Taylor Swift “Speak Now”– Staples Center

It is never a dull moment walking up to Staples Center to cover a show.  Just months before the Taylor Swift show, I was there for Britney Spears and it was the same venue, same city, but completely different style.  Blocks away you could tell the type of show from the age, style, and gender of most of the people headed to Staples.  In this case, women/girls, groups of mothers & daughters with the occasional dad, husband or even boyfriend.

Taylor Swift was kicking off a four-day stand at the Staples Center.  During the show, Swift mentions her special love for LA and how SoCal has been so good to her.  She recognized, being able to play in a venue such as Staples Center for four nights is a great honor.  From the first note to the last, the concert was a huge performance, holding all the stops.  The show was filled with elaborate set & wardrobe changes as well as a number of songs and a medley of covers that were performed from the back of the audience.  Speaking as a person that is not a big fan of her music or writing, Swift & her band put on a great performance and really provided a engaging show for her fans.  It certainly didnt hurt when her friend, Justin Bieber, joined her in the middle of her set to sing a duet either.  Overall, the elaborate, classic theater-style staging, her interactive performance walking through the audience, and great accompaniment by her band & dancers provided an entertaining concert and eventful kick off to her four-night stand in LA.

More pictures at Jim Donnelly Photo & You Tell Concerts

Test of the Canon G12: Live for MUTEMATH at the Troubadour

First,the parameters of the test.  Basically, after looking at the all specs and options of the G12, it certainly looked like it was the personal camera that was made to be the point-and-shoot for professionals to enjoy.  So I wanted to test it with one of the most difficult types of photography that would push it to its limits, Concert Photography.  Obviously, per”the rules” of concert photography, no flash was used and I used the manual settings to maximize the exposure and create a situation closest to that of a DSLR.

First, was the ISO.  Of course it is not the same as the 5D Mark II or 7D, but the goal was to see how well the ISO performed and the final results.  Overall I was surprised at how well the pictures came out at 1600 and occasionally 2000 ISO.  The pictures had a little extra grain compared to the DSLRs but the G12 competes well.  Next is the aperture.  It is great to have a point-and-shoot that shoots at 2.8f fully wide.  I was a little far away to get the tight shots I was looking for, but even with a little zoom at 3.5f or 4f the exposure came out well.  The only issue is that it forced me to have to push the ISO.  Lastly, the overall operation and crispness of the image.  This is where I significantly noticed the difference.  The digital shutter makes it difficult to take multiple shots, but one has to take into consideration that this is an extreme situation for a camera (especially a point-and-shoot).  It is no surprise that the images are not as crisp as the higher echelon lenses many concert images are taken with, but the interesting comparison is that the images are overall look much closer to a DSLR with a 2.8f lens.  I would like for the crispness in tough lighting to be a bit better, but it is still much better that most cameras available today.

Overall, the performance and results of the G12 surpassed my expectations in the hardest of shooting conditions.  The controls and feel of the camera was a great blend of DSLR and point-and-shoot as well.  Again, it is not yet a substitute for the DLSRs, but Canon is doing very well at closing the gap and providing a camera us pros are used to shooting and would enjoy using.  The controls and options are well thought out, and the options are what I am looking for.

Incubus @ the Santa Barbara Bowl

Fresh off their release of their new album, “If Not Now, When?“, Incubus kicked off their new album and tour with a BANG.  As to be expected, die-hard Incubus fans came from all around to the amazing Santa Barbara Bowl to rock-out with their favorite band.  With a simple stage setup, Incubus jammed to a great mix of songs from albums old and new.  As he always does, Brandon made a laid back feel on stage as if they were playing for a small room.  From the very beginning, they opened with huge hits like “Megalomaniac” and kept the hits coming all night.  For anyone who has listened to Incubus since the very beginning, it was a great show to hear nearly every song you would hope to hear.  The whole band looked like they were roaring and ready for a new album and a new tour and it was great to have it kicked off in SoCal.

Jack’s Mannequin, special appearance at The Roxy

Jack’s Mannequin made a special visit to The Roxy as part of their summer tour with Slurpee & 7-11.  As usual for Jack’s and The Roxy, it was an excited, sold-out crowd, and Andrew and the rest of Jack’s Mannequin were more than ready for a great show for this hometown crowd.

Boyce Avenue got the crowd started up quickly with some great melodies and a solid performance.  Definitely look out for this group in years to come, with time and refining, they will really define themselves.  After the opening, the audience was ripe and ready for a great performance.  The Jack’s fans came from all over for this rare chance to check out their favorite band in an iconic venue on the Sunset Strip for a mere $7.11 (plus tax, of course).  In their fashion, Andrew and the rest of the band started the show running and didnt stop until the last note.  They broke out all of their hits and even premiered a new track,”My Racing Thoughts”, off their upcoming coming album they recently completed in the studio.  The band put on an electrifying performance, bringing the fans into the show.  Andrew was set up with his baby grand piano front and center on stage and enjoyed the energy of the L.A fans. Andrew ran all around the stage taking in every moment and even threw in a few acrobatics from his piano.  Every song the band played was a hit.  The flow and arrangement of set list was great, it was a high energy show from beginning to end.  It is always great to see established performers come to spots as infamous as The Roxy & The Sunset Strip and see them light up the stage.

It was truly a great night on the Sunset Strip.  There wasnt much more that you could have asked for as a fan.  And if anyone there was not a fan of Jack’s before, they were after this performance.  As a photographer, it was a little tough.  Lighting was good but slightly dark, but the colors worked well for the show.  As always with big shows on the strip, it was tough to get shots up front, but it always makes for great crowd shots.  One can never complain too much when shooting at The Roxy.  It will always be one of my fav. spots to shoot.

Coachella 2011 – Recap

The experience for this year’s Coachella music festival can be summed up as a giant blur.  Bouncing from stage to stage, taking in as much music as possible while also getting the quality shots for Buzz Bans LA, as well as for myself.  I was originally ready to enjoy the festival with the YTC crew and my good friend Adam from the crowd.  It was great news finding out that I was able to cover the festival for Buzz Bands two days before the festival.  Obtaining press creds was increasingly difficult since they had reduced the number of press creds being issued this year.  Thanks to two great guys, my friend Andrew Harold of SPIN Magazine and new friend and Buzz Bands editor Kevin Bronson, it was possible for me to get my equipment into the show and experience the show up close and through the lens.

The mixture of art, music, and people made for an interesting mix of  unique experiences and different styles throughout the festival.  Fans adorned in different outfits and costumes roamed the festival stages while music styles from rock, indie, punk, hip hop, R & B, dub step, and trip hop filled the air from 6 different stages.  The scenery and people took the festival to a different level of experiencing beyond simply music, it was the atmosphere.  Each stage seemed to take on its own style and environment from the bands performing.  Some revolved around the techno, dub step, while others were many indie style, to the main stage of more main-stream sounds with notable bands at each stage in their respective styles.

Each day of music seemed to build upon itself with the size/fan-base of the acts as well as the quality of performance.  Each day also expanded with increasingly spectacular photos.  My top performers of the weekend would have to be The Black Keys, Cold War Kids, Mumford & Sons, Duran Duran, and Kanye West.  My bottom performers were Cee Lo Green, Animal Collective, and Ms Lauren Hill.  For my top performers, they all put on an engaging performance with great tone and lighting.  They make their sets dynamic to the others by having solid performances as well as a great sound to their set. Very simply, they made it a well-rounded, quality experience and something new and creative to enjoy.  For my bottom performers, only one thing can sum them up, WTF?  Cee Lo goes on 25 minutes late (because he can’t seem to book a flight on time) and proceeds to aggravate the crowd while complaining that he should have been given a better set time (Who do you think you are? Are his 15 min. up yet???) Animal Collective just seemed far too experimental and weird.  It seemed like the music you could get out of Ratatat (which only had 2 members) and took far too long to build up.  If the set had been improved and they were making it up as they played, that may have improved the experience, but many of us stood there shaking our heads in confusion.  Lauren Hill’s sounded great, but the performance was difficult to get into with her lack of performance and preoccupation with the stage monitor mix rather than the performance.  It was unnerving to constantly see Lauren frustrated throughout her performance and more focused on her monitors.

As a whole, the event was a great musical experience.  It was interesting to have different genres of music in one place.  You can really observe the differences in the performers and environments. It was interesting to notice that many of the hip hop performers took much longer to get set up and had diva-like attitudes on stage toward many of the stage and sound crew (the main exception being Kanye, he was nearly on time and delivered a strong performance).  Many of the bands were ready early and rolled with the punches with changes to mix and sound.  Of course there are always exceptions, but that was the general experience of the performers.

Overall, it was a great festival experience to shoot.  Scheduling always becomes an issue and somewhat of a disappointment when bands are booked at the same time of stages run behind.  But for the most part, I was able to enjoy performances and shots from the bands I had hoped to capture. It was also a true pleasure getting to hang out with the You Tell Concerts crew at our camp site and keep the party going all night long.  Never a dull moment.

As a photographer, the festival was a wonderful opportunity.  Most of the performances had great lighting in the evening, there were a few that had no spot light, but that happens everywhere.  For the most part the lighting was great.  Pictures during the day can be difficult because the lighting is too flat and hard, it is difficult to get stand-out pictures.  The lighting just adds the extra dynamic to create interesting photos. Many of the bands had unique lighting elements on the main stage to stand out and add to their performances, which was great to capture.  Besides that, it was fun to run around and capture the scenes and people of the festival.

You can enjoy pictures and articles from Coachella at Buzz Bands LA & Jim Donnelly Photo.  Special thanks to Buzz Bands LA, Andrew Herrold, the guys from You Tell Concerts, and my good friend Adam Castro for their parts in such a great experience.

Panic! at The Roxy

From the first steps walking into The Roxy, you could feel the excitement and anticipation from the fans for Panic! At The Disco. From early on the fans were out in full force. This proved to present one of my greatest challenges of the night, get to the front to get at least a few stage shots. I managed to make it early enough that I could slowly make it up slowly; but for me the art is making my way up and chatting with people while not getting on the bad side of fans that waited so long and are eagerly awaiting the spoils of their persistence.

Even during the opening act, The Limousines, fans were looking every which way, trying to get a glimpse of Branden (Panic!’s lead singer) or any other members of the band. You could over hear any number of conversations about favorite songs, things they plan to say to Branden, or game plans to get as close as possible. One word, dedication. Then, the show started almost immediately, 5 feet of standing room turned into 1 foot. Girls had their hands up in the air everywhere and there wasnt a person that could help but sway with the ebb and flow the of movement in the audience.

Beside the constant pushing and shoving of the capacity, teen crowd inching their way up, Panic! put on a spectacular performance. It is always great to see big bands in venues on the Sunset Strip. They always manage to bring their A-Game. Their front 3 (Lead Singer, Lead Guitar & Rhythm Guitar) all had great interaction the the fans and drew them into the show. From beginning to end there was a hit song played with fans singing along to every word. And with a few songs from their upcoming album “Vices & Virtues”, including their new single “The Ballad Of Mona Lisa”, it was a great mix of the band’s entire repertoire. Also, the band sounded great. They were exactly as you might expect from hearing their albums with even higher energy. Overall, it was a great show at a great venue with an excited crowd.

Photography of the show was good, but difficult (but what show never is?). The show was packed all around, so fighting to the front took time and prep, and even then it was still one of the toughest crowds I shot in. For the first 2 minutes of the show I could barely move my arms or get my camera to my face. Then there was the task of looking through the viewfinder and focusing my shot. The fans would eventually settle, but there was still a lot of pushing people aside and getting their arms and cameras out of my shot. If it wasnt one thing, it was another. But I certainly wanted to make sure to get close up shots and a variety of angles as well. Once I felt I had enough (literally and figuratively), I moved up to the elevated VIP area to shoot with my telephoto. I love shooting up there because you have a pretty good angle and dont have to fight to get into a decent area. As always, lighting was good. Lots of colored lighting which poses a little problem in post-production but certainly not much else to complain about.

As always the staff and support at The Roxy is second to none. Getting set up at the show and even making arrangements before the show, they are the best people to work with. It is always a pleasure shooting for The Roxy. A great venue, great staff, and great music. You cant ask for much else. Stay tuned for more pictures and articles at http://theroxyonsunset.com/ & jimdonnelly.smugmug.com

Flashin’ back w/ the Bobby Brown @ the Key Club

I have to admit, I was a bit intrigued when I was asked to cover Bobby Brown at the Key Club. I had heard that Bobby Brown had a new single coming out soon, but I had to google it just to make sure it was the Bobby Brown and not some young, new artist with the same name. It was, in fact, the Bobby Brown, celebrating his new single to relaunch his career. 

There was a great mixture of young and old in the sold out crowd all eagerly awaiting Bobby’s return; and as to be expected, the set list did not disappoint, with popular hits that propelled Bobby’s career. From the very beginning his performance energized the crowd and kept the night going as if the night was just getting started. You could feel his energy and excitement from up on stage. I have to admit it was pretty exciting to see his vigor and excitement coming back to the stage. The packed house was filled with many special guests supporting Bobby as well, such as his son Landon Brown, who came out on stage to sing a duet with his father. Other special guests included fellow New Edition members Ricky Bell and Johnny Gill, who also joined Bobby on stage to accompany him on a few tracks and to announce the promise of new music by New Edition in the upcoming future. Everyone of his guests had great words to say about Bobby and the excitement of Bobby coming back to his music. I was pretty blown away by the band, performance, and vocals throughout the show. He really exceeded every expectation I had for the show, and I really could not believe the huge turnout and performance. I was pretty exhausted from the long eventing of enduring some of the openers and enjoying some others; but when Bobby came out it was a completely different story, well worth the wait.

The photography of the show was really good. I camped out my spot (standing room only), and enjoyed a little of the openers while waiting for Bobby to come on stage. My spot was right at the top of the steps leading down to the stage area. It’s out of the way, easy to move around, and just above everyone in the crowd yet still close enough to get both wide and tight shots. The lighting was great as well, a great mixture of color and spot lighting to fill the shot. A tad dark but that’s pretty much how it goes most of the time. Good enough to still boost it just a little in post production. The key club always has a great mixture of room to move around while still having a packed house, which makes it nice to shoot in.

As always, it was a great time shooting on the Sunset Strip. And again, the full gallery of pictures can be found at YouTellConcerts.com and jimdonnelly.smugmug.com

Joel Simpson & Adam Darling @ The Roxy

I was excited to head back to the Roxy the help cover the show for my friend Joel at his birthday show. It was a great evening as usual at the Roxy, the hottest place on the Sunset Strip and always one of my all-time favorite venues to shoot at/for. Joel’s performance was as entertaining as ever. His mixture of original songs and covers accompanied by electric and high energy dancing. As always, Joel never fails to draw a big crowd. His loyal fan-base seems to turn out without fail with a few A&R scouts and promoters thrown in for good measure. The blend of soulful rock/R&B combined for creative renditions of covers and an original style to enjoy. Joel’s show certainly got things started off with a bang and set a great energy for the rest of the night.

While there to cover Joel, I discovered a great and talented musician by the name of Adam Darling. When he went on stage I certainly didnt know what to expect, but wanted to stick around to see what Adam was all about. Once I heard I couldnt leave. Adam had a great mixture of Rhythm and Blues and Stevie Ray Vaughan style vocals. I was especially impressed by his cover of John Mayer’s “Who Did You Think I Was”. It really showed off his unique style while taking on such well known talents. Adam’s creative mixture of melody and creative solos was a great change of pace and great energy to keep the night going. If you havent seen or listened to Adam, definitely check him out.

Again, as always, the scene made for a great and productive night. Great lighting, great mingling, and great DJ filled the rest of the night while “working” and hanging out with friends. Love the Roxy, absolutely one of my favorite places to shoot and hang out with friends also.

30 Seconds to Mars @ The Fox Theater

I had never seen 30 Seconds to Mars in concert before, and I had received mixed reviews from people about them. Regardless, I had always been eager to cover them and gladly Jared did not disappoint. A few things to start, the Fox Theater in Pomona is a great venue, if you have never been there, go. Next, 30StM, has some of the most loyal fans. Fans of all ages lined up around two blocks around to get their spot (benefit to concert photography – You can SEE the lines and jump right to the front, usually). Overall, the young crowd just waited for their chance to see Jared, and he seemed to eat up every moment with them.

As for the show, it was a great overall. Jared really knows how engage and captivate an audience. It appeared as though everything he did was aimed and geared right at the people in the crowd. And they loved every part of it. They had their cell phones out and cameras up trying to capture every moment of the show. He was down in the crowd nearly as much as he was up on stage. All of this culminated with a finale with a huge crowd of fans behind him up on stage for the last song,”Kings & Queens”.

The photography of the show was okay. That may have been where some people were tough of their critic of the shows they had seen. The show overall was very dark. No spotlight for the show, made for a cool ambiance, but obviously not too great for photography conditions. Much of the show was dark and thus spent trying to catch a flash or strobe (Awesome! haha). The perfectionist that I am, this caused me to never be truly satisfied with a number/quality of photos I would get. I was taking shots the whole night from every vantage point I could find, trying to get a “great shot”. The other part to the hilarity of covering the show was no photo pit access (can anyone say Smashing Pumpkins?) For those just tuning in, Billy Corgan does not allow photographers to shoot in the pit or use a spot either, blah. All us photographers were lined up on the sides of the stage, fighting for a decent spot above the fans to get a decent shot.

It was certainly a trying experience, but always fun non the less. They put on a great show and the shots were fun. I always enjoy a challenge, and it certainly was to say the least. But as always, you all are the true test… Full gallery at YouTellConcerts.com & coming very soon to jimdonnelly.smugmug.com

A New Beginning (Year Two)

This post signifies the beginning of my second real year of professional photography. I thought this year I would add blogging to my list of things that take up valuable time without paying much in return. Which means this will hopefully be fun, since my other hobbies are the same way. For those of you just tuning in, I am a 26 year old concert/event photographer by night, but by day I am also a driven graduate student and college student affairs practitioner.

My first year brought so many unexpected blessings I could have never expected. I not only got to cover and experience concerts in a way I had never imagined, but I also met some of the greatest people. The world of concerts & especially the photographers of those shows is very small. Running into many of the same people throughout the year at different shows was quite unexpected. I hope in my second year to be able to share pictures and great unexpected experiences from shows this up coming year.