Morrissey @ the Pageant 2007.05.22

Performing to a sold out house on his birthday, May 22, Morrissey was greeted by a legion of fans ready to celebrate. As he sauntered out to take center stage, obviously relishing the applause and rapt attention, Morrissey said simply, “I’ve come to wish me an unhappy birthday.” This tongue-in-cheek comment provided the perfect calm pause before the ex-Smiths frontman launched into the old anthem The Queen Is Dead.

The 85mm f/1.4 provided many of the key shots for the set, though both the 70-200mm f/2.8 and 17-55mm f/2.8 also saw some action. In the following shot by with the 70-200mm, which is highly prone to flare at the long end, I thought the lens’s normal deficit added some valuable visual interest:

The majority of the lighting on Morrissey was provided by two spotlights positioned in the balcony, while strong sources at the back of the stage provided nice rim lighting throughout the first three songs. In addition to the dominant white light, colored lights provided some fill to the shadows from the sides and back of the stage.

In addition, the near-constant backlighting from added a nice bit of visual interest to what otherwise would have been unremarkable key lighting from the twin spotlights over many of the images.

Despite being driven by the camera’s AF motor, albeit the pro-caliber D2X, rather than a an AF-S, in-lens motor featured in all new Nikon lenes, the 85mm f/1.4 performed well enough to keep up with Morrissy’s constant orbit around on stage.

Check out the full set.