KISW"s "Pain in the Grass" aka I got to shoot Godsmack and Buckcherry

[jdesigns]

It's crazy the way things work sometimes. A few weeks ago KISW, "The Rock of Seattle 99.9 FM, had their softball team called the "Foul Balls" come to Bremerton to play a local team. So I figured that it would be fun to photograph the game and perhaps meet some of the guys that I have been listening to on the radio for a while. Several members of the "The BJ Shea Morning Experience," "The Mens Room," and various other staff and crew were at the game. Turns out that the game was great fun to watch, and the guys were really down to earth guys.

I decided it would be good to give back to KISW for all the entertainment I get from them. I created a gallery with the best photo's and fired off a email to Topshelf of the "The BJ Shea Morning Experience," basically telling him to let the team know that the photo's were available for them to use however they chose. That was Sunday night.

Monday evening after I get home from work, I start checking the teams MySpace pages, and sure enough some of them were using my photos. I was quite pleased to say the least. What was even better than that was that the Promotions Director had seen my photos and said he might have an extra photo pass for KISW's "Pain in the Grass" concert featuring big names like Candlebox, Buck Cherry, and Godsmack! Can you say excited? Hell yeah I was! I fired off an email saying that I was very interested. I had a hard time sleeping that night.

A few days go by, nothing from KISW. I email again. A few more go by. A phone call is left in his voicemail. A few more days. My hopes were fading by the hour. I had finally given up 9 days after recieving the first and only email from KISW's Promo Director.

Wednesday evening, two days before the concert, I finally get an email asking if I was still interested. DUH! Like I had to think about that for more then 3 milliseconds! Hell yeah I was interested! I fired off another email, and this time I got a response. Things were looking up now! Thursday night I had my bag packed and ready to go. I figured that if I was ready to go that far in advance that I would remember something I might have otherwise forgotten. I may look dumb, but that does not mean I am!

Saturday FINALLY rolls around and I am stoked! My first big concert, with real big name bands, and shooting for a powerhouse and legend of Seattle Radio.

I get there plenty early, like enough time to take a Seattle to Bremerton round trip ferry trip kind of early. (It's an hour each way!) I checked out the vendors and watched the workers finish setting up the stage. At 1pm the gates open and the flood of people begin flowing in.

The first band, Point 1 kicks off the show. The photographers are allowed to be in the security area between the fans and stage for 3 songs and then we had to leave. Silly security kicked us out after only two songs. This happened again with Operator. WTF? It's ok as I got enough decent shots, but still!

Black Light Burns, Evans Blue, Finger Eleven , and Candlebox all kicked ass like I figured they would. Though I hate to admit, when I am shooting I do not really notice anything else going on around me. Sure, I am aware of who is around me to make sure that I do not have someone who was crowd surfing land on me, but the sounds, smells, etc, go totally unnotived. I just block out and concentrate on creating great photographs.

I wasn't really sure what to expect from Buckcherry as I had not really paid much attention to them, though I am familiar with thier songs as I hear them a lot on KISW. I honestly thought they would be epitome of the typical rock star. I'm sure you know the kind....lots of tattoos, piercings, tight black pants with big belt buckles, unusual hair, and so on. They did not disappoint in those aspects. What took me by surprise after I left the security area was that they really put on a good show! In my brief moments when I wasn't looking for an interesting crowd photo and actually watched what was happening on stage, I was impressed.

The sun finally dipped below the horizon and took the remaining natural light away from us photographers. We were at the mercy of the guys running the light show. Much to my chagrin, the Godsmack lighting guys, while putting on a killer light show, made it quite difficult to capture a great image. Add the fact that all the other bands equipment was out of the way so they had full use of the stage to roam around, AND the stage was about 7 feet tall (I'm 6 feet tall), AND all the monitors and lights blocking the view, it was very challenging to get the definitive and most memorable photo. At one point I just sent my wider angle lens on the edge of the stage floor and hit the shutter hoping that there was something interesting going on at that moment with enough light to make a decent image.

After the third song, we rejoined the crowd and I asked Mike Savioa if he was able to get anything good. He said that he didn't either due to lack of decent light. I asked the same of Andy Repcik, and got the same response. I wonder if the lighting design guys will ever get the fact that we photographers, the same ones that help promote the bands that are giving these guys a paycheck, need decent light for the first few songs to make great photographs? (I am not going to hold my breath!)
By the time it was over, I could barely walk. My hips and legs were so sore that I had a difficult time even driving home.

All told, I shot nearly 1700 photographs. That means I had to go though all of them to get the 100-150 shots that I was going to submit to KISW. So, with sore hips, I sat at the computer nearly all day sorting and editing and uploading about 130 images just to meet the Monday Noon deadline that the Promotions Director set for submission.
When I got home from work today, I got an email saying the images are posted on KISW's website. Woohoo! I clicked the link and there they were! I saw that Mike, Andy and Island Jenn's galleries were also posted. As I clicked through them eagerly and I realized that I had some really great shooters along side of me. Plus it was great to see how they perceived the show. It's given me great respect for those photographers that can produce great images with the kind of precision that they have. Being my first big concert, I have certainly learned a lot! With the exception of a few jackasses that started fighting or caused some kind of ruckus, the fans and crew of KISW are unbelievably cool! (Are you kidding me?!)

So a big THANK YOU to all those who made this show possible! I can't wait to do it again!

Photos:

#1 Josh Todd of Buck Cherry
#2 Godsmack
#3 Darren Howard of Point 1

[Toad]

damn, what a great show. i wish i was there

[jdesigns]

If you don't want to read all that and just want to see my pics:

Click here! :-)

[JuggBug]

Dude, that is the shiznit. And mmmmmmmmmmm, Godsmack.

[GINA]

Those are some killer pics! Congrats

[AmyJane]

Hey Justin!! Congrats on the new gig and awesome pics!! You're one lucky dude!

[jdesigns]

Originally Posted by CyberGreenBaby

Hey Justin!! Congrats on the new gig and awesome pics!! You're one lucky dude!

Thanks Amy! Luck has a lot to do with it, but so does talent. (Not that I am conceited or anything!)

[AmyJane]

Originally Posted by jdesigns

Thanks Amy! Luck has a lot to do with it, but so does talent. (Not that I am conceited or anything!)

I don't think you're conceited but you have every right to be!