Arenas & Sheds Concerts Festivals Merriweather Post Pavilion

Phoenix @ Sweetlife Festival

COLUMBIA, MD - May 11th,  2013 -  Laurent Brancowitz (with guitar) and Thomas Mars of Phoenix perform on the Main Stage at the 2013 Sweetlife Music and Food Festival at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, MD.  (Photo by Kyle Gustafson/For The Washington Post) (Kyle Gustafson/For The Washington Post)

I’ve been a fan of Phoenix since the release of Alphabetical back in 2004. It’s  been great to watch them slowly climb up the career ladder and then reach the mountaintop after Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. I was also very excited to get the chance to shoot them again since the lighting at DAR the last time they came through town was not very good. Unfortunately, that was the case once again at the 2013 Sweetlife Music and Food festival. The first song was pure red the entire time and the next two songs were sporadically lit by spotlight, sometimes resulting in a a 3 stop difference between Thomas Mars and whoever was standing next to him. It was tough sledding.

COLUMBIA, MD - May 11th,  2013 -   Phoenix performs at the 2013 Sweetlife Music and Food Festival at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, MD.  (Photo by Kyle Gustafson/For The Washington Post) (Kyle Gustafson/For The Washington Post)

COLUMBIA, MD - May 11th,  2013 -   Phoenix performs at the 2013 Sweetlife Music and Food Festival at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, MD.  (Photo by Kyle Gustafson/For The Washington Post) (Kyle Gustafson/For The Washington Post)

COLUMBIA, MD - May 11th,  2013 -   Phoenix performs at the 2013 Sweetlife Music and Food Festival at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, MD.  (Photo by Kyle Gustafson/For The Washington Post) (Kyle Gustafson/For The Washington Post)

I was able to grab a spot directly in front of mars and I ended up staying there for the three songs. The pit was pretty crowded and since Mars only went to the other side of the stage once, I didn’t see the point in moving. As a result, I got a lot of shots of Thomas Mars leaning on his stage monitors with my 24-70/2.8.

COLUMBIA, MD - May 11th,  2013 -  Laurent Brancowitz (with guitar) and Thomas Mars of Phoenix perform on the Main Stage at the 2013 Sweetlife Music and Food Festival at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, MD.  (Photo by Kyle Gustafson/For The Washington Post) (Kyle Gustafson/For The Washington Post)

COLUMBIA, MD - May 11th,  2013 -   Phoenix performs at the 2013 Sweetlife Music and Food Festival at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, MD.  (Photo by Kyle Gustafson/For The Washington Post) (Kyle Gustafson/For The Washington Post)

COLUMBIA, MD - May 11th,  2013 -   Thomas Mars  of Phoenix wades into the crowd at the end of his band's set  at the 2013 Sweetlife Music and Food Festival at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, MD.  (Photo by Kyle Gustafson/For The Washington Post) (Kyle Gustafson/For The Washington Post)

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Phoenix @ Merriweather Post Pavilion – Images by Kyle Gustafson

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