The Raconteurs

Grand Canyon

Mission, San Francisco

and ended it shooting Radiohead. Not bad.

I had to take a drive on Saturday to negate the hipster extravaganza. I love California.

On a side note what the fuck is wrong with hipsters? They could be the least considerate of life form I have ever interacted with, they should be classified lower than parasites. They push to get through crowds and they but ahead in line because they’re on the guest list…wow you’re special. A hipster on a guest list! You just don’t see them on a Friday night in this country, douchebags in sportcoats! Brilliant! There’s one thing I hate more than hipsters and its knuckleheads that use flash in concert photography. I’m not naming names but all of you really need to work on your skills or lack thereof. People in the Bay must be stoned at all times because they’ve been accepting an extreme level of mediocrity with these photogs, watch and learn chumps because I’m taking your jobs.

This is Mark, if he’s on the mic he’s known as Yung Mars. He’s pretty much the coolest person I have met since I moved here. We took this shot at a Whole Foods in the city.

I started going through my x-country shots and doing some different things with them as opposed to the previous B+W straightforward look I had before. I’ll post a few more but I’m weary to to post alot since it will ruin the surprise of my upcoming books and shows. Back to the darkroom tomorrow until I leave for Maryland.

I saw the Burning Brides on Tuesday and I’m still recovering. This was likely one of their last shows for a while since Mel and Dimitri are having a baby. I’ve always been drawn to their sound since they sonically occupy more space than some four or five piece bands. They play no frills straight up rock and roll. In a day where bands rely on gimmicks for their brand, the Brides are a fresh breath of green air. They just released another album, Anehdonia which is on the heels of Hang Love, last summers release. Being that they’ve toured non stop for 5 years I think they’re due for a break.

Darren the Demolisher, originally uploaded by ajaymalghan.

I shot the Download Festival at Shoreline Ampitheatre for PopWreckoning this past Saturday. Thanks for the credentials Jessica; this was by far the greatest musical experience I have ever had, playing or shooting. The stage was a revolving setup so there was only 5 minutes downtime between bands. 27 total bands played and I shot 14 of them. Mute Math was the band that stood out on the bill to me since I’ve wanted to see them for a while. The drummer Darren King blasted through his kick drum head on the first song, I’ve never seen anyone break a kick head, let alone on the first song. Anyone know of any singers that do headstands on a Fender Rhodes? Imagine the band kicking into Chaos as the rotated to face the crowd, yeah it was that good. Adding to the experience I could only shoot one song since my friend Austin’s band, Albert Cross was playing on the second stage…more on them later The set was somewhat surreal because one second I was standing next to the drummer as he gave his drum head to a kid in the audience and the next I was running to the second stage. It was the first time I had run since my hip replacement, not bad for 6 months huh? I can’t describe how good it feels to be able to shoot 14 bands and not be in pain, Thank You Dr. Mont., you’re a genius.