After I had snapped a few pictures of Priestess with my flash, one of the security guards at Capital Music Hall politely advised me that their would be no flash photography on this evening. Being a polite chap I complied. I was planning to shoot most of my pictures with the ample stage lighting anyway, so it made little difference to me. Scratch that: It made @#$!-all difference to anyone.
My experience at the Motorhead/Priestess/Damn 13 gig was identical to the Von Bondies show ( Feb. 21, 2004, - pictures on the Birdman Sound site).
At that gig the band's road manager made a similar demand, and since I'm not particularly driven to giving people free publicity, I stopped taking pictures. Of course, the large proportion of audience members with tiny digital cameras continued to flash away as the band's road guy stood blithely by. With cell-phone cameras becoming commonplace, there's even more camera flashes then ever. At the Motorhead show I saw someone else with an SLR rig that security apparently hadn't noticed take a few flash pictures as well; needless to say there was no way of going into the crowd to tell him or her to cease and desist (that treatment is reserved for folks who light a cigarette).
Do band members care? I'm sure no one wants to be subjected to being flashed in the face from three feet away, but with group members like Phil Campbell of Motorhead happily posing and mugging for the camera, they obviously don't care that much (if at all). I've had plenty of band members ask for copies of photos, but have never heard a whisper of complaint about the use of flash from a musician. I've only seen it happen once, at an Art Bergmann show where the guy with the camera was so egregiously in Bergmann's face that I'm amazed A.B. didn't smack him over the head with his acoustic guitar instead of just telling him "Enough pictures already."
Finally, my flash is but a wee candle to the detonations of light that were the strobes turned on the stage later. Flash bans - why bother?
So what does this candle picture (taken at The Aloha waiting for Castor to hit the ... um ... clear space in front of the door) have to do with the subject at hand? Not the foggiest. Sorry.
- Show reminder: The Underground Music Festival continues, with Exhaust, Japanther, Zea and Akisakila at Club SAW. The Sick Fits return to the stage and bring Midnight Tramp with 'em, at Zaphod's.
- Breaking news: The High Dials and Hopewell grace the Barrymore's stage June 3.
1 comment:
hi andrew. i came across your blog through punkottawa. aaron turner, of isis, definitely asked alex cairncr0ss and i to "go easy on the flash" once. a lot of bands playing larger venues have rules about who can shoot with an SLR (i.e. those with photo passes). the "no flash photography" rule that is sometimes printed on the ticket itself seems to be more of a formality than anything. also, it's record labels that tend to care more about "pros" shooting photos without permission since the photos taken can be sold in ways that don't generate income for the bands or the label.
i would have assumed that you wouldn't have trouble getting a photopass for a motorhead show though. it's likely that the other SLR-user in the crowd had a photopass.
glad i came across your blog. i'm gonna go take a look at your photos now!
have a great weekend.
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