Steemit Photo Challenge #25

Good morning, Steemit brethren!

I've missed the last few #steemitphotochallenge contests because the themes have fallen in areas I'm not photographically proficient. I have this thing where I stare longly at photos the opposite of what I typically take. The "transport", "soul of the city" and "sacred" have been a few of my favorites. I bowed out, looking forward to those entries.

Music, however, I've moonlighted in photographing for ten years or so. In fact, preparing my entries for the #steemitphotochallege, I was reminded of some of my favorite events I've shot, including Bad Religion, Gogol Bordello, NOFX, Every Time I Die, DeVotchKa and several others.

I narrowed my entries down to three, as follows.

Norma Jean

Norma Jean and I go way, way back. They were my salvation after Atreyu went ass up terrible. They were on my list to see and photograph, and I wasn't disappointed. The show was incredible, but they didn't spare the dramatics, which made for great photo opportunities, like this spotlight through the crowd tightly packed in to a small, sweaty Eastern, Pennsylvania club. This shot has gotten me many, many photo passes to bands since.

Motionless In White

Headlining Warped Tour, this was a great experience for me and MIW. These guys are from my small hometown of Scranton, PA. I caught them in Shakopee, MN and we reminisced about pizza, Abe's Hotdogs and all the locally famous amenities of Scranton. Crazy seeing a band from our tiny town antahiliate their set at Warped Tour in front of 15,000 fans! Josh is a close friend of mine and we've joked that I don't listen to their music [...neither does he], but holy shit, they had an unparalleled energy live.

Slim Cessna's Auto Club 

More obscure of a band to most of you, I'm sure, but if you get a chance, read the post I made on Steemit a few months ago titled "The Commandments According To SCAC" album review. Dark folk is probably my favorite musical genre, and SCAC pretty much invented it. One of the most passionate, theatrical bands you'll ever see live. This shot is only a few months old, taken the last time they played at the Turf Club in St. Paul, MN. I'll never miss an opportunity to catch them live.

Thanks for reading, the consideration, and the ongoing effort to keep art and photography a priority here with the #steemitphotochallenge.