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Wilco @ Strathmore

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Despite not going to Austin for SXSW, March was a busy month for me.  The last of the 13 shows I covered this month took me to a venue I had never been to before.  The Music Hall at Strathmore is located up in Bethesda and despite fearing the worst, we had an easy trip up there.  I was bracing for an hour and a half but it took less than 30 minutes.  Bonus.

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Wilco, of course, were the headliners of the night.  In fact, they were the only band on the bill. Having Wilco play the greater-D.C. area is nothing new, they seem to come around here every 6 months or so, but that never stops people from lining up to see them.

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This was my third time seeing and shooting Wilco, but the first non-festival show of theirs that I’ve covered. The lighting was a bit frustrating, mostly washes in the back and those hot spotlights that lighting directors seem to love these days in the front. It wasn’t as bad as The xx at 6th & I, but it was close. So I was pleasantly surprised when I came home and found quite a few usable frames once I loaded everything on to my computer. I spent much of our three song allotment focusing of Jeff Tweedy because I wanted to make sure I got at least one great shot of him.  The rest of the band stayed in the wings toward the back of the stage, and also out of the light.  I managed to grab a few frames of guitarist Nels Cline just before the third song ended.

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I shot this gig my my 24-70/2.8 mounted on my D3 and my 70-200/2.8 VR I mounted on my D700. I switched that lens out for my 50/1.4 after the second song when it was clear the light wouldn’t get any better.  Since we were shooting in front of the front row, there really was no need for a long lens.

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Thanks to a tip from my friend Chris, I snapped a few frames of White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, who was tucked away in Row L, trying to be incognito.

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Follow me on Twitter to see what I am shooting next.

Here is the full photo set from the show:

Wilco @ Strathmore – Images by Kyle Gustafson

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3 Comments

  • Reply
    Tweets that mention Concert photos of Wilco performing at the Music Hall at Strathmore | Washington D.C. Music Photographer Kyle Gustafson | photokyle.com -- Topsy.com
    March 31, 2010 at 5:20 pm

    […] This post was mentioned on Twitter by kgustafson, Bradford Pearson. Bradford Pearson said: Great shots, and who knew Rahm Emmanuel was a Wilco fan? RT@kgustafson Photos: Wilco @ at Strathmore in Bethesda: http://bit.ly/9hhu5Z […]

  • Reply
    Matt O
    April 1, 2010 at 11:47 am

    Great shots, Kyle…love that you caught Rahm in the audience, as well.

    btw, thanks a million for including info. on the equipment you’re shooting with at each show, which ends up being indispensable to an amateur like myself. I shot Wilco last fall (http://tinyurl.com/ycqj4jm), and would have loved to have had a D3 with a decent lens, instead of my old-azz D50…all good things in all good time, I guess.

  • Reply
    kgustafson
    April 7, 2010 at 9:15 pm

    It took me a few years to work up to a camera like the D3. I used my Canon 40D for the longest time. You’ll get there one day.

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