In a thrashing, powerhouse set, Billy Talent served as the perfect high-energy opener for headliners My Chemical Romance in their sold-out show.
Lead by a seemingly tireless Ben Kowalewicz, the Canadian group stormed through a 45-minute set that had the pit heaving from start to finish.
Aside from a tight, driven performance, the band’s frontman interjected bits of charming stage banter throughout the set.
I was impressed when Kowalewicz stopped mid-song during a particularly rough bit of moshing on the floor. The frontman asked, “How is everyone doing? Is everyone OK?” Pointing into the pit, he added, “It looks like someone is badly hurt.”
“Look, this isn’t a Limp Bizkit concert, OK? This is a My Chemical Romance concert, and a Billy Talent concert. Which means we take care of each other.”
Addressing the rowdy males in the audience, Kowalewicz continued, “Woman care about the size of your heart, not the size of your muscles or your cock.”
The singer paused before adding, with a twisted smile, “Unless you’re me, and you have all of those things.”
Set highlights included “Devil in a Midnight Mass,” “Red Flag,” and “This Is How It Goes.”
Photographer’s Notes:
I’d heard that Billy Talent put on a great live shot, but I was still impressed with the mix of on-stage energy with the personable banter put forth by Kowalewicz.
A fat stack of monitors at the front of the stage, which ran edge to edge with no gaps, added a new element to this shoot, raising the effective height of the stage from five-feet to over six.
The lead singer, with his habit of perching on the monitors, presented the subject with the clearest sight lines, and often the best light. Hidden behind the monitors, Aaron Solowoniuk was nowhere to be seen. Guitarist Ian D’Sa did get a leg up on the monitors on a few occasions for a few photo opportunities.
The ground rules for this set were first three, no flash.
Lighting:
Much of the lighting for this set consisted of red and blue washes from the front accented by magenta or white light from the back. The white light came in short spurts, which died down as quickly as they flared up.
Exposure & Metering:
I shot at ISO 6400 for the entire set at f/2.8. Shutter speeds ranged from 1/100 to 1/320, but the majority of the images were made at 1/250.
Lenses & Gear:
I shot with the Nikon D3 and Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 for much of the set. While I had anticipated shooting with the 14-24mm, the added height of the monitors added too much distance to the band, rendering the ultra-wide useless for this set.
Towards the end of the set, I shot with the Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 to pick up some more profile shots of Kowalewicz. Luckily, during the third song there was a greater portion of white light as well.
End Notes:
While this set was highly challenging, it was only a taste of the difficulties to come. Regardless, I had a blast shooting this set.
Which is entirely as it should be, especially considering Ben Kowalewicz’s suggestion during the show: “Have as much fun as you possibly can, because life is too fucking short.”
Stay tuned for shots from headliners My Chemical Romance, folks, dropping tomorrow.
19 Comments Add your own
1. Clara | May 4th, 2008 at 11:45 pm
looking forward to your my chem shots, todd. now i’m kind of bummed i didn’t get to shoot billy talent!
2. Todd | May 4th, 2008 at 11:50 pm
Hey Clara! Thanks for stopping by.
I have to admit, even with the solid stack of monitors in front and the frenetic lighting, Billy Talent’s set was a cake walk in comparison to My Chemical Romance’s performance.
If all goes as planned, the MCR shots and write-up will be posted late tomorrow night.
3. Krystina | May 5th, 2008 at 9:02 am
Hi! I’m really glad you gave me that little slip of paper w/your web address @ the show Sat. (Was front & center in crisp white button-down & gray vest) …
thanks again! -k.
Judging by the quality of these photos (*amazing, by the way!*) I’ll definitely be looking forward to the shots you got of My Chemical Romance! Thank-you! ~ps: I’m 24 now & would LOVE to do what you do for a living ~ any advice you have would be greatly appreciated!
4. Todd | May 5th, 2008 at 9:12 am
Hi Krystina, glad you like these shots and found the site. The My Chemical Romance shots should be up late tonight.
The lighting was a lot more difficult for MCR, but stay tuned for the shots.
Concert photography is a lot of fun, but I don’t know anyone that does it full-time. It’s just something one has to do for the love of it.
If you check out the FAQ, there’s some advice on starting out and becoming established, too. I’ll be writing an article on starting out in gig photography, too.
5. Fielding | May 5th, 2008 at 1:30 pm
Great job again, looking forward to the MCR shots.. I always enjoy hearing little things about the shows like Kowalewicz Addressing the audience.. shooting notes are great as well, its something I always wonder.. Keep it up.
6. Todd | May 5th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
Hey Fielding, thank you. MCR is going to be a rough one, I’m interested in the reaction to the images.
Kowalewicz was really pretty chatty during the set, it was actually refreshing.
7. Neetu | May 5th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
Incredible images!
8. Todd | May 5th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
Thanks, Neetu!
9. david jenrette | May 5th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
How do you like the Nikon 70-200 f2.8 on the D3? One reviewer says ‘not so good’ because that lens was originally designed for the DX format. your photos look uniformly sharp and a pleasure to look at!
David Jenrette
10. Todd | May 5th, 2008 at 4:53 pm
Hey David,
Personally, I have been loving the Nikon 70-200VR on the D3 for a number of reasons.
1) On the D3’s sensor, the lens is beautifully sharp even at f/2.8 for low light work line concerts. On the D2x, with its very small pixel pitch, the lens was pretty mediocre, but the D3’s larger photo sites are certainly more forgiving.
2) AF fine tuning has allowed this lens to sing. On the D2x, I always had somewhat erratic performance at 200mm with this lens, and often got back-focus. With the D3, I adjusted the AF to be bang on. This isn’t really a DX/FX thing, but it’s worth noting.
3) For PJ type work such as mine, the edges simply don’t matter. The image may suffer at the extremes when shot wide open and we lose the “sweet spot” crop of DX cameras, but for me, points 1+2 above combine to far outweigh any poor performance at the edges of the frame.
Suffice it to say, I’ve never enjoyed the 70-200VR as much as I have on the D3.
Glad to hear you enjoy the work, David – let me know if you have any more questions.
11. Krystina | May 5th, 2008 at 6:51 pm
Aw~ you’re awesome! Thanks!
12. My Chemical Romance @ the&hellip | May 5th, 2008 at 10:02 pm
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13. Sandy Sagitto (Substream) | May 5th, 2008 at 11:41 pm
Hey Todd! Just wanted top leave a comment to give kudos for yet another bunch of pics! They’re outstanding, and as always you seem to catch the true essence of the performer in your shots! Keep up the incredible work, and I’ll see you again soon!
14. Todd | May 6th, 2008 at 1:26 am
Hey Sandy, thanks! Even though while I was shooting I wasn’t sure about how the set would take shape, any fears were put aside after loading the images up after the show.
A good portion of these images were made during the third song when there was a good deal of stronger white light from the back.
Thanks again, glad to hear these capture Ben for you.
15. Krystina | May 6th, 2008 at 6:24 pm
did you see when he knocked the light off onto the security guy’s head???
16. Todd | May 7th, 2008 at 1:27 am
The singer knocked a light onto a security guy’s head? Seriously? I must have missed that – I stepped out for a song or two in the middle.
How’d that go over?
17. Krystina | May 8th, 2008 at 10:14 am
Well, Ben was on the speakers a lot during their part of the show… he was busy performing & when he jumped up to the speakers in front of him they sent these lights on the other side off the edge of the stage right onto this security guy’s head!
The guy was fine & they managed to put everything back really quick, but it’s too bad u missed it!
hey, good luck with your other shows by the way!
18. Todd | May 8th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
Hi Krystina,
I definitely missed that, but I can imagine exactly how it happened. Ben was all about perching on those front monitors, and they were pretty close to the front of the stage.
I think I know the security staff who you and Sandy mentioned, so it’s nice to hear he’s OK. I saw him a Tegan and Sara the next day and he was fine.
Thanks for the good wishes, let’s hope credentials to photograph Radiohead comes in next week.
19. ** Billy Talent Spain ** &hellip | May 8th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
[…] Fuente: IShootShows ¿Mas fotos?: AQUÍ […]
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