blog - Part 45

King Cobb Steelie @ Lee’s Palace April 16,2011

Went down to Lee’s Palace a couple weeks ago to see the 20th Anniversary of the 90’s dance, funk, rock, punk, trippie jam band King Cobb Steelie. Proceeds from the performance went to Ontario Hand & Voices, a organization and advocacy group helping parents with deaf & hearing challenged kids.

Not sure if I should label any specific genre on these guys, which is fine, cause they put on a great show, jamming out tunes from their broad repertoire.

Front man Kevan Byrne didn’t say too much or mention much about the fundraiser, didn’t have to, he just let the music do the talkin’.

A lot of diehard fans of the band came out and attempted to get their favorite songs played, some more successful then others, Kevan just smiled and nodded, happy to be playing with a tight group of musicians. I am sure the two encores kept everyone’s appetite satisfied.

King Cobb Steelie

Photo wise, the lighting was fairly dim, I don’t think anyone was doing lights, just a change here and there, so it was difficult trying to keep things sharp without cranking up the ISO. Which I had to do anyway just to get a exposure setting that I could use. Wide open @ f2.8, 1/60th – 1/125th and ISO at 3200 or 6400 for most of these shots. With the low light, it seemed a few photogs didn’t care about one of the basic etiquette rules for concert photography, No Flash. Okay, there will always be the camera phones and point & shoot pocket camera flashes going off, but using a flash on a DSLR blasting out full power seemed to ruin the mood the band was working at.

Kevan Byrne

Al Okada

Tamara Williamson

check my gallery page for the complete set

Zeus @ a soldout Horseshoe Tavern

I like this band, I like their music, fact is it would appear, so do a lot of other people. There was a good sized crowd at the Horseshoe this Friday night in December. Getting to the front of the stage proved to be rather difficult if not impossible without pissing anybody off. So I watched the show from the back with two friends for a bit, then decided I had to try, at the very least, to get some closer shots.

I managed to squeeze to the side of the stage and had some rather challenging angles to deal with. One looking mostly at the keyboard stand, another one with mic stands obstructing my view and I couldn’t even get a clear shot of the guitar player on the far side of the stage. The stage area isn’t the largest so the musicians where a bit cramped.

I lucked out a bit when the side stage bouncer allowed me past a barrier to get to the VIP and musicians stage entrance area. This wasn’t the greatest view either but I took some shots from here and, not wanting to block anyones else’s view in this location, I called it a night, put the camera away and enjoyed the rest of Zeus’ set.

The one thing I would note to myself and advise others after this, is that when going to club or bar without a photo pit area that you have access to, is to get to the venue early, especially when it’s a popular band, and grab a couple beers, scout out your spot and stay there (and hope you don’t have a weak bladder).

Gallery : Zeus @ The Horseshoe, Toronto Dec 3rd, 2010

shot with my trusty Nikon D90 & Tamron 28-75