Nearly 25-years after the passing of Bob Marley, the legendary Wailers band delivered an impassioned set of classic material and new work alike at the Pageant.
Fronting the Wailers, Elan Atias honored Marley’s music with a delivery that not only remained faithful to the originals, but which also filled the songs with a living spirit that was enthusiastically received by the band’s fans.
Longtime members Aston “Familyman” Barrett and Al Anderson, on bass and guitar, respectively, helped anchored the Wailer’s core sound.
Throughout the night, the Wailers dug deep into the classic reggae material popularized in their time with Marley, all of which kept fans grooving on the floor and in their seats alike. Atias also performed a few of his own original songs as well, from his 2006 release Together as One.
The trifecta of the night, however, came at the end of the full set, when the band launched into a three-song run of some of Bob Marley & The Wailer’s most famous tunes: “One Love,” “Woman No, No Cry,” and “Jamming.”
The Wailers followed up with an encore that included the title track from Atias’s debut album followed by an enthusiastically received performance of the classic “Redemption Songs.”
Shooting Notes:
This was a very straight forward shoot with no real surprises. Arriving at the venue, I check in with production about any special considerations. When the band’s management saw I was already good to go with a pass, they said anything was cool as long as I didn’t use flash.
With that go-ahead, I shot from the pit for the first five songs. It was great to have such nice access with a band like this.
Overall, the most challenging aspect of this shoot was probably singer Elan Atias, who was a moving target throughout the set. The singer was quite literally bouncing all over stage and one of his hands was seemingly in constant motion, gesturing to the crowd.
Lighting:
The lighting for this set was pretty basic, with nothing too tricky. As per the modus operandi for the Pageant, the house lights in front bathed the stage in warm white light from high in the rafters, while a rainbow of light came in from the back. During the first few songs, blue, magenta, and pale white schemes dominated.
While the high lighting on Atias in front could have been problematic with his short-brimmed cap, the charismatic singer generally lifted his head while singing for just enough to eliminate any potential problem.
Exposure:
I shot at ISO 6400 and f/2.8 for the entirety of this set, with shutter speeds lumped around 1/200.
On the low end, I dipped to 1/100 for the wide shot of Al Anderson (second image after the jump), which is just one example of where I’ll spin the dial on the fly to use a lower shutter speed below 30mm. I find myself doing this most often when guitarists come to the edge of the stage, where the front-lighting drops off considerably.
Lenses & Gear:
I shot this set with the Nikon D3, trading off between the Nikon 24-70mmm f/2.8 and Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8. I tried the Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8 for a few shots, but the ultra-wide lens just didn’t fit the gig.
End Notes:
Though I wasn’t quite sure what to expect with this gig, I was pleasantly surprised: this was a really fun show to photograph. If I had to narrow it down to reasons, I’d say it was Elan Atias and Al Anderson at the front of the stage that did it.
While Atias was in constant motion throughout the set, there was a real dedication and passion that came through in his singing that ultimately translated into some nice moments to photograph.
7 Comments Add your own
1. Andi | May 12th, 2008 at 8:58 am
Mmmh .. as much as I like #1 and #3 because of their colorful appearance, I dislike #2, #5 and #11. They just pop out because of the lack of colorful rim lighting and are quite similar. Come on Todd, you can do better than that
By the way: I finally found a way to provide two languages for my blog without using a lame translation tool and it actually works
2. Todd | May 12th, 2008 at 9:05 am
Hey Andi,
Thanks for your thoughts and picks, positive and negative. The options for photographing Elan Atias were slim for interest unless you wanted a mouth full of mic at this show, unfortunately.
I’ll have to disagree with you on #2, though, but I can definitely see what you’re saying about the lighting, and I’m with you there.
It’s always a guessing game as to whether a band like this will bring their own lighting setup or not. As a spectator, I thought the show was just fine without any excess flash, though, as a photographer, I would have liked more varied light on the lead, as you suggest.
Just checked out your site, I’m looking forward to the English language option. Thanks again for the feedback, as always.
3. Robert Daniels | May 12th, 2008 at 9:07 am
Hey where are the Alicia Keys shots?
4. Todd | May 12th, 2008 at 9:27 am
Patience, Robert.
I’ll be posting them this week, perhaps as early as tonight. Thanks for the interest.
5. Chris | May 12th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
Dude, that wide angle of Al Anderson is DOPE! I absolutely love it (and am curious to see some of the 14-24; I’m guessing you use this more frequently for when a stage is a little higher?) Other than that, my favorites are of Atias — the black background with the light on this face and the small shadow his hat creates makes for a good effect in my eyes. I additionally like the one where he is washed out a bit (I think it’s 6th from the jump). Initially I thought the light blew him out a bit, but now I think it really adds the effect.
Great job, as usual!
6. Todd | May 12th, 2008 at 3:03 pm
Thanks, Chris. It’s always nice to hear your thoughts on this sets.
The closer the performers are to me, the more likely I am to go for the ultra-wide, due to the extreme perspective of the range.
If the stage at the Pageant were lower, I’d use the 14-24mm even more than I do. And even the 5′ height doesn’t stop me from trying.
I was initially spit of that shot of Atias you mention with the bright backlighting, but ended up liking the blown-out effect.
Thanks again for your feedback, I appreciate it.
7. The Murder City Players @&hellip | May 19th, 2008 at 6:11 pm
[…] for a headlining performance by the legendary Wailers band, the Murder City Players laid down a tight set that slipped between reggae, ska, and dancehall […]
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