With men in slick suits and woman decked out in fur and heels, you’d think the crowd passing into the Pageant was hitting the latest late-night hot spot rather than a music event. But that’s exactly what the masses came for as they braved the cold for an evening of soulful heat from rising R&B star Trey Songz.
Before the show, concert-goers sipped martinis at the bar and settled around the tables spread throughout the club, which, while the lights were down, gave the place a feeling closer to a lounge than a 2,000-capacity concert venue.
Sporting a red vest over a gray long-sleeve shirt along with matching two-tone sneakers, Trey Songz swaggered into the spotlight for a 75-minute set that, one wardrobe change later, ended with a catfight on the floor for the singer’s undershirt.
Inspired by R&B staples like Smokey Robinson and Aretha Franklin, Trey Songz laid down a smooth set that had the ladies screaming for more, and proved to be the perfect opener for headliner J. Holiday.
Hailed by Atlantic Records co-founder Ahmet Ertegün as one of the most promising talents to sign with the label in all of its rich R&B history, Trey Songz did nothing to disprove the buzz and brought a charismatic performance to the stage of the Pageant.
The young singer, who signed to Atlantic Records 2004, is currently touring in support of his late 2007 release, Trey Day.
2008 Tour Dates with J. Holiday:
02.29.08 Baltimore, MD
03.02.08 New York, NY
03.04.08 Philadelphia, PA
03.06.08 Richmond, VA
03.07.08 Hampton, VA
03.09.08 Lake Buena Vista, FL
03.12.08 North Myrtle Beach, SC
03.13.08 Atlanta, GA
03.14.08 New Orleans, LA
03.15.08 Memphis, TN
03.16.08 Houston, TX
03.17.08 Dallas, TX
03.19.08 Las Vegas, NV
03.20.08 Anaheim, CA
03.21.08 West Hollywood, CA
03.22.08 Alpine, CA
03.23.08 San Francisco, CA
Shooting Notes:
I set up credentials to this show without knowing what to expect, but was pleasantly surprised by a very tight performance by Trey Songz. There was no song limit for this show, so I shot for the entire hour and fifteen-minute set.
There was an ample pit (to keep back the screaming ladies, naturally), with plenty of room to move around, and this space was really necessary as I kept up with the singer, who was in constant motion on stage.
While I haven’t photographed many R&B performers, I thought this set provided a refreshing change from the rock, especially with the welcome and persistent lighting.
Lighting:
This set was lit by two spotlights trained on Trey Songz from the balcony, which provided fairly constant lighting throughout the set.
White balancing this set was slightly challenging, as the spotlights flickered in temperature between 3000K and 6500K, with plenty of subtle tints in between.
The background lighting was just for accent, with a few light washes, but the spotlights dominated the stage by and large.
Lenses and Equipment:
I used the Nikon D3 with the Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 and the Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 VR for this set. I pretty evenly split my time between the two lenses, and found that the combination was perfect for photographing Trey Songz under these conditions.
Camera Settings:
Thanks to the very abundant spotlighting, I was able to shoot at a rare combination of settings for a very comfortable exposure.
For most of this set, I locked down to 1/500 and f/4 at ISO 1600, with a few rolling modifications along the way in response to the minutely changing light.
End Notes:
The biggest challenge for this set was effectively tracking Trey Songz as he made the rounds over the stage, working both ends of the stage and everything in between.
I found the best thing to do was play zone defense, rather than jogging after the singer with every move, and shift positions as necessary.
Thanks to Kelly at Atlantic Records for setting everything up on short notice!
14 Comments Add your own
1. Andi | February 28th, 2008 at 3:37 am
1/500, f4, ISO 1600 .. damn lucker
But indeed the lighting looks like fun to play with. A bit more color from the background would have spiced it up a little bit, but still very good. Got some cool shots there, Todd.
2. Todd | February 28th, 2008 at 9:30 am
Hey Andi,
Yeah, that’s a luxurious exposure if I ever saw one for concert photography. And at the big amphitheaters here, even that would be “high ISO.” I have a friend who is a house shooter for one of those venues and he said he’s regularly shooting at ISO 400 and 800, and that was even with a variable aperture lens.
I definitely agree about background color. It would have been great and most welcome to have a little more “atmosphere” in the shots — and these shots probably show the most of what there was.
The headliner, J. Holiday, had a little more in the form of a few washes, but even that was really stark.
Both did have a little more lighting in this regard than Common, the last performer who had this type of spotlight treatment:
Common @ the Pageant — 2007.09.19
3. Raquita | February 28th, 2008 at 9:42 am
Love the shots, he looks like he was fun to shoot.. I often wonder why so many artists limit the time for photographers.. you did a awesome job
4. Todd | February 28th, 2008 at 9:50 am
Hey Raquita, thanks. He was fun to shoot, definitely. And with no song limit, this gig was a great opportunity to get a nice range of different expressions (even if the lighting wasn’t all that different). Thanks for the feedback!
5. G | February 28th, 2008 at 10:00 am
wicked night as usual, i’ll go check it out everysingle pic on your flickr
6. Todd | February 28th, 2008 at 10:36 am
Hey G, thanks. This one was fun. I only made a few images public on Flickr, actually. But I will make a few more available there now, ha — just trying something new.
7. Angie | March 1st, 2008 at 8:57 pm
I came across this blog looking for something else lol but I love the pics….the lighting was incredible and these are some of the best concert pics I’ve seen in a minute. Loved the angles you shot from too very nice!
8. Todd | March 1st, 2008 at 9:01 pm
Hey Angie,
Glad you found this site, and thanks for the kind words. The lighting was great — double spotlights on Trey Songz, so everything looked great.
I also photographed J. Holiday, and will be posting those pictures soon, so please check back for those.
9. Shakira G. | March 1st, 2008 at 10:04 pm
YOU ARE AWESOME!! I’M A BIG FAN OF TREY AND I’VE SEEN HIM AT NUMEROUS EVENTS AND ALL MY PICS ARE BLURRY BECAUSE HE MOVES AROUND SO MUCH YOU CAPTURED EVERYTHING I LOVE ABOUT HIM IN A PERON AND OR ARTIST!! GOOD JOB!!
10. Todd | March 2nd, 2008 at 12:00 pm
Hey Shakira,
Trey does move around constantly, so it was tough to track him all over the stage, but I hope some of that energy came through in these shots. I’m very glad to hear you think these images capture him! Thank you.
11. Aloysius | March 2nd, 2008 at 7:02 pm
Hey Todd,
some great images there.
I’m sure it was fun as it’s always good to have a break from the usual rock music.
It’s nice to get to shoot the whole set so that there’s more variety. I too had the luxury of shooting the whole set when Switchfoot was here.
I particularly like the 2nd last photo.
Cheers!
12. Todd | March 3rd, 2008 at 9:53 am
Hey Aloysius,
Thanks for the feedback. It was a nice change to have a different style of music, and of course being able to shoot the whole set never hurts! The lighting didn’t change so much, but there was at least the opportunity to get a wide variety of poses and expressions in this set.
Thanks for your pick, I like that shot too, and it was one of the early shots I sent to his publicist.
13. J. Holiday @ the Pageant &hellip | March 7th, 2008 at 10:01 am
[…] up a hot night at the Pageant with partner-in-crime Trey Songz, J. Holiday threw down the smooth jams that had the ladies screaming. And what can I say, I love […]
14. Raheem DeVaughn @ the Fox&hellip | March 28th, 2008 at 9:21 am
[…] J. Holiday @ the Pageant — 2008.02.26 Trey Songz @ the Pageant — 2008.02.26 […]
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