July 2011: Puddle of Mudd, Mayhem Fest, The Crying Spell, Jared Blake, MC Hammer, Sugar Ray, Joan Jett

July was a busy one! We had a show or two every single week. I'm exhausted going back and looking at all we did.

July 9, 2011: Puddle of Mudd w/ Klover Jane at 'Rockin on the River' festival, Clarkston, WA
We left home early in the morning and got to town for the show, checked in for our passes and made our way back stage to see the Klover Jane gang. POM hadn't gotten to the stage area yet for us to see Paul and meet the new guitar player, Dizzy Devereaux, and new drummer, Shannon Boone. We'll meet them later on.

Klover Jane took the stage to a crowd that wasn't familiar with them at all. Rane Stone, the lead singer had also had a cold was wasn't feeling we but he pushed through and gave the crowd a great show. By the end of their set, the crowd was chanting 'Klover Jane' repeatedly. They gained a few fans that night!

Klover Jane

Puddle of Mudd took to the stage to a crowd that had been sunning and beering themselves for hours. The venue is a golf practice field right on the river so not only did they have paying fans, but fans on the Columbia river in their boats. It was a cool location.

The band had tons of energy and we really like the new additions to the band. Wes at one point though got all tangled up in his mic cord and fell. Paul had to help keep him down with a foot while the techs got him untangled and back up on his feet. He never stopped singing though. We got to shoot the first 3 songs from the pit area and then the rest of the show from side stage. Shannon gave me some great side stage shots when he stood up on his stool.  Puddle of Mudd Photos - Clarkston, WA

 Puddle of Mudd - 'She Hates Me'

July 12, 2011: Rockstar Mayhem Festival at the White River Amphitheater, Auburn, WA

I wasn't expecting to shoot this show at all. I didn't shoot the whole thing though. I was a work when I got a call that there was a photo pass waiting for me at will call. Needless to say, I left work, headed home for my gear and made my way out to White River. 

I arrived in time to shoot Trivium, the headliners on the second stage. This was a band I wasn't familiar with, but I liked photographing them. Great stage show and they had the crowd all amped up before heading over to the main stage for Machine Head.
Trivium Photos

I really like to photograph Machine Head. They are such a different looking band. I told Mike that if he ever wanted to know what my father looked like, all he had to do was look at Robb Flynn! He is a dead ringer. I've got a great shot of Phil Demmel's hair going all over and an even better one of Adam Duce's. I'm not normally into the heavier side of metal, I'm more of a straight up rocker, but I really enjoyed them.
Machine Head Photos

OK, I've seen Megadeth several times now and I'm still not an actual fan of the music, but I'm a great fan of their shows. They put on a great one. I love, love, love taking photos of Chris Broderick. Mike works a ton with David Ellefson, but Chris is my fave. He has the greatest faces when he plays. He's playful with the crowd and just looks like he loves his life. I'm still learning how to photograph Mustaine though. It's very seldom I get a shot that shows his whole face! I finally got to meet David Ellefson after the Godsmack set. He's such a nice guy. 
Megadeth Photos

This is my second time seeing Godsmack. I find myself saying "I'm not a fan" a bunch mainly cause this isn't my personal music scene and I'm still learning about the heavier side and finding the bands I do like in the genre. Godsmack, however, isn't one of them. I do however have a thing for bass players and Robbie Merrell is a GREAT one! Both Godsmack shows I've seen were at this venue and both times, the band hid in the upstairs green rooms and didn't mingle. I haven't heard many nice comments on Sully and I would have liked to see him interact and be proved wrong. I'm a positive person and like to see the good that must be in people somewhere! Although, they could have been proven correct as well. Hmmm....
Godsmack Photos

Disturbed is my enigma band. I've seen them a few times now and I actually like some of their songs, but not live. I'm continually bored with their overall show. Mainly I'm disappointed in David Draiman, the singer. He's boring on stage. He was better this time, but not enough. Yet again though, I loved John Moyer, the bass player. More often than not, those dang bass players save the day!
Disturbed Photos

July 16, 2011: The Crying Spell at the Kirkland Performance Center, Kirkland, WA

The Crying Spell is one of my favorite local Seattle bands and this venue is one of my favorite to see them play. The Center is a newer working theater. They host band nights, plays, and other things. Stadium seating makes it easy for everyone to see and it's an all ages location. I'm able to take the kiddos with me, get them seated and make my way around to shoot. This makes for a great family night.

The band is a modern take on New Wave with a Rock twist. They've coined their style Mod Wave. Their guitar player - Eric Snyder (of Second Coming, Capitol Records) - is amazingly effortless in his sound. His effects always assist in conveying the Mod sound. Len Hotram and Chase Culp (of Point One, Adrenaline Records) on lead vocals and drums respectively and Jason Phraner (of Redlightmusic w/Peter Klett of Candlebox, DMI Records)on bass. This 4-some is one of the best around town. Their past experiences have made them grow in to a collective that is hard working, professional and all around good people. Catch them anywhere you can. There are great things on the horizon for this one peeps! Check out their Reverbnation page to hear some of their music and catch a video!
The Crying Spell Photos

July 21, 2011: Jared Blake at Louie G's, Fife, WA
Louie G's is a great local all-ages venue that promotes youth bands and other local acts. On occasion though, Louie books a national act. This one was a treat! Jared Blake from Season 1 of The Voice. I loved him on the show. I was sad when it didn't make it further. Jared was doing a solo set of shows on his way back home in Nashville. He is quite the story teller during his show as well which really makes the show more of a jam session. He is someone that really needs a break. The talent is there and he is a humble man. There is no ego to be found. Just good 'ole boy meets rock 'n roll with a hint of country. Support him if you find him making a stop in your town!

July 23, 2011: The Boise Music Fest with MC Hammer, Sugar Ray and Joan Jett
Mike and I drove to Boise to attend the fest. This is a FREE festival and attracts upwards of 70K people to the Ann Morrison Park. The park is right along the river but doesn't have a ton of trees. This allows for the great sized crowd but makes it a little painful on a 90+ degree day at an all day festival. We were lucky enough to find a tree until Sugar Ray arrived and we went back to their trailer for a little air conditioning and visiting Mike's long time friends. He had worked for SR for 15 years.

It was time to go photograph MC Hammer. I'll be honest, I didn't think it would be a very good show and was more going to photography for the spectacle of it all. It was a spectacle, but it was a really great show too! Ann Morrison Park still has it - big time! The only ding on him is that he came on stage almost 15 minutes late which I will tie into the rest of the day later.
MC Hammer Photos

Next up was Sugar Ray. I just love these guys. I loved them when I didn't know them and I still love them now that I do. The are the nicest guys you could ever meet. They love their fans and have several super fans that have now become friends. Mark and the guys never disappoint on the stage either. This was the first time I'd seen them since DJ Homicide decided to concentrate on just DJ'ing. This does free up the band to do more of their harder stuff from their 'Lemonade and Brownies' and 'Floored' days. Of course they still play their hits at shows, but I love it when they throw out 'Mean Machine'. It cracks me up to see the fans that don't know they started out as a Punk/Nu Metal band. They've added a percussionist named Al Keith. He's been a friend of Rodney's for years and was a natural fit to add some flare where it had been previously provided by DJ Homicide.
Sugar Ray Photos

Last up for the night was Joan Jett. We saw her back stage on her way up to play and she is one tiny lady. Amazing so much rock comes out of that little frame! We got out to the photo pit only to find out that she was not allowing pro cameras. All I will say is that we saw why. They did allow me to go out there with my cel phone though. It has an 8meg camera so it was as good as a lot of point and clicks, but it was still disappointing not to be able to shoot with the SLR.

I'm going to stop here and do a blog dedicated to the last show of July. This is my discovery band of 2011 so far.... Out of L.A. - Le Butcherettes.

Le Butcherettes opening for the Super Geek League CD release party on July, 29, 2012 at El Corazon, Seattle, WA

Normally I would talk about an entire show but this time I'm just too damn excited to discover this band so I'm going to completely gloss over the local bands they were opening for in this blog.

I got to El Corazon early. I was expecting to get there to see Post Modern Heroes start off the show followed by Witchburn and ending with Super Geek League's CD release show. What I didn't know was that a little known band out of Mexico/Los Angeles got added to the bill as the first act.

When the band took the stage, there were MAYBE 30 people in the house and most of those were band members for the other bands appearing later. I myself was up on the second level talking to Robot from PMH. It took about 30 seconds in to the first song before I was down on the floor right in front of Teri "Gender Bender" Suarez.

She came out on stage in a dress with a white apron covered in some fake blood as if she had been doing some recent butchering. Teri switches between guitar and keyboard with Omar Rodrigues Lopez on bass and Gabe Serbian of The Locust on drums. Think White Stripes with a female lead. Just raw beats with Teri captivating the show.

Not far into the second song, Teri had blood dripping down her face. Another blood pack. It was convincing. She had a kind of 'Carrie' thing going on if you recall the movie.

Once the show was over, I talked to her for a bit. Mainly, I wanted a CD and needed to know if they had any at their merch booth. She thanked me for dancing and said it was beautiful. If you weren't dancing to them, there is something wrong with you. Really wrong.

Anyway. I found out that they were touring with Queens of the Stoneage but since Queens was opening for Soundgarden at the Gorge that weekend, they decided to come to Seattle and book a show instead of taking a few days off. Lucky for me, they had no egos and were happy to open up a local bands show.

Back to the blood pack on Teri's forehead... I finished editing my photos and tagged the band in the album. Needless to say that I was shocked when Omar said that she had actually cut her head open on one of Gabe's cymbals. She didn't say a word. She just kept on performing and didn't let on she was injured! She became my hero right then and there. I still in awe of her not stopping to get attention to her forehead. She'd rather finish a set for 30 people than stop. Please take a quick look or listen to them on YouTube or Facebook.

June 2011: U2, Lenny Kravitz, KISS, Amanda Hardy and Jason Kertson & the Immortals

The June 2011 catch up blog will actually be broken out in to 2 blogs. This one is the shows I went to in the states and there will be a separate blog for the two things we attended in London so watch out for the London blog too!!!

06.03.2011: U2 & Lenny Kravitz at Qwest Field in Seattle, WA
Well, I can say that I attended this show but I'd only be half correct. Mike was photographing the show while the kids and I waited outside the stadium and listened to the music. Since Qwest is an open stadium, we were able to enjoy the show from a patch of grass right outside. I do have to say that Live Nation was pretty damn brilliant when they decided to have actual merch booths OUTSIDE of the venue. I was able to buy myself a U2 T-shirt. So they still got my money even though I didn't buy tickets. Brilliant.

We had a lot of fun outside just hanging out and we could see the video screen above the stage from our area as well. I did get to see the show a little bit :)
Mikes photos:
U2 - Pre-Show Day Stage Pics - Qwest Field - Seattle 6/3/11
Lenny Kravitz - Qwest Field - Seattle, WA 6/4/11
U2 - Qwest Field - Seattle, WA 6/4/11

06.23.2011 KISS at the Everett Comcast Arena in Everett, WA
We took the kids to this show and amazingly enough - Ryan stayed awake the whole time! It was due to the fire. I'm going to warn you that I'm about to pan this show. The fire was fine, the music was fine but we had been preparing the kids for the cool things they were going to see like Gene going up into the rafters and singing from up there and for Paul going across the crowd on a wire and singing from a little stage at the rear of the venue.... didn't happen. The arena was too small for those parts of the show. We were all pretty bummed about that. It was still good, but not great.

'Firehouse'

'Modern Day Delilah'

06.25.2011: Amanda Hardy at Louie G's in Fife, WA

You are going to see quite a bit of the young musician's we support from the Seattle/Tacoma area. Amanda Hardy is one of them. 14 years old singer, guitar playing songwriter.

Mike's photos: Regarding Silence w/ Amanda Hardy - Louie G's - Fife, WA 06/25/11

06.28.2011 Jason Kertson & The Immortals at Louie G's in Fife, WA

Here is another one of the young musicians from the area. Jason Kertson is being mentored by Dave Mustain of Megadeth. Yip, he is. You can find tons of videos on Youtube.

Mike's photos: Jason Kertson & The Immortals - Louie G's - 6/28/11

June 2011: Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards & Buckcherry

This is gonna be a loooong one and it only covers two amazing nights that I won't soon (or ever) forget!

Mike and I had a vacation scheduled to London. It just so happens that there were a couple of things going on while we were there that made our already special trip even more special. Download Festival was going on while we were there, but the bands we were interested in seeing were going to be there the day we arrived. This left us no time to get checked in to our hotel and get to Download in time. Sad face... BUT...

We were able to go to the Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards show on Monday night and then see Buckcherry at the Electric Ballrooom the following night up in Camden. Smiley face!

Monday, we did our normal touristy things during the day like the Tower of London, Tower Bridge, seeing some of the government buildings and taking a WWII tour before heading back to the room to freshen up and change before heading over to Indigo at the O2 for the Golden Gods Awards.

We took the tube over to the O2 which conveniently had a stop right there. We made contact with Benji Webbe from Skindred to get our tickets but there was a bit of an issue. Those fine fellows of Slipknot decided they were going to attend the event. That meant that Skindred lost half of their guestlist (we were axed) and then Buckcherry's list got completely axed (we were the only ones on this list.) Both bands were really upset, but it was OK. We were able to get escorted in by one of the label execs and he got Mike his full show photo pass.Thank goodness!!!!!

We made our way right up to the front just before they opened the doors so I was right up on the rail. I'm a chatterbox and I was alone after Mike made his way into the photo pit, so I ended up getting to know both of the gals I was standing between. They were shocked that we had come from Seattle to see the show.

The way the Golden Gods shows work is they have an a Host, an MC, bands and awards. This years host was none other than Alice Cooper. From where I was standing, I was about 10 feet from him. The MC for the night was Andrew O'Neil. A British comic with a metal edge. He was a hoot. Sometimes off color to the point it made me blush, but still funny. They also have a theme to the show and this year's was Zombie. There were several fans all dressed up and ready to groan.

Andrew opened up the show with some comedy and an introduction to the first band - Buckcherry. The band is well known in the states, but still getting it's footing in the UK. Their 3 song set included "Dead", "Lit Up" and the awesomeness of "Crazy Bitch". A great band to get the crowd warmed up.

Buckcherry

The next band up was Sylosis. This is a British death metal band that I was glad only played for 3 songs. I wasn't really in to them. I was a little surprised that the home country crowd seamed to have had a bit more fun with Buckcherry.

It's time for some awards!!! Best New Band went to The Damned Things. Nergal, lead singer of the Polish death metal band Behemoth, was gifted with the Metal As Fuck award for his successful battle with leukemia. The Best Underground Band went to Primordial with the Best Breakthrough Artist award going to Sabaton. Dimebag Darrell Shredder award went to Gus G. And our buds in Skindred received the Best Live Band award. If you have never seen Skindred live - GOOOO!!! They are incredible. Check out the video later in the blog. The Best UK Band was given to Iron Maiden and the final award in this segment went to Twisted Sister for Best Inspirational Band.

More music. This time from a Vancouver B.C. musician - Devin Townsend. I was familiar with Strapping Young Lad, but not Devin's new project. WOW. The man is pretty out there, but out there in a good way for sure. I think his set was my favorite of the night. I love hearing new musicians and finding a gem!

Devin Townsend

Let the Best Live Band take the stage please! This is Skindred and I love them. Benji is one of the best front men that I have ever seen. He can make a crowd as big as Download eat out of his hands. I was lucky enough to get a pic from both Mikey and Dan for my collection. I wish we had gotten to visit with them after the show, but it was a complete mad house.

Skindred - Best Live Band

Second half of the awards were ready to be announced. I was able to maintain my spot on the rail and continue to be right there in front of Alice Cooper. Happy times! One of my favorites, Avenged Sevenfold, bring home the Best International Band award. Best Album goes to a long time favorite of Mike's, Killing Joke. The Best Event went to the Big Four and it hadn't even happened yet! Yes, it had happened back home in the states, but not in Europe yet. The Riff Lord award went to 2 people - Pepper Keenan and Kirk Windstein. Spirit of Hammer went to Diamond Head. The Icons aware to Judas Priest and the Golden God was the last award of the night. This went to Rob Zombie who was on hand to accept it from Alice.

The headline band was ready to take the stage. They had already been on stage earlier in the event accepting their award for Best Inspirational Band. For my first time live, Twisted Sister. One observation - Dee has a very large head. But it was magically painted and wigged as you would expect. They were really entertaining.

Twisted Sister

The Buckcherry guys were disappointed that we didn't get to see a full show so they invited us to their show the next night in Camden at the Electric Ballroom. This was perfect as we were meeting one of our friends there that day and then we'd go to the show. I really liked the venue. Great size and it had a really great crowd for the guys. If it wasn't a sell out, it was close! I really enjoyed the energy of the crowd. Security was the same as it is anywhere - a tad overzealous but not horrible.

Mike was in the photo pit when one of the other photographers approached him and asked if he was 'Iron' Mike. This startled him seeing as we were thousands of miles away from home and across a 'pond'. Ends up that she was once married to one of the Posies and had just been talking to Jerry Cantrell a week about about Mike! Queue the Twilight Zone track!

It still entertains me to think that we were on vacation and all this happened! Here's a closing shot with me at the Golden God's Awards show taken by Stevie D of Buckcherry and up on their website. 

Brilliant!!

-Stef

Be sure to check out more of my videos from the shows at my YouTube channel:

http://www.youtube.com/user/stefferzz1970

And Mike's photos from the shows:

Golden Gods Awards

Twisted Sister's Performance

Skindred's Performance
Devin Townsend's Performance
Buckcherry's Performance

May 2011: Loudness, Rammstein & Nolan Garrett

Wow... We actually had a pretty calm month! BUT, I know what's coming - London. So I think we planned it this way.

05.06.2011: Loudness at The Boardwalk in Orangevale, CA

OK, I had no knowledge of this band at all. Why did we drive down to the Sacramento area for this show? Loudness is one of Mike's favorite bands. They are an 80's rock band from Japan and they seldom tour the states. This worked out perfectly cause we had plans in Reno the day after the show so we drove down a day early to catch Loudness in Sacramento then drove to Reno the next morning.

The place was packed. I stayed up front and snagged a pic from the bass player. There were a ton of people there that knew all the words to the songs. Mike was the only photographer allowed. 

Here are the shots: Loudness - The Boardwalk - Orangevale, CA 5/6/11

05.15.2011 Rammstein at the Tacoma Dome in Tacoma, WA

OK.. WOW is the only way to start off talking about this show. Are you kidding me? Crazy good music and even crazier good show. How they get away with some of their antics and show posters, I have no idea! Check out my video:

05.27.2011: Nolan Garrett at Louie G's in Fife, WA

We go from 80's rock to a young blues guitar player. Nolan is only 13 and is already opening up for Randy Hansen (The composer and Jimi Hendrix tribuite musician). Nolan plays a lot. if you have a chance to catch him, please do. The youth musicians in this area are really something to be excited about. There is a new generation of musician that really have bright futures and they all play styles that are just a little bit different from each other.

Photos: Nolan Garrett Trio

April 2011: System of a Down, Deftones, Record Store Day & Syft

04.13.2011: System of a Down with Gogol Bordello at Key Arena in Seattle, WA
OK, I was VERY disappointed that this show was no pro photographers at all. However, this rule provided some of the best entertainment that I've had at a concert. BUT this meant that Mike nor I got photo passes so I can't re-live this show through our photos. AND I still got a guitar pick even though I wasn't even close to the stage :)

The Story: We knew there were no photographers for this tour so when we saw a guy walk by with a tripod and camera gear, we watched. It took just a few minutes to see the guy get escorted to the rear of the floor surrounded by security. Then SOAD's personal security guard arrived along with their manager Beno (Beno brought me my pic). Mike asked him what was up.
Summary of Beno's reply: He asked the guy who he was and who gave him the photo pass.
Guys reply: Their manager.
Beno: Really, Who is their manager?
Guy: His name is xxxxx xxxxx (Not Beno)
Beno: Interesting, cause I'm their manager and I didn't give out any photo passes
Security: Escorts guy out of the building

This show was especially fun for me cause we brought the kids. Ryan and Elisa had a good time, but for the second time, Ryan fell asleep at a major, and loud, concert. I'm sure he was snoring the way he was sitting in his seat. He's also done that at an AIC concert at the Paramount. We were standing on the side and he sat on my feet and fell asleep for almost an hour. I don't know how he does it.

Both SOAD and Gogol left me wanting lots more. This was the second time I'd seen Gogol and they were just as much fun the second time around. SOAD was a first for me. I absolutely loved them. They didn't sing my favorite song, Vicinity of Obscenity, but they sang 29 songs total. 29!
Here are some snapshots: SOAD/Gogol

04.14.2011: Deftones at The Paramount Theatre in Seattle, WA
LOVE their energy. I still don't know enough of their songs, but you don't have to to enjoy this band.
Here are some of Mike's shots from the 2010 & 2011 shows: Deftones/Chino Files 2010/2011
I was excited to see Dillinger Escape Project open, but they played in the actual dark which really wasn't fun at all.

04.16.2011: Record Store Day with Duff McKagen's Loaded at Easy Street Records on Queen Anne in Seattle, WA
I had no idea that Easy Street had a stage behind the garage door at the back of the store. You literally stand between records to watch a band play. We love Loaded. Love the guys, love seeing them play any time we can. This is a band that we support big time. Please take the time to have a listen. Duff has been in Loaded longer than he was in GNR now. Pretty amazing.
Here are my photos: Duff McKagan's Loaded - Easy Street Records - Seattle 4/16/11
I also have several videos up from the show on my Youtube channel: stefferzz1970
This one was my favorite video showing the garage door going up:

04.29.2011 S.Y.F.T. CD release show at El Corazon in Seattle, WA
Syft are a local rock/metal band with a bunch of promise. The lead singer, Sean, is a very good front man. Great stage presence and he gets the crowd going. Technically they are a 4 piece but sometimes bring an extra guitar along.
Photos: S.Y.F.T. CD release party @ El Corazon 04.29.2011 

March 2011: Dokken, SGL, Dirty Heads, Rock Out ALS, New Politics & Devo

03.05.2011: Dokken & Sword of Judgement at the King Cat Theater in Seattle, WA

It's been 4 years since I met my husband and I still feel like I'm in Metal 101 class. Yes I have always known of Dokken, but I didn't know a single tune. It was a good time though and I got to continue practicing with my new camera.

Sword of Judgement is a young local band and had some good shredding going on. They are a throw back to the 80's style metal bands like Megadeth, Flotsam and Jetsam & Rage. 

View photos of both bands here:

Dokken - 03.05.2011

Sword of Judgement

03.07.2011: Dirty Heads at El Corazon in Seattle, WA

I cannot praise this band enough!! Dirty Heads are amazing live. They and their fans are always full of energy. Good energy. Energy that is out to have a great time. This show was the first time I had seen them  headlining with a sellout of their very own. It was completely packed in there. It was so hot that the security guards, stage right, were squiring the crowd with Super Sucker water guns to cool them off. I was luckily up on the second level, but I still had to keep and eye out for the water to my camera was ok.

Here's a video from the show - 'Check The Level' and 'Paint It Black'. There are several up on my Youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/stefferzz1970

Opening for Dirty Heads was a new band to us called New Politics. We left fans of the band as well as the guys. They were super nice to chat with after the show. I'm sure you'll recognize their hit!

03.11.2011: Super Geek League at the King Cat Theatre in Seattle, WA

You really really have to see SGL to understand their so called Sci-Fi Punk Circus. Circus is a very good adjective. Take a punk band, dress them up like Geek super heroes, add in an aerobatics act, Go-Go dancers, a priest and a devil and you can just barely begin to understand this spectacle... To see what I mean, see the photos! Super Geek League - 03.11.2011

03.12.2011: Rock Out ALS with Pretty Enemy, Late September Dogs and History For Sale at Club Motor in Seattle, WA

First, Rock Out ALS, is a non-profit group who have a mission to raise money for ALS (Lou Gherig's Disease) research through Rock 'n Roll shows around the Seattle area. As always, this show featured some great local bands from the Seattle area. It is always a good time for a great cause.

Pretty Enemy - Rock Out ALS, March 12, 2011

Late September Dogs - Rock Out ALS, March 12, 2011

History For Sale - Rock Out ALS - March 12, 2011

03.15.2011: DEVO at The Moore in Seattle, WA

I really don't need to say anything but DEVO. It's really all that needs to be said. If you've seen them live, you know. If you haven't, they put on a great show. You'd have no idea how old they really are! They move around like they are still in their 30's or 40's. You can see Mike's shots here:

DEVO - Moore Theater - Seattle, WA 03/15/11

It was a very good March!