Throughout the course of 2015 I’ve been fortunate enough to attend upwards of 100 shows, festivals big and small, and spend approximately half a year living in a city that hosted a mind-boggling amount of quality shows on a nightly basis. To that end, it’s probably unsurprising that I wound up taking over 10,000 photos this year alone. Over the course of the next few days, this site will be running seven volumes of the shots that stood out as personal favorites, whether that was due to their composition, sentimental attachment, or an intangible emotional or intellectual response. It’s been an honor to be able to take even the smallest part in the ongoing sagas of the artists in the photographs below and an additional thanks is due to the venues that allowed me to shoot (as well as the people who encouraged me to keep shooting).
The preceding galleries can be accessed via these links:
Throughout the course of 2015 I’ve been fortunate enough to attend upwards of 100 shows, festivals big and small, and spend approximately half a year living in a city that hosted a mind-boggling amount of quality shows on a nightly basis. To that end, it’s probably unsurprising that I wound up taking over 10,000 photos this year alone. Over the course of the next few days, this site will be running seven volumes of the shots that stood out as personal favorites, whether that was due to their composition, sentimental attachment, or an intangible emotional or intellectual response. It’s been an honor to be able to take even the smallest part in the ongoing sagas of the artists in the photographs below and an additional thanks is due to the venues that allowed me to shoot (as well as the people who encouraged me to keep shooting).
Over the past week, I attended two shows and saw close to ten bands, everything happened in the same venue: The Acheron. June 23 was the first of the two nights/shows, so it’ll be receiving the early focus while a recap of the show on the 25th will be posted in the very near future. The show on the 23rd opened with Hatrabbits (a band featuring former members of The Measure [sa] dutifully filling in the local slot with a very straightforward, no-nonsense take on punk. Former WI resident and DIY mainstay Nato Coles (with his Blue Diamond Band in tow) pulled out all of the usual stops during a characteristically high-energy set. An unexpected highlight came in the middle of “An Honorable Man”- a classic tune by Used Kids (a Brooklyn-based band Coles used to co-front with Big Eyes’ Kaitlyn Eldridge, who was also in attendance)- with Used Kids bassist taking over on the instrument for the song’s remainder, ultimately receiving one of the nights loudest cheers.
Site favorites Benny The Jet Rodriguez played next, with an expanded lineup boasting two familiar faces: Todd Congeliere and A Year’s Worth of Memories contributor (not to mention Swearin’ and Radiator Hospital member/Stupid Bag Records founder) Jeff Bolt. Front to back, the set was nothing but electrifying highlights, including some new songs and a few particularly impassioned takes on some of Home. Run‘s best material. Shellshag followed up with a set full of the kind of off-kilter charisma that made them one of Don Giovanni Records’ most quietly revered bands (especially among the musicians who exist in the label’s circle, several of whom refer to the duo as “mom and dad”). By the time they’d pulled the plugs on their lighting rig and made a precariously balanced tower of drums, the venue had either neared or reached capacity.
Toys That Kill rewarded the crowd with an intense set that more than lived up to the hype surrounding the band’s live show (I’d only heard it discussed in awed whispers or deafening proclamations). The band’s achieved something of a legendary status after cultivating a rabid following via a string of genre classics, their live show, and the success of guitarist/vocalist Todd Congeliere’s vaunted label, Recess Records [EDITOR’S NOTE: this hyperlinked clip contains a scene of praise for Hot New Mexicans, which I can’t recommend strongly enough and still leads the pack for my personal “Album of the Decade” pick]. All of that success has been culminating in fiery, passionate performances in which the crowd reciprocates the band’s staggering amounts of energy and that was certainly the case at The Acheron. One of the only shows I’ve seen this year that ended with a successful (and completely warranted) encore call, Toys That Kill gave the audience exactly what they wanted and more, providing a perfectly raucous endcap to the night.
A video embed of the touring bands on the bill can be seen below and a photo gallery of their sets can be seen here.
Another day’s come and gone, leaving another arsenal of treasures in its wake. Telekinesis teased an upcoming Polyvinyl 4 Track Singles Series 7″ with the vibrant “Can’t See Stars“, Prawn gave the world a glimpse at an EP appendix for last year’s Kingfisher via the stunning “Built For“, and both The Bug and Earth showcased their mastery of sprawling tension on the collaborative “Cold” off of their upcoming Record Store Day 7″. Grooms advanced their psych-damaged and decidedly askew take on pop with the excellent, punk-leaning “Doctor M“. Rounding out the single streams was a fiery Delta Five cover from Audacity and an extraordinarily promising two-song preview of the upcoming split between Joyce Manor and Toys That Kill.
Nano Kino made their enticing self-titled EP (the band’s debut effort) available for streaming (and purchase) over at bandcamp, which was more than enough to cover today’s full streams. Music vidoes had another impressive showing, with solid turn-in’s like Kim Deal’s dryly comedic “Biker Gone“, the unbridled ferocity of Robot Death Kites‘ “Sleep Deprived“, L.A. Witch’s quietly hypnotic “Heart of Darkness“, and “Madora“- yet another ingenious clip from Beverly (the band continues to do absolutely wonderful things with the visual medium). Even with all of those managing to become easy standouts, it was the relentlessly devastating video for Iceage‘s “Against The Moon” (a song that this site already emphatically praised) that hit with the hardest impact.
Directed by the formidable team of Marten Masai Andersen and Kim Thue and starring the inimitable Dan van Husen (best known for his work in Werner Herzog’s Nosferatu The Vampyre and Federico Fellini’s Casanova), “Against The Moon” is shot in striking black-and white and accentuates the song’s inherent sadness. Missa Blue and Louis Backhouse round out the cast in deeply tragic turns that allow them to bare their characters scars. Implicit violence permeates nearly every frame of “Against The Moon”- much of it lensed in a style that comes off as a hybrid between classic noir, western, and horror- with van Husen’s nameless character incessantly leering at the prostitutes played by Blue and Backhouse; his face often a sick portrait of twisted satisfaction.
In the press copy, it states that the video’s intended to double the dichotomy between affirmation and repentance that’s present in Elias Bender Rønnenfelt lyric set. While aspects of that do come through (with a vengeance), it’s the ambiguity that winds up taking centerstage; nearly all of “Against The Moon” is composed of effortlessly arresting one-shots, refusing to let its characters intertwine on an explicit or definitive level. Every moment of staging is rooted more in suggestion than cause or consequence, forcing the viewer to face an array of uncomfortable questions and grapple with things as essential as empathy. It’s a revolving door of character study, presenting each subject with equal care, unafraid to focus in on what appear to be their lowest moments. It’s a psychological nightmare. It’s a brutally meticulous examination of standards. It’s a an unfailingly harsh reminder of life’s darkest corners. It’s beyond important; it’s necessary- and, most of all, it’s a masterpiece.
Watch “Against The Moon” below and order Plowing Into The Field Of Love here.
Heartbreaking Bravery 