Boris with support from Tera Melos and Master Musicians of Bukkake – Biltmore Cabaret, Vancouver – 11th October 2011

siamak — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 07:02:50 +0000

Japanese experimental 3 piece (or 4 piece when playing live) band Boris filled out the Biltmore for a fantastic show. A few shots below followed by a full gallery:

Support came from Tera Melos

…and the rather interestingly named Master Musicians of Bukkake

OFWGKTA – Vogue Theatre, Vancouver – 3rd October 2011

siamak — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 06:04:10 +0000

OFWGKTA (Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All) – the young, controversial hip hop crew from L.A. sold out the Vogue theatre rapidly, with black market tickets being sold on for 3 to 4 times face value.

Whatever you think of them, they know how to whip up a crowd into a frenzy and are most definitely fun to watch.

The Vogue were well prepared for the show by setting up a security barrier, which gave us photographers access to a pit for those all important first 3 songs.

The lighting wasn’t so bright though, so I was pushing my equipment to its limits to get what I needed as Tyler the Creator, his trademark vans and the rest of his crew bounced around the stage. Full gallery below.

Arctic Monkeys – Orpheum Theatre, Vancouver – 28th September 2011

siamak — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 21:00:43 +0000

One of the biggest bands of the past five years in the UK came to town. This is what it looked like.
Full gallery after this series of larger images.

Devo with support from Pointed Sticks – Vogue Theatre, Vancouver – 18th September 2011

siamak — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 18:30:29 +0000

Devo. I like to think of them as quiet legends – much more influential when it comes to modern music than I think most of us realise.

Despite most of the band members approaching retirement age, they put on an amazing show full of costume changes, daft choreography, little gimmicks and of course their trademark “energy dome” hats.

From a photographer’s perspective, the show was a mixed bag. Plus points – A lot of the lighting was bright and white and the video screen provided interesting backdrops for the action on stage. Minus points – No pit, but still the usual 3 song rule meant I had to (attempt to be) at my most charming to be able to muscle my way in to good positions during those first 3 songs. Full gallery below.

Support act for the night were Pointed Sticks who last played with Devo over 30 years ago!

Beardyman – Fortune Sound Club, Vancouver – 13th September 2011

siamak — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 16:00:36 +0000

I was pretty excited to see that Beardyman was coming to town. The posters around Vancouver were advertising the “World’s best beatboxer” playing at the rather small (but perfectly formed) Fortune Sound Club. As always, the lights in there were a challenge, but with a show that entertaining, I wasn’t too concerned.
Photos of said beatboxer gurning like a champ below.

Tapes ‘n Tapes with support from The Chain Gang of 1974 – Biltmore Cabaret, Vancouver – 22nd August 2011

siamak — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 04:46:15 +0000

The first of a few updates coming over the near future is a show from the near past.

Last month saw Minneapolis indie quartet Tapes ‘n Tapes come to town. They were minus one member though. Their keyboardist Matt Kretzman couldn’t make it due to a family emergency so they had to make do as a trio.

Still, it’s worth looking on the bright side – it gave their drummer (Jeremy Hanson) centre stage which of course meant that he’d be well lit, a rarity when it comes to drummers.

Guitarist/vocalist Josh Grier and bassist Erik Applewick made up what was – for one night – the rest of the power trio. Full gallery after the following shot.

The support act for the evening were “The Chain Gang of 1974″ who put on one hell of an energetic and entertaining show. Full gallery after the few shots below:

Vancouver’s Celebration of Light 2011

siamak — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 07:30:30 +0000

I haven’t spent a summer in Vancouver before. Everyone I spoke to kept telling me how amazing the summer is in this city – the long days, the scenery, the weather…and the fireworks.
It seemed strange to me that a few firework displays in late July/early August could be something that so many people would talk about as a highlight of the summer.

The Celebration of Light is a yearly fireworks competition between various pyrotechnic teams invited from different countries. This year saw the 3 previous years’ winners – China, Spain and Canada – battle it out.

First up on Saturday 30th July were China

On Wednesday 3rd August, Spain (my personal favourite)

…and finally on Saturday 6th August, Canada

The displays drew huge crowds in to various parts of the city, but the hub of the action was English Bay where the beaches were packed hours before the displays were due to start.

Now I understand why so many people talk about the firework displays. They really are that good – who knew you could do so many things with some explosives?
For more info on the Celebration of Light, check out the website here

Yuck with support from Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Biltmore Cabaret, Vancouver – 23rd July 2011

siamak — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 18:28:22 +0000

Sometimes in life you make unfortunate decisions.
Tonight I’d made 2…
1) I left my 50mm 1.4 lens at home
2) I left my speedlite at home

The lesson I learned? Just because a venue has a good lighting system, it doesn’t mean that the lighting that night will be ideal for photography. Always turn up prepared for the worst.

Tonight’s support act Unknown Mortal Orchestra…

…left myself and my fellow photographers at the venue bemused by playing with no lighting at all. Just the band on a dark stage. It became apparent that I had to think on my feet in order to get anything without my speedlite in tow. The solution? Catch other people’s bursts of flash during long exposures…and a little panning and zooming to catch multiple bursts of flash.

I’m not sure how to describe what these guys play…at times I thought they sounded like the Stone Roses stuck in a 60s time warp. Whatever it was they sounded like, I thought it was pretty cool (and better live than on record).

Tonight’s headliners – Yuck – from the UK sound like a little piece of the 90s, mixing grunge and shoegaze influences.

Luckily for me, there was some light to work with, perfect for a set of black and white images which I think fits in nicely with the band’s sound.

A few more images of Yuck can be seen below.

Fucked Up with support from Real Problems and The Strugglers – Fortune Sound Club, Vancouver – 20th July 2011

siamak — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 21:22:50 +0000

A free show to see possibly the most interesting hardcore punk band in the world? This was definitely one not to be missed.

Fucked Up didn’t disappoint and lead singer Damian Abraham stole the show with his antics (he spent much of the show pretty much anywhere in the venue but the stage). Full gallery below, just click on any thumbnail to start:

Support came from Real Problems:

and The Strugglers:

Riffs not Riots – Fortune Sound Club, Vancouver – 13th July 2011

siamak — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 20:32:30 +0000

After the Vancouver riot (see my previous posts on the riot itself, and the cleanup), there have been several events and activities around the city with people doing what they can to help balance out what took place on that embarrassing evening.

One such event was “Riffs not Riots” – 8 local metal bands playing a show with all profits going to the Canuck Place Children’s Hospice.
I managed to get down to Fortune Sound Club in time to shoot 6 of those 8, here’s a few shots of each of those bands, a link to their web presence and mini galleries below each larger image:

Titans Eve (bandcamp)

Black Wizard (myspace)

Ancients (facebook)

Galgamex (myspace)

Weirding (myspace)

Abriosis (website)