Shooting In The Dark
Concert photography and music journalism were nowhere to be found on my bingo card, but it appears I've somehow stumbled into that this year. Earlier this week the piece on the Roots Revue festival got published by the local weekly, which was a first for me. Yesterday, my co-conspirator and I were back at it, meeting up at the Whirling Tiger down in the Butchertown neighborhood.
The venue didn't know we were coming, which gave the whole thing a bit of a gonzo feel. We were there to cover Louisville native Ryan Davis & the Roadhouse Band, with the show being the release party for his second album, New Threats from the Soul. Since I was just there to take photos I hadn't done much research in advance, didn't really know what to expect. Caught soundcheck for the group opening up, Phantom Family Halo, and they really grabbed my attention. Did some digging during soundcheck and spoke with Dahm Majuri Cipolla, a founding member of Phantom Family Halo, afterwards and discovered that both groups have deep roots in the Louisville music scene going back decades. Dahm's day job these days is playing drums in the Japanese band Mono, but after a recent relocation back to Louisville area from NYC he and Phantom Family Halo were playing their first show in seven years. Also let us know that they were working on a new album and the set would be all new songs.
When they took the stage a little later in the evening I was completely blown away, been working my way through their catalogue since I got home. Their set was over far too quickly, but then Ryan Davis & the Roadhouse Band came out and distracted me from that. The music and the sound in the Whirling Tiger was great, but the light was terrible for shooting, really pushed the limits of my gear and abilities.
Had to push the ISO too. Never shot in a place quite that dark or crowded but the music was jamming too much for me to sweat it. Was definitely sweating, the room temperature heated up with the music. Aside from Sam Bush, the Roots Revue wasn't what I'd call high energy, but both sets last night were for sure.
Before heading to the show I'd listened to a few tracks off New Threats from the Soul but it hadn't really clicked for me. Hearing it live changed all that, there was just a liveliness and a fullness to the music that didn't quite come through the same on the record. Definitely worth catching again, preferably when I have a long lens that'll go down to f/2.8. More photos to come for sure, had to edit a few in black and white for Hive while I procrastinated on the color shots for the story.
You really pulled me into the atmosphere of the Whirling Tiger — I could almost feel the heat of the room and the challenge of shooting in low light. I like how you didn’t shy away from sharing the technical hurdles, because it gives so much more weight to the final shots. The way you tied the music’s energy to your experience behind the camera makes this feel less like a concert review and more like a story you were living in real time. Can’t wait to see those color edits you teased.
Glad you enjoyed it! Stay tuned!
I feel you on the shooting challenges, dark venues and cramped spaces really test your gear and your patience. But you did great shots!
Patience, what's that? Thank you!
As soon as I read the title I thought of the song “Shot in the Dark” by Ozzy Osbourne and the member in the first photo has some similarity to him 😄
Very nice shots! You can feel the energy of the band in those captures 👏🏻🤘🏻
😆😆
I can see that, although Dahm is much more soft spoken than Ozzy, but the music was equally heavy, just in a different way.
Thank you! It was such a fun show :)
Thank ya!
This is awesome! You take a picture with good contrast and then it becomes a really cool bnw with great precision.
Thank you! It was an awesome show :)
Great shots, all with the power of music captured in black and white.
Thank you! With the starkness of the light it just seemed made for black and white.
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