a.k.a. Christian Anarchy of The Hates
Aqua Velva – Big Top
There are three things that make these photos exciting to me.
1. No flash IN THE BIG TOP. If you’ve ever been, you know what I’m talking about.
2. Shot using the 20mm f/1.8 lens. Problematic lens for me in the past.
3. You can see the face of each band member, including the drummer. No small thing.
Step aside Spinal Tap
Something many people may not know about the title track from my band’s CD “Loch Ness Monster” is that it was originally written and recorded as a heavy metal song.
Consider the review from the Houston Press that said:
The album opens with the wonderfully dark ode to the creature lurking beneath the murky waters of Loch Ness. Here the beast is less the benign and almost dopey plesiosaur used to sell trinkets to tourists and much more the accursed beast with “Huge red eye, long sharp tooth / slicing knives, ragged spines” which will drag you from the banks and tear you to pieces despite your screams and struggles. Nessie, indeed.
And that’s in reference to the acoustic folk version! The heavy metal version of Loch Ness Monster is a bonus hidden track at the end of the CD.
The origins of this song go back to when Greg Henkel came up with a band called Rocrament and wrote about 10-12 heavy metal songs and his brother, Jim Henkel, recorded them. Jim laid down all the tracks and mixed it in his home studio.
Recently, Greg has been working hard with a hand-picked group of musicians to bring Rocrament to the stage and his evil brilliant plan comes to fruition this Thursday night, June 21st at the Houston Continental Club.
Show time is around 10:30 and follows the regular Thursday night performance of Jim Henkel’s Beatles tribute band “Beetle.”
Only Greg knows for sure what this performance will entail, but early reports are of elaborate stage props and costumes. Greg let me know that Rocrament has about 45 minutes of live material so you won’t be out all night on a weeknight.
This is going to be a rock show for the ages!
Check out Rocrament’s Myspace page for more information.
Click here to hear the song “Rocrament” from the original CD.
Wide angle, wide open
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.
Click for larger image
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.
Click for larger image
Allen Hill as Johnny Rivers
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
Best if viewed at full size
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
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.
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:
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!