St. Vincent At The Orpheum 3/18/2014

I went to see St. Vincent at The Orpheum on Tuesday. I took my point and shoot Ricoh GR figuring I would be able to pass it off as cell phone camera and not get yelled at. Guess what, I totally got yelled at. BUT I was able to get a few descent shots for a point and shoot. Sitting in the second row does have it advantages.

Deerhunter At The Crescent Ballroom 8/23/2013

Missing out on last nights Deerhunter show at Crescent Ballroom would have been a huge mistake. BUT if you made that mistake I have you covered with way to many pictures. If you DID see the show and want to relive it then I also have you covered. You are welcome either way... good day!

Speedy Ortiz & Webs @ Last Exit Live 7-30-2013

If you guys have not been to Last Exit Live since they re-opened earlier this year (or like me ever) then you are missing out. Great lighting, sound and bands! What more could a guy or gal ask for in a venue? As promised in a tweet earlier today... THE RETURN OF LIVE MUSIC PHOTOGRAPHY! You see I finally got out of that abandoned well I have been in since spring. So expect more concert photos from yours truly and possibly others in the weeks and months to come! Oh and the show last night was great! Gotta run... please out!

Matt and Kim @ Marquee Theatre 3/9/2013

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When you go to see a Matt and Kim show you better know what you are getting into, because if you don't you might accidentally get smashed in the face with having the great time you were next expecting to get into. The odds are that if you are headed to a concert you probably are supporters of the bands you are paying to see. But if by the off chance you were hijacked and taken against your will you have the best kidnappers ever.

The last time I had the fortune of covering Matt and Kim I had to leave after the first three songs, even though I could tell during those three songs they were great I knew I was missing out on something even better. This time around I was able to stay to completion and I was right... pretty amazing. Check out the photographs that attempt to convey how bad ass it was.

Miguel @ Celebrity Theatre 2/22/2013

It has been a long long long time since I have posted actual pictures taken with a camera I held with my own hands at an actual concert, but that time has come again for such an event. It is none less than Grammy Award winning Miguel, he is great, the show was great, everything was just great. Have a nice Oscar night. Please out!

Foo Fighters @ US Airways Center 10/16/2011

The Foo Fighters might not be the typical type band you might expect here on this online webzine but we here at ye old 'Stache are "ye old" ourselves (especially me) , so our musical interests have roots that run deep ( so deep they will put your ass to sleep). One of those roots is the Foo Fighters, who are awesome and I love them. Amazingly I was able to shoot their show at US Airways last night and even got a ticket to stay and watch the show! It was a spectacle to behold for sure, there were all sorts of spinning lights, stages appearing out of nowhere and probably like 8 to 10 fog machines! It was crazy town! Seriously... they played for like 3 hours or so. That is a crazy long time to play for ANY band, let alone one full of old dudes... even ones that were in Nirvana. All in all it's nice to know that there are still kick ass rock n' roll bands that can pack basketball arenas that are not total pieces of crap. That makes me warm and fuzzy inside.



Bridge Burning Rope The Pretender My Hero Learn to Fly White Limo Arlandria Breakout Cold Day in the Sun Stacked Actors Walk Monkey Wrench Let It Die These Days This is a Call In the Flesh? (Pink Floyd cover) All My Life Encore: Wheels (Dave Grohl acoustic solo) Best of You (Dave Grohl acoustic solo) Times Like These Dear Rosemary Breakdown (Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers cover) Everlong

Unknown Mortal Orchestra @ Crescent Ballroom 10/4/2011

I wrote this whole giant review about how wonderful the Crescent Ballroom is and how it is everything we have ALL been dreaming about for years, then I swiped two fingers instead of three on my macbook and lost the whole thing... So just take my word for it that everything was great and look at these mutha effing pictures!
I should have the photos of What Laura Says done later on... so stay tuned for those!

Death Cab for Cutie & Frightened Rabbit @ Comerica Theatre 8/15/2011

I was pleased as punch back when this show was announced to see that Death Cab "hand picked" Frightened Rabbit to open for them on this tour. I really like them and the songs that they sing but I totally missed them when they played at the Clubhouse a while back. I really hate the Clubhouse and I am pretty sure that Frightened Rabbit do to. Scott Hutchison made a special point the call out the Clubhouse as the venue for one of their previous really shitty shows in Phoenix. Guess I didn't miss much. Again, I was very pleased, this time by the live performance of several of their songs. They played them with skill and aplomb and I appreciate when a band really puts in that extra "E" for effort, especially when they are the "opening" band. Can't wait to see them again next time around.

Ben Gibbard made it known how pleased he was with their choice to play an indoor venue this time around. Last time they played here it was as Mesa Amp, a fine venue on most accounts aside from the fact that it's outside and it's August. So I wholeheartedly agree and metaphorically join Death Cab on their literally self administered pats on the back. Death Cab put on a pretty spectacular show as far as spectacular shows go. I have been to several rock concerts at Comerica (formerly Dodge) Theatre over the years and this one ranks 3rd, right behind Gorillaz and Arcade Fire, not to shabby right? I DID make a poor decision when I chose GA standing room only seats rather than an actual seat. Camera bags are heavy and they played a really really long time. Two hours is a long show right? It was a great show but I wish I had a stool or something after about 20 minutes.

The cool thing about DCFC is that they play all their good stuff. They only played 4 songs off their new album out of 23 songs. That is really nice of them to be so considerate of people that may not have listened to their new album over and over and over again the day of the show to make sure they were familiar with their new album. I don't know who wouldn't have done that to prepare but I guess some people just don't want to give 110% to the concert they are attending, it's sad. Check out this slide show I made from scratch out of freshly picked photos from my photo garden.

 


Setlist

I Will Possess Your Heart
Crooked Teeth
We Laugh Indoors
A Movie Script Ending
Doors Unlocked and Open
Long Division
Grapevine Fires
Codes and Keys
What Sarah Said
I Will Follow You into the Dark
Title and Registration
You Are a Tourist
The New Year
Company Calls
Company Calls Epilogue
Soul Meets Body
Stay Young, Go Dancing
Cath...
We Looked Like Giants
The Sound of Settling

Encore:
Photobooth
Styrofoam Plates
Transatlanticism

Photos: Black Lips & Cerebral Ballzy @ The Rhythm Room 6/22/2011

So again... I must reiterate that last nights show was very wild. So wild in fact that I had a very hard time taking pictures of moving people in the dark whilst getting shoved from behind. But I got a couple keepers.

I will be posting a couple more videos perhaps later on tonight or tomorrow. Keep an eye out!

Photos: White Denim & St. Ranger @ The Sail Inn

Sorry it took so long to post these. If anybody ever said taking pictures at The Sail Inn was easy, that person is a jerk. Because they are either lying or better than me. And I can't stand either one of those things.

The actual show aside from my selfish and unique lighting problems was pretty gosh darn wonderful. St Ranger is going to be big. I have a feeling about this. White Denim played to the smallish crowd like it was 100,000 people at Shea stadium. They are like machines.

Photos: Railroad Revival Tour Tempe 4/24/2011

If there is definitely a place to take your kids on a Saturday evening it's a gravel parking lot filled with drunk people. Another good idea is to leave them several times alone to go take pictures. Just kidding, that is a terrible couple of things to do with your children. Unless it's to see Mumford & Sons, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros and Old Crow Medicine Show that is.

But truth be told the show was great, the gravel parking lot... not so great. But how many places in Phoenix/Tempe are next to a railroad track? Not very many, and probably ZERO of those places happen to be a nice grassy field. So I am happy they even stopped here at all considering the limitations.

I did take my kids and despite the fact that they couldn't see ANY of the show since they are children and short they both said they had a really great time. Probably because I kept leaving them alone so they could pretend like they were there alone and super cool. As a side note, I am going to invent stilts for children to use at concerts. I can't think of any reason to worry about any accidents or injuries that might happen, so I 100% expect to make millions and never be sued.

I took a crap load of pictures... way to many in fact. So again I am going with the easy way out of just posting a slide show. If you want to check them out in a less "slideshowy" format, check out our Flickr page HERE.

Photos: The Black Keys @ Mesa Amphitheater 4/14/11

Oh man I just love The Black Keys... and I sorta love that there were a shit ton of people at the show. I don't even care about what I call "the edge factor". You know, when a group of 2 to 3 couples will go to a show as a fun "date night" because they like the one song they heard on X103 (formally The Edge).

Sure they are there to have a good time, but they really don't care about the music, except for the couple of songs that they have heard on the radio. So they spend most of the concert taking pictures of each other and getting fucking up on Bud Light. It's cool and all, but wouldn't they have had a better time at some Scottsdale club listening to the few songs they "sorta like" from a selection of several bands that they "sorta like"?

I am just trying to say that it's super weird to spend all that time and money on going to a show then spend the whole time taking pictures of each other. It should be spent taking pictures of the band... that is what I do. For only for the first 3 songs, then I watch the show and get super annoyed by the people in front of me taking pictures of themselves.

Check out some photos after the break and even more on our Flickr page HERE

These photos were originally published on AZCentral 4/15/2011

Photos: Arcade Fire @ Comerica Theatre 4/13/11

Well, last nights Arcade Fire show was pretty amazing. I really can't think if anything that compares to the overall spectacularity of the whole thing. I have been to a couple of concerts in my lifetime and have seen some stuff. And last nights stuff was in my top 5 of all time as far as being great goes.

I took a series of photographs with my camera from very very close. So close in fact that Win Butler's mic stand fell on my head at one point, and then to show his true dominance he straddled my head as I sat between the stage and crowd barrier.

So check out the slide show and let me know what you think... were you there? Did you love it too? These are important questions that I need answers to...

Photos: Akron/Family & Delicate Steve @ The Rhythm Room 4/4/2011

Pretty amazing show. Hope you enjoy the slide show ya'll!

South By Stateside... Some Photos

If you made it out to The Sail Inn last night you were treated to a very full house and for the first half I stuck around for... a very good show. I probably shouldn't have gone in the first place because I was feeling like crap. But I went and made it till the end of Cloud Nothings then had to bail.
Oh and some pretty cool news, ElectricMustache was selected as today's "Blog of Note" from the Blogger staff. Thank you Blogger staff... you are super rad!
I did manage to get a few shots up until I left. So check them out after the break...

Photos: Tennis @ The Rhythm Room 2/8/11

Wowza! Tennis is really good, and I mean like really good as in excellent. If you like/love their album then you had no choice but to like/love the show the put on last night. It sounded almost exactly like the record but with a little more live panache'. And also... Tennis > Best Coast, so there.

I am totally out of practice shooting in the dark cave that is The Rhythm Room but I will be going out to more shows and posting more photos, I promise.

2010 Concert Pics

I went to a lot of live musical performances and for about 98% of them I was there taking pictures. Some of them were published/posted in The New Times, some of them were published/posted on AZ Central, most were posted here on Electric Mustache and some are from your moms room. But what they all have in common is that they were taken with a camera and your mom. Your mom was with me at all times. Like Jesus and that footprint in the sand story, she was giving me a piggy back ride always.

Sit back, relax and take a trip down 2010's memory lane...

Gorillaz @ Comerica Theatre 10/26/2010

Gorillaz last night was pretty amazing. I have been off and on the Gorillaz train a lot over the last 10 years. But it's just because they make an awesome song, I love it, and then it get's WAY WAY to popular and I get sick of it. But last night at Comerica Theatre I fell back in love with them all over again. They played EVERYTHING, they brought EVERYONE with them. It was a huge spectacle, it was probably in the top 5 best shows I have ever seen. I took pictures. Here they are.

Photos Of Dungen & No Joy @ The Rhythm Room 9/22/2010

If you missed Dungen and No Joy the other night at The Rhythm Room I have pictures for you. It could not have been any darker in that fucking place. ALSO when I uploaded these pictures to Flickr the look all weird. So I am going to have to redo the upload. Obviously something happened that wasn't my fault, because I am excellent and don't make mistakes and everything I do it perfect.

Photos: The Budos Band @ The Sail Inn 8/17/2010

I wasn't able to make it to The Sail Inn last night for The Budos Band, but our newest contributor Paul Golfen did go. He wasn't there to write a review but he did say this... "It was insanely packed in the sail inn because we were all crammed in from out side, but the crowed had a lot of energy and the band sounded fantastic!" I am assuming that last nights rain was the reason everybody had to move inside. I bet it was so hot and humid in there! I would have been sweating like a "fat dude inside The Sail Inn on a hot humid night".

Check out Paul's photos after the break Y'all!