The Devil’s Rain
It was with great excitement and anticipation that I got the call up to shoot The Misfits. Whoa dude! The Misfits! The band hasn’t toured these shores for the better part of 5 years and they were always a band whose name I had hastily scribbled onto a natty piece of paper and ceremoniously dumped into the old bucket list of bands I’d love to shoot!
With or without the mighty Evil Elvis Glenn Danzig, the Misfits still are a classic legendary punk band and I for one, was super excited about the opportunity to be in their photo-pit tonight.
Around the corner from the Hifi Bar I noticed one of the regular local roadies I see at nearly every gig escorting a couple of young-looking dolled up goth/punk girls to the alley behind the venue. It was as if he was leading two victims to the sacrificial pyre of lead Misfit Jerry Only and I overheard him saying to them “Oh Jerry is one of the nicest guys in the biz…” Like lambs to the fucking slaughter!
So I found myself at the venue about 30 minutes before the band were to hit the stage and proceeded to spend a nervous five minutes or so as the door gal couldn’t find my name on the guest-list. Great! Just my luck I thought to myself. It’s gonna pan out to be one of those nights, the tingle in my bones said so from the outset! Fuck it! I wasn’t gonna let negative energy get the better of me. I was here to shoot the Misfits and just that thought soon brought a smile to my face.
The photo-pit was packed to the brim with a bunch of shooters I hadn’t rubbed shoulders with before. A couple of familiar faces who I did have a brief chinwag with, were in attendance and we patiently waited for the show to kick into gear.
The three song limit we had to shoot in came and went in the blink of an eye but mercifully, we were allowed to stick around for one more song. Those first few songs felt like only five minutes had gone by! That’s usually the case with Punk bands. I mean, the Ramones could probably do an entire album in about 10 minutes or so!
The band sounded amazing stomping through some classic Misfits tunes but the majority of the first three songs were incredibly dimly lit and I could hear the frustration and groans from my fellow photogs above the music.
The band kicked things off with a couple of new tunes from the latest album and man, they sounded so much better live. ‘The Devil’s Rain’ grooved along at such bombastic pace even if it was barely lit. You could hardly see the band at all such was the ‘moody’ lighting and it was half-way through the song before you could even attempt to take any photos. Quickly followed by ‘Vivid Red’ – the stage turned a sickly red as every gell in the place was red and red alone. I let out a frustrating *sigh* as I quickly realised there were gonna be a ton of black & white post-processing later on.
It was a tough, tough shoot and of course, as if on cue, the minute we were escorted out of the pit… on came the lights. I looked down onto the stage after I had climbed the stairs to the first level and there before me, the stage was lit and looking fantastic. I felt like punching the wall. Why the fuck can’t it be like this when we’re all down in the front, there to take photos?
A frustrating night. An awesome band. But a photo opportunity wasted.
nomadiqueMC December 4, 2011
nice work John, you still got some decent shots despite the lighting. it is a shame because these blokes are still consummate showmen and should be one of the most photogenic bands getting around.