Time flies, eh? Last year at this time, I attended The End 107.7's annual Deck The Hall Ball mega-concert at WaMu Theater with (then-aged) Miss Eight. I wasn't able to shoot it, so she and I teamed up for coverage from the waaay back seats, me with a point n' shoot and M8 with her trusty pen and paper. We had a blast. This year, I was able to photograph the bash (located at Seattle's Key Arena this time) with my proper professhunnul eeekwipmint for one of the sites I work with, The Audio Perv. Miss (now) Nine had to remain at home, but I did buy her some sushi for dinner to compensate.
It was an interesting experience, especially in contrast to the last show I attended, which was Thee Oh Sees at the >500-capacity Crocodile. I'll explain it a bit for those of you who might be curious how this all works. I had never shot at Key before, and since I was not reviewing the show as well this time, I had special rules. The approved photographers like myself who were not shooting for the radio station itself were allowed inside the barrier between the attendees and the stage -- "the pit" -- to photograph each band for the 1st three songs of their sets, using no flash, of course. We were escorted in and out of the pit 10 minutes before each act began, and immediately after the end of the 3rd song to an area used for loading in equipment, where we hung out until called up again to shoot. I never got to meet my Audio Perv colleague Grant Ruby, who wrote the show review, because his pass allowed him on the arena floor but not the photographers waiting area, and my pass didn't allow me on the arena floor! It was all kind of surreal, but I had a delightful time hanging out with my fellow foto friends, some nice Seattle Center employees, and had a great visit with another new friend who works at Key and took the time to find me to sit and chat on the chilly concrete floor!
I love my friends, and I do really love to photograph shows. The Key stage is really wide, high but not too-high, and the lighting was significantly different for each band, seven in all. What was the same was that each group seemed genuinely excited by the young crowd's enthusiasm, smiles, and cheers. So, do go and check out Grant's review on The Audio Perv right HERE! You can see more of my photos by clicking on any of the links below, too.
Mumford & Sons Audio Perv (Flickr set)
Death Cab For Cutie Audio Perv (Flickr set)
Cage the Elephant Audio Perv (Flickr set) (PS. and my favorite band of the night)
Foster The People Audio Perv (Flickr set)
Young The Giant Audio Perv (Flickr set)
Two Door Cinema Club Audio Perv (Flickr set)
Grouplove Audio Perv (Flickr set)
(misc. DTHB 2011 shots Flickr set)
And to top it off? I got ACTUAL PHOTOS OF JESUS HOBNOBBING BACKSTAGE! I RULE! Later, everyone!
© Copyright 2008- Marianne Spellman