Continental Club – Page 8 – The Bald Heretic – Short, bald dude with a goofy beard

Wide angle, wide open

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So I have this Sigma 20mm f/18 lens that I picked up a while back. My thought was that it would allow me to shoot more stage content than the Sony 50mm f1/4

After taking it out and shooting a few shows I was rather disappointed in the quality of shots I was getting so I stashed it away and went back to the trusty 50mm Sony which consistently produces great images in low light.

Not being one to just sit on a few hundred dollars worth of high speed glass I decided to take it out for another run.

The Continental Club was hosting a show commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Monterey Pops Festival and I thought it would be fun to shoot that.

Not as crisp as I like, but I really do like wider angle.

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Allen Hill as Johnny Rivers

This time out, though, I think I stumbled upon this lens’s secret. By getting in close to the subject I was able to get some sharper shots and, with the wider angle, I was getting a bit more than I could with the 50mm.

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Allen Hill as Johnny Rivers

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The above shot is of a member of a Moby Grape tribute band called Grape Jam. Who knew there was a Moby Grape tribute band? Go figure!

At any rate, I’m encouraged and will experiment more with the 20mm.

Do you find something funny about the word “tromboner”?

Alfred Tam of Clouseaux
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Disco Expressions – Prom Night

The Disco Expressions show/prom night event last weekend was a huge success. Basically, it was a concert at the Houston Continental Club featuring 70’s disco and 80’s new-age/punk/pop and the audience was invited to dress in a prom theme.

Of course you can’t have a prom without adult supervision.
Meet Continental High School Vice-Principal Henkel

Opening act was Molly and the Ringwalds for the 80’s portion of the night.

Jennifer Ringwald

Carrie Ringwald

And a rare sight ladies and gentlemen. A candid photo of Dekan Ringwald!

That’s right, he’s not staring directly at the camera! This must be what those Planet Earth camermen felt like when they captured those rare images of the Snow Leopard in the wild.

Next up, Disco Expressions playing all your 70’s disco favorites.

It’s hard to tell if Jim is about to give me the OK sign, or if he’s about to flick me like a bug.

Paul was in rare form

All in all, another excellent evening. I wanted to shoot audience pictures to capture those in attendance wearing their prom dresses and tuxedos, but they didn’t come out so well. I don’t do well shooting with a flash and the club is too dark to shoot without one.

I did, however, get one outstanding shot.

Disco Expressions – Virginia

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There’s always room for Jello

Cross another one off the list.

I got to hang out with an icon of my youth last night, Jello Biafra, former lead singer for The Dead Kennedys.

He was in town to perform his spoken word act at the Continental Club last night and I volunteered to pick him up at the airport and drive him around until show time.

I got him checked into his hotel and then we went by Sig’s Lagoon so he could browse the vinyl. Turns out Jello is a huge music buff and a rabid collector of obscure vinyl.

It was a fun enough time. I was in mild “fan-boy” mode but I think I played it pretty cool. Of course I had to get the obligatory “Look at me! I’m with a celebrity!” shot.

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His show ran about 4 hours with a brief intermission. He covered all the ground you would expect from the death of Jerry Falwell to the collapse of Enron and even touched on the Halliburton move to Dubai.

I would have expected the show to be attended by mostly old-timers like myself. As it turned out, it was mostly young people. And when I say young, I mean around, at and under 21. The club made it an all ages show.

Best line overheard at the back bar was from and older woman who was talking to a friend and said:

“I don’t like this spoken word crap. I’m a punk rocker, not a hippy!” I didn’t bother asking why she was even there..

Second runner up was when bar manager Trey came over to Sig’s before the intermission and said “I don’t think he’s going to take a break. He just keeps going. Oh, and I think I hate America now.”

Priceless!

The best picture of the night was taken during the sound check:

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I was initially going to give him a ride back to the hotel but he decided to hang out at Sig’s for awhile looking through the rest of the vinyl and I was tired. Good thing I cut myself loose, he ended up keeping Sig’s open till around 5:00 am.

I don’t like staying up that late, I’m an old man….not a hippy!

Additional shots available in the gallery

Clouseaux – Fire

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Cindy Raschke

Cindy “Crash” Raschke

Thomas over at Sig’s Lagoon had asked me about shooting some pictures at an event he was hosting at the shop. It was a Tiki themed art show featuring the works of Cindy Raschke from Austin, TX.

I’m always up for this type of thing so I agreed to come out early and be the designated photographer. Besides, The Flying Fish Sailors were already signed up to perform a short set opening for Clouseaux over at the CC later the same evening so it was no big deal to get down there early.

It also didn’t hurt that there’s a chance my pics could be used in a story about Cindy in Tiki Magazine. Nothing wrong with getting my pictures in print, even if it is an obscure periodical that caters to an eclectic sub-culture.

Cindy’s artwork was really quite good. Her tiki themed pieces were unique and vibrant.

Cindy herself was outgoaing and personable and even came to catch a few songs while my band played over at the Continental.

She did have on rather unusual piece on exhibit. A child-sized mannequin that she had “transformed” into what can only be called a tattooed demon boy.

I was actually rather fascinated by the demon boy and briefly entertained the idea of purchasing it. I then fast forwarded the scenario in my brain and, knowing Cynthia, knew that this piece would not be allowed in our house.

As it turns out, the piece was already sold to a tattoo artist in Florida so that put an end to my dilemma.

The turn out was fantastic and many of her pieces were sold. There’s going to be another show in Austin on Thursday, Aug. 2nd at The Gallery (next door to the Austin Continental Club) and I may be the designated photographer for that event as well.

More pictures (including Demon Boy) in my gallery.

Adam Burchfield – The Octanes

Adam Burchfield

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