small acts in tiny venues, bars and
basements. And there is certainly something to be said for the raw
grittiness and intimacy of shows like that, not to mention your freedom,
as a photographer, to shoot whenever and where ever you want during the
performance.
That said, the stadium show is a different
beast entirely: everything in the show has been meticulously planned out
months in advanced, so there is really no "raw gritty factor," plus,
you have no freedom to move around whatsoever, other than within the
confines of the tiny pit area, and most importantly, you only get to
shoot the first 3 songs. Ever since I started shooting live music in
highschool, I hated the idea of the "first 3 rule." But as I have gotten
older and more accustomed to dealing with it, my opinion, oddly enough,
has changed. Now, not only am ok I with, I kind of love it.
The
images that follow of Aerosmith, shot at the Izod Center, were all
captured within a period of no more than 10 minutes. I was sent there by
Sound and Vision magazine, one
of the very fine publications I work for. And while I use to get really
stressed out shooting shows like these, mainly because you are under
immense pressure to come back with something incredible, in
a ridiculously brief window of time, with lots of factors like light,
bouncers and the band themselves, often working against you, I felt
totally calm and at ease during this last show.
Why? I have
really no idea. Normally, the fact that whatever I get during that brief
3 song window is going to end up as a spread in a magazine, puts a lot
of pressure on me. But not this time. Maybe it was because I had botched
a commercial shoot and infuriated a client just hours before the show
and saw shooting the concert as a stress-reliever. Whatever the reason, I
embraced those 10 minutes and went into total adrenaline-rush-mode.
The
truth is, I couldn't tell you a single thing that happened on stage
during those three songs, nor do I have any idea what songs were played.
Quite frankly, it's as if I wasn't even there. When people tell me "oh
your so lucky, you get to see all these awesome rock concerts." My
response is usually "Yes, you are right about the lucky part, but
incorrect about the seeing part."
I left the concert that
evening (after having been escorted out into the parking lot) with no
clue if I had made a single decent photo. Thankfully I think I did ok.
You can see the rest of the gallery on SoundandVisionMag.com.
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