Adam Murray Photo Blog

Plague Tour Photos: Day Five - Plan B, Portland OR

2012-01-06T11:27:00.000-08:00

Archons

Lightning Swords Of Death

Saviours

Midnight

Plage Tour Photos: Day Four - Jambalaya, Arcata CA

2012-01-04T14:47:00.000-08:00

Archons

Lightning Swords Of Death

Tour promoter Martin Depedro.

Midnight

Saviours

Northern Intruder mere seconds before being carted off for public urination.

This tour happened back in April 2011. Photos from Day One are here, Day Two are here, and Day Three are here.

11.7.11 - Harassor, Hull, Bell Witch, AD at Mountain Bar

2011-11-16T09:49:00.001-08:00

I am not much of a shutter dragger. I like the way the east coasters do it (<3Fred, Marble<3). On this night, however, it was mandatory as I had experienced flash transmitter failure early on (during AD) and Mountain Bar is always really dark, like one shitty amber bulb in the corner of the room. Anyway, there was another photographer there (in one of the pictures) with a good-size flash during Hull and Harassor, so I got in there and stole some of it! Most of those are 3 to 4 second exposures. Kinda weird to think that me and the other photographer have the exact same shots from different angles! I should've said hi. Thanks, other photographer :D

Bell Witch

Hull

Harassor

10.2.11 - Weedeater, Saviours at the Key Club

2011-10-10T16:08:00.000-07:00

Fun show on this night. First picture is of what a bystander told me was a fatal motorcycle accident outside the Viper Room. Metal Wee Gee strikes again.

Saviours

Weedeater

Magrudergrind in a living room in East L.A. - 9.24.11

2011-10-05T16:04:00.000-07:00

As you all already know, Discord Fest was shut down by the police, and that night they moved a few of the bands to someone's house in East L.A. One of the bands was Magrudergrind. The first picture is one of Fermentor from Ghoul eating a long lost burrito in the van, using a cellular phone light to make sure the maggots were still there.

9.10.11 - Toxic Holocaust, Holy Grail, Krum Bums at Black Caste

2011-09-21T01:03:00.000-07:00

This was the last stop of these three bands' tour. I barely got a shot of Krum Bums as they were just finishing when I got there. Missed Bastard entirely, but they will be in a post very soon. The Black Castle in Inglewood is a dark and brutal place. The only light on the stage just covered a small portion in front (although Joelocaust put an extra one behind him). Crowd was super rowdy, big pit. All in all a great time!

Krum Bums

Holy Grail

Toxic Holocaust

9.18.11 - Gravehill, Lightning Swords Of Death, Destroyed In Seconds at Three Clubs

2011-09-19T23:19:00.000-07:00

Got a little batch here to get myself back in the game! Gonna play some catch up with the ol' blog-O-sphere! More posts coming soon...

This was a nice evening. It was packed, and all the bands slayed. I missed Dystrophic, but they will be in another post very soon...

Destroyed In Seconds

Lightning Swords Of Death

then there was this kid Goth Vader, who resembled Elijah Wood if he had been cast in a Twilight movie, doing painfully awkward, poorly delivered, self-hating, racist, homophobic/sexual comedy emceeing between sets... here he is, eating a lump of heckled shit from the audience. Ouch!

Gravehill

7.18.11 - Warcry, Kromosom at The BLVD

2011-08-03T13:57:00.000-07:00

Fun show. Dirty, sweaty, bloody and beery. That's a fitting description for my lens on this night. Recommended reading: Cormac's tour diary on Zero Tolerance.

Kromosom

Warcry

7.1.11 - Earthless at The Dark Horse

2011-07-05T14:11:00.000-07:00

Earthless

Plague Tour Photos: Day Three - Elbo Room, San Fanciso CA

2011-06-17T17:24:00.000-07:00

Archons

Lightning Swords Of Death

Saviours

Midnight

Gratuitous shutter drag!

Bass smash!!

6.5.11 - Graf Orlock, KEN mode, Deafheaven at The BLVD

2011-06-09T13:54:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to get this up real quick and then I'll get back to the tour photos. Nice Sunday evening at The BLVD in Boyle Heights.

Deafheaven

KEN mode

Graf Orlock

Still haven't got the shots i want form a Graf Orlock show. I shall try again...

Plague Tour Photos: Day Two - Eli's Mile High Club, Oakland CA

2011-06-07T03:25:00.001-07:00

Much of Day Two was spent trying to leave Los Angeles. And then much driving. We arrived at Eli's just in time for Midnight to go on, missing the other three bands. These pictures are a lil messy, but so was the crowd! Going from a crisp 50ish degrees outside to a steamy 70 plus inside put my lens on continuous auto-fog. 'Twas truly a metal sauna in there. Bear with the Road Photos, they are necessary.

Midnight

Dan Hague from Kill That Cat was there filmin'!

Had the good fortune of staying at a lovely and generous couple's awesome wooden house up in the Oakland hills. Shoulda taken more pics of it...

7 Days of Plague Tour Photos: Day One - The Roxy, Los Angeles

2011-06-01T13:45:00.000-07:00

Technically, this was Day Two of the tour, but since I didn't go to San Diego the day before, I'm calling it Day One. The bands on this tour were: Archons (didn't play L.A.), Lightning Swords of Death, Saviours, and Midnight. I think this tour was special for several reasons. It was tastily and tastefully curated as each band is excellent for very different reasons. Archons have the rad off-timed space sludge, LSOD gives us blasty black festering nastiness, Saviours serves weed n' whisky shredduce sandwiches, and just Midnight, period! Plenty more to come, keep your eyes peeled.

Lightning Swords of Death

Saviours

Midnight

Bonus Section:
Later that evening, Midnight made a brief (keyword "brief") appearance at The BLVD, playing a two-song, two minute set right before Nocturnal. They whipped the Boyle Heightsters into a froth and were done before the kids even realized what had happened.

4.23.11 - Black Math Horseman, LANTVRN, Nero Order at Three Clubs

2011-04-27T11:34:00.000-07:00

Nero Order

LANTVRN

Black Math Horseman

4.19.11 - ÆGES at Vacation Vinyl

2011-04-20T12:45:00.000-07:00

3.22.11 - Rabbits, Vaz at Three Clubs

2011-03-29T14:51:00.000-07:00

Some good info on these bands HERE.
Hepa/Titus and Harassor (my local favorite) also played this night but I missed 'em. Lame!

Vaz

Rabbits

3.19.11 - Lightning Swords Of Death, Ritual Combat, Conjuror at Three Clubs

2011-03-22T14:05:00.000-07:00

Conjuror

Ritual Combat

Lightning Swords Of Death

Series: O-PIT-UARY

2011-03-09T13:25:00.000-08:00

The "Biggest Circle Pit I've Seen In A While" Award goes to Obituary for their performance at Scion Rock Fest. It consumed the majority of the floor at the Fox Theatre. See all other photos at Brooklyn Vegan.

too lazy to stamp 'em... all images copyright Adam Murray 2011

3.5.11 - Scion Rock Fest in Pomona

2011-03-07T12:38:00.000-08:00

Shot the Scion Rock Fest for Brooklyn Vegan. Genie Sanchez was there, too. See the full set HERE!

In the meantime, here's a picture of Agalloch:

3.4.11 - The Funeral Pyre, Deafheaven at Vacation Vinyl

2011-03-05T13:02:00.000-08:00

Deafheaven

The Funeral Pyre

Four Pictures from a Walk

2011-03-03T03:20:00.000-08:00

1.14.11 - Melvins Night Two at Spaceland

2011-01-26T21:14:00.000-08:00

There was a lot going on for this show: Melvins 1983 opened, with Crover on bass and Mike Dillard on drums, which was cool. See setlist picture for setlist. Also, it was Mastodon Brent's birthday, so he hopped on stage a little later for a few minutes to mess around. After ba-DOOSHing through Houdini, Melvins closed with a very un-ironic Star Spangled Banner.
I shot around a little this time, as you will see. Didn't want to be too repetitive, what with the same band playing twice in a row.

1.7.11 - Melvins Night One at Spaceland

2011-01-13T15:12:00.000-08:00

Amazing show. I highly recommend anyone to try and find their way into any of the remaining shows of this residency, it's pretty special stuff!
Thanks to Scott at City of Devils for helping out!!

10.22.10 - Holy Grail("Surprise Headliner!"), Bastard, Mawdryn at Three Clubs

2010-12-09T02:58:00.000-08:00

These are about a month late. Holy Grail shot a video on this particular night. Psyched to see them with Blind Guardian tonite!

Mawdryn

Bastard

Holy Grail

11.27.10 - Murder Construct Record Release Party w/ Upsilon Acrux, others

2010-11-30T01:55:00.000-08:00

Upsilon Acrux

Murder Construct

other MC pics here

10.24.10 - 1349 at the El Rey Theatre

2010-11-26T16:24:00.000-08:00

Was very sad to have missed Triptykon this night, which is the main reason I went. It's okay though - I blame myself for taking the bus to the El Rey, which ended up taking over an hour. In the rain. I also blame I'm-not-sure-who for running the show unusually early and switching the headliners(???). No biggie - that's all in the past now. There will be a next time.
Anyway, hope you guys like these. Had kind of a tough time finding a shot of Frost (black metal heavyweight/the main reason 1349 is great/inhuman blast machine) as he was encrusted in an extra-large fortress of drums and cymbals. And I know we all think the robed bass guy is kind of silly, but I'll be darned if he isn't photogenic!!

9.25.10 - Lightning Swords Of Death, Atriarch at Three Clubs

2010-11-04T14:48:00.000-07:00

This show was over a month ago. I've been sitting on a LOT of pictures for no reason whatsoever. I'm going to attempt to catch up all this week, so keep checking in!

note: Atriarch is not a one man band. The other members were shrouded in darkness during the entire set. I'll get 'em next time.

Atriarch

Lightning Swords Of Death

10.29.10 - Big Business, Night Horse at Spaceland

2010-11-03T03:17:00.000-07:00

Saw two out of eight bands at the two-night Tee Pee Records All Hallow's Eve at Spaceland. Those two bands were Night Horse and headliners Big Business. Barely missed The Fucking Wrath (excellent band). If you want to see what I think The Fucking Wrath looks like, go here and/or here.

Night Horse

Big Business

A picture of the El Rey theatre

2010-10-20T03:16:00.000-07:00

9.28.10 - Torche in-store at Vacation Vinyl

2010-10-02T23:50:00.000-07:00

A small handful of pics of Torche performing at Vacation Vinyl in Silverlake. Although Torche did indeed pack the place, the line you see is for metal burger TV shredders Grill Em All, who posted up out front for some beef slingin'.

9.11.10 - Magrudergrind, Trash Talk, Nails at the Roxy

2010-09-30T03:57:00.000-07:00

Everyone has different ways of coping with the anniversary of our nation's greatest disaster. Several hundred kids chose to spend theirs at the Roxy for a free grindcore matinee. Nails had no problem getting the kids all fired up and once Trash Talk went on, it quickly turned into a big messy stagediving convention.

Trash Talk

In case you're wondering, this guy did indeed make full facial contact with the PA speaker! Not kidding...

9.17.10 - Venomous Concept, Kill The Client, Murder Construct at Viper Room

2010-09-24T12:36:00.000-07:00

Was at the Diaper Room (credit: Martin) for a grindcore all-star fiasco. Attendance was low, brutality high. Murder Construct (members of Cattle Decapitation, Exhumed, Intronaut, etc. etc.) was amazing and they will be HUGE in about five minutes, I promise you. Kill The Client shredded ass, Venomous Concept was a rollicking good time. Check their setlist - 30 songs!!?! Crapola.

Murder Construct

Kill The Client

Venomous Concept

9.4.10 - Saviours, Huntress, Glitter Wizard at Mountain Bar

2010-09-24T12:02:00.000-07:00

Just down the street from the dirty, beerless FYF fest was a frothy show at Mountain Bar, a metal hub in Chinatown. It was dirty in a good way and the beer was plentiful. Huntress and Glitter Wizard set 'em up and Saviours brought total obliteration!

Glitter Wizard

Huntress

Saviours

8.27.10 - Boris at the El Rey

2010-09-02T03:18:00.001-07:00

Was bummed to hear Red Sparowes finishing up just as I was entering the building. Can't catch 'em all, I guess. Anyway, got a lil weird with these ones, hope you like!

8.13.10 - OVRCAST 5th Anniversary at The BLVD

2010-08-26T20:21:00.000-07:00

Below you will find a jumbled stack of pictures from the Ovrcast 5th Anniversary party at The BLVD in Boyle Heights. Name that band!

7.31.10 - Early Man, Valdur, Huntress at Three Clubs

2010-08-13T16:44:00.001-07:00

Still recovering from Power of the Riff last weekend. My pictures from that should be up on Brooklyn Vegan soon. Until then, here are a few pics from Three Clubs two weekends ago. Tonite is the OVRCAST Five Year Anniversary. I'm scared.

Huntress

Valdur

Early Man

7.16.10 - Ishityounaut (aka Intronaut) and Monstr0 at Three Clubs in Hollywood

2010-07-27T21:51:00.000-07:00

Monstr0

Ishityounaut

A picture of Spaceland in Silverlake, CA

2010-07-27T03:04:00.000-07:00

7.3.10 - Huntress, Archons, The Fucking Wrath at Mountain Bar

2010-07-12T20:08:00.000-07:00

The Fucking Wrath

Archons

Huntress

Saw Huntress outside loading into their beautiful black van, took a picture:

I haven't done the van justice. I shall attempt to do so by getting some better pics of it in the future...

In the studio with Intronaut

2010-07-02T14:51:00.000-07:00

Was lucky enough to be invited to tag along with videographer Dan Hague (killthatcat.com) to sit in on a recording session with heavy proggish rippers Intronaut (blog here) for their upcoming album Valley of Smoke. It was fun! Really nice guys. Took a few pics, not super exciting, but cool nonetheless! Thanks guys! Intronaut has a show coming up at the El Rey, which I hope/plan to be shootin'. If you're planning on going, get tickets from Church of the 8th day, not Ticketmaster.

5.18.10 - Converge, Gaza, Coalesce at El Rey (bonus pic - Black Breath at Spaceland!)

2010-06-27T20:57:00.000-07:00

A few technical setbacks have kept me out of the Photoshop for a lil while. Still been shooting, but no processing, and the memory cards are really piling up! Got a temp lab set up though, so I'm gettin' back in there.
This batch was shot a little over a month ago. Hit two venues on this night. Converge is incredible live. To say it's high energy would be a vast understatement. Jacob Bannon spends most of his time on the crowd. Drummer Ben Koller is a technical blast machine, seems to really enjoy himself as he laughs, winks and nods his way through the set while his arms are a total blur. Check City of Devils for a better description.
I missed openers Black Breath at the El Rey, but lucky for me I was able to jam it over to Silverlake right after Converge finished to catch their midnight set. Contrary to their usual aperture burners, Spaceland's lights were almost non-existent, and I only got one shot that I was happy with. It's okay though, they're playing again soon.
I'm gonna be playing a lot of catch-up, so check back often as there's lots more metal photos on the way!

Gaza

Coalesce

Converge

Black Breath secret midnight set at Spaceland!

5.8.10 - Lightning Swords of Death, Huntress, MOAB at Three of Clubs

2010-05-25T12:52:00.000-07:00

MOAB

Huntress

Lightning Swords of Death

4.24.10 - High On Fire, Priestess, Black Cobra at El Rey Theatre

2010-04-30T02:00:00.000-07:00

Black Cobra

Priestess

High On Fire

4.20.10 - Earth at the Echoplex

2010-04-22T16:27:00.000-07:00

Was pretty bummed to miss Wolves In the Throne Room. Showed up just in time for the outro. I blame the Lakers. Earth, however, was great:

4.10.10 - Slough Feg at Spaceland w/ Bible of the Devil and Professor

2010-04-16T21:34:00.000-07:00

Professor

Bible of the Devil

Slough Feg

There will most likely be some bonus Slough Feg pictures to pop up soon...

Grill Em All Truck - Metal Burgers!

2010-04-12T18:30:00.000-07:00

Finally caught up with the Grill Em All burger truck. It was a dark and brootal night in Echo Park. Reign was bleeding from the skye. El Prado was packed full of shaggy tools (not you, Ross). It was Hamburger Time...

I went with the Samoa Joe (onions, pineapple, BBQ sauce). Fries with chipotle ketchup (smokey & spicy). Mine was the last order of the nite. Shot the shit for a few minutes with the burger wizards - main topics were drinking, skateboarding, and getting old. The boys were sharp enough to point out my Skeletonwitch shirt even tho there was only about a square inch of art showing. Good eye. Went into El Prado and elbowed some room next to my lady at the end of the bar. I shouldve taken a nice foodie shot of the burger, but i ate it instead, because I'm not a foodie. I am, however, a bitter crusty Restaurant Veteran as well as an Enthusiastic Burger Lover. So here's my lil review:
Patty - thick n juicy (ran down my arm a bit and made a mess, which is good), cooked to a nice medium rare-to-medium, which is the way everyone wants it but no one should ever order it. Bun (integral part of a Good Burger) - firm and spongy; not too much bun, not too little. Grilled pineapple (thick), grilled onions (thick), BBQ sauce, cheese. Awesome. A sweet and savory sensation. Fries were nice n crispy, just how i like em. Pair it up with a cold crisp Spaten Pils and i am a happy bastard. Heres a picture of the gracious staff. Pretty sure this truck already pulls a line down the street, but it's only gonna get longer, so get in there...

Note - Above is the largest group of words you will ever see on this blog.

4.3.10 - Black Math Horseman and Lesbian at Mountain Bar

2010-04-07T23:20:00.000-07:00

Black Math Horseman

Lesbian

I prefer not to use digital watermarks. all images copyright adamlmurray 2010. do not use without consent