10.24.10 - 1349 at the El Rey Theatre

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!!

8.27.10 - Boris at the El Rey

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!

In the studio with Intronaut

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!)

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!