Headlining last weekend’s show at Iota was London-based Fanfarlo, a band quite a few of my friends can’t stop talking about. I went to the show to see what all the fuss was about and even though I didn’t expect to like them, I quite enjoyed the show. The Post’s David Malitz pegs the band’s sound much better than I could: “Arcade Fire was the most obvious reference point, as both bands feature violin, rugged acoustic guitar,…
Freelance Whales are a rather unfortunately named band from Queens, NY that are garnering a lot of buzz from various internet outlets. Their sound is straight from the Arcade Fire/Montreal, Canada school of indie rock; lots of people on stage playing various instruments (often different ones for different songs) as well as banging on things like watering cans and the like. The lighting at Iota mainly comes from the Christmas lights hung above the stage, aided by…
When I moved to Washington D.C. in the summer of 2004 the first gig I saw in my new hometown was Ted Leo at the Black Cat. I actually took a blind date with me, which turned out to be a bad move as I left her to go up front and enjoy the show and never came back. The show was THAT good. And I am very happy to report that Ted is just as captivating…
One of the best things about shooting concerts for the Washington Post is getting assignments that take me outside my comfort zone. And shooting a jazz quintet in a jewish synagogue definitely qualifies as a perfect example. I’ve shot at the 6th & I Historic Synagogue once or twice before and the light has always been a deep, deep red. This and the shooting restrictions for this gig ( I was confined to the very back of…
I used to think that soundboard shoots were the worst conditions I had to shoot under but after shooting the Pixies at DAR Constitution Hall, I now know I was wrong. Shooting from a similar distance on the side of the stage is definitely worse. OK, I am being overly dramatic but I really hate when bands make photographers choose a side and stick to it (Pearl Jam, Kings of Leon and R.E.M. are also guilty of…
In the last few years Mew have become one of my favorite bands. I listen to their 2006 album And The Glass Handed Kites constantly and am really enjoying their latest album No More Stories… So when they were announced as the opening band for the second night of The Pixies 2-night stand at DAR Constitution Hall it was a bit of a no-brainer to get rid of the ticket I had already bought for night #1…
D.C. had been buzzing for weeks over the announcement of the first semi-annual Tweed Ride, a fun event where people dressed in their best threads, took a bike ride through the city and (surprise!) ended up at a bar to drink the afternoon away. I’m not sure anyone expected the amazing turnout that followed. Over two hundred people showed up, giving yours truly and and bunch of other photographers on the scene an afternoon worth of eye…
Seminal Southern rap group Goodie Mob reunited for s few shows late last year which has led to a full blown reunion tour with an album planned for the future. They hit The Scene, one of the city’s newest clubs, last week and I was there to cover it for the Washington Post. The big draw here was, of course, Cee-Lo Green who went on to become an international superstar with Danger Mouse in Gnarls Barkley. There…








