You gotta love the Raconteurs: Big, bright lights, rock star riffs, and two lead singers for the price of one.
Jack White’s other band blew into St. Louis, bringing their bluesy, foot-stomping sound to the Pageant in a powerhouse performance that had the crowd roaring from the opening to the encore.
Quick to dismiss their status as a supergroup, the four-piece instead has simply referred to themselves as “a new band made up of old friends,” a statement that is immediately evident in their synergy on stage.
Jack White and Brendan Benson, who trade off duties for lead vocals and guitar, in particular showed a great camaraderie on stage, grinning, facing off for guitar duels, trading licks on stage throughout the night.
The Raconteurs are touring in support their sophomore album, Consolers of the Lonely, which was released earlier this year on Warner Brothers Records and XL Recordings.
Photographer’s Notes:
This show was a blessing and a curse.
The bad news: the Pageant’s 5-foot stage, huge speaker monitors, and a setup about a meter back from the edge of the stage, all of which limited clear sight lines to the band.
The good news: great lights, rock star swagger, and an infectious energy, both on stage and in the crowd.
In the end, I think the good won out, but it was an uphill struggle. Or, to rephrase that, a nice challenge.
The band ripped through the first three songs of this set with the same driving intensity that carried through their performance, so the shoot felt quite short. No break between the first two songs kept up the pace as well.
Another interesting challenge was where to point the lens – celebrity or the lead singer? For most of the first three songs, the latter meant Brendan Benson, who played near the front of the stage, tethered by his duties on vocals, while Jack White played farther back, often out obscured by the band’s immense monitors.
Lighting:
Spotlights. At a rock show. This in itself was pretty fantastic, I have to say.
Overall, the set was very well lit, with lots of white light from the front and simple treatments in the background. Warm lighting on the stage cast an orange glow over the players during the first few songs as well.
Lenses & Gear:
I shot this set with the Nikon D3, trading off between the Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 and the Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8.
Due to the fairly removed position of the band, the telephoto was used a good deal to help close the distance, while the midrange zoom was useful for wider shots, and one moment where Benson came to the perch on the speaker monitors during the second song.
Exposure & Metering:
I shot this set at f/2.8 and ISO 1600, with shutter speeds ranging between 1/100 and 1/250. Despite the use of two spotlights, the lights were often split between Jack White and Brendan Benson, so neither received the double-barreled treatment that has kept up shutter speeds to 1/500 for other shows with a single star.
End Notes:
The Raconteurs were a blast to shoot, and now I’m itching to photograph the White Stripes. While Meg and Jack White may not be touring at the moment, photographing the Raconteurs again at Lollapalooza would be a fine consolation.
23 Comments Add your own
1. Celso | June 17th, 2008 at 11:22 am
Really nice set of pictures!
Even through all the difficulties you’ve pointed out the work came out real sharp!
Best regards
2. Todd | June 17th, 2008 at 11:26 am
Thanks, Celso! Unlike a lot of gigs, the lighting wasn’t the issue – it was more just finding clear shots of Brendan and Jack that caused the most headaches.
Anyway, just something that goes with the job. For rock shows, there are always problems to solve, but that’s part of the fun, too.
3. Will Wilkins | June 17th, 2008 at 11:27 am
Great shots as always Todd!
Firing up iTunes and The Raconteurs now!
4. Todd | June 17th, 2008 at 11:35 am
Thanks, Will! Glad to hear you like the shots, this was a really fun show to photograph, despite any “obstacles.”
I’ve been listening to these guys since the show. I don’t know if you ever use the Hype Machine, but it’s a cool way to find some live recordings and more rare tracks that people are blogging about, too:
http://hypem.com/search/raconteurs/1/
PS: We should start on ishootshows v2.0!
5. michelle | June 17th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
wow, those are some great photos. I hope you get to see them again at Lollapalooza!
6. Todd | June 17th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
Thanks, Michelle! The Raconteurs would be great to photograph again, I’ll be sure to send you a link if I do shoot them again.
7. Ding | June 17th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
I wanna thank you for sharing your beautiful pictures.
Thank you
8. Todd | June 17th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
I’m happy to share, thank you for the comment!
9. Meg Bourne | June 17th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
fantastic! you got some killer shots, that’s for sure!
love the ones of patrick keeler, he’s such an interesting drummer and you captured him quite nicely. makes me wish i would’ve focused on him more when i shot them…
anyway! great photos, as always!
did you get any of little jack, the bassist? i ask because when i was photographing them all the photographers were in a huddle around white, when i walked over to snap a few of shots jack lawrence he went into a posing frenzy! it was cutest thing.
10. Todd | June 17th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
Hey Meg, thanks! I appreciate it.
When the band first came out, it was dark except for some quick flashes on Patrick Keeler, so he was actually the first member of the band I photographed. But I made myself come back to him after the first two songs, because I realized I was only photographing Brendan and Jack.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get a solo shot of Jack Lawrence, just the one of him behind Jack W. that is in the set. He was blocked off on the side by some heinous speaker monitors, though now I realize he’s the one who is missing from the set.
Maybe at Lollapalooza.
That’s great to hear he appreciates the camera, ha. I love it when musicians ham it up a little and give us photographers a little love.
11. Keith | June 17th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
Todd! Dude! These guys are rockstars and you captured that. I love 2 and 5. The wide angle is awesome and the use of space in 5 is SCHWEEET! Such a good SET of shots.
12. Todd | June 17th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
Hey Keith! Thanks for your thoughts on this set, and for your picks. I think you choose two of the more interesting shots where the subject is getting a little more unique play/treatment.
Glad to hear you like this set, thanks again for the feedback.
13. Will Wilkins | June 17th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
todd, I will check out Hype Machine. I have browsed around it a time or two but only when it was first launched.
ON ishootshows v2.0, I am trying to find time to do some wireframes over the next week you may be interested in. I’ll send you some screens or a demo link.
14. Todd | June 17th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
Hey Will, sounds good on the new theme. I’m excited to see what you’ve been working on. I’d be interested in skinning it for ishootshows, but also for that other project I’d mentioned to you with multiple contributors.
15. Lisa | June 17th, 2008 at 9:42 pm
Fantastic shots, as usual!
16. Todd | June 17th, 2008 at 10:04 pm
Thanks, Lisa! I appreciate it.
17. Bec | June 17th, 2008 at 10:07 pm
I can never get enough photos of these lovely guys, and these are particularly awesome!
18. Todd | June 17th, 2008 at 10:09 pm
Hey Bec, thank you. Glad to hear you enjoy the set!
19. Chris | June 18th, 2008 at 1:01 am
Wow. I had an entire thing written up then clicked on the link. Great. Diving back in…
I really enjoy the first photo you posted of Jack — great facial expression, full guitar and body — just awesome. Do you know why he is so pale?? I’m just really curious. I was also going to mention 2 other photos, but Keith got to them first — great angle on 2 as Benson stepped on the monitors. Only thing I wish is that we could see his other foot (but that’s kinda perfectionist thing on my part — not to mention I always have trouble with that, even with simple guitar shots). The negative space in 5, along with the smoke and lights crossing each other make for a nice, interesting shot. I also like 7, which gives a nice body shot of Benson with his guitar — he looks like a completely different person from 2 — almost younger. Does anyone else see that?? Haha. Also enjoy this nice tight shot of the drummer. Nice set!
20. Chris | June 18th, 2008 at 1:03 am
You know — I didn’t say *why* I liked the shot of the drummer. Sorry I am double posting and can’t edit the post.
I like it because 1) great sharp shot — even his hands — I suck at freezing drummers a lot, and even if I get a nice sharp face their hands always blurred, so I liked that aspect. Additionally enjoyed how his face and front part of his body were lit, but fades into the darkness. Just a really nice framing job and juxtaposition.
21. Todd | June 18th, 2008 at 11:25 am
Hey Chris, thanks for the detailed comments on this set.
I think Jack White was wearing make up, as I saw some snaps from the crowd later on in the set and it looked like it was coming off. He also had some eye shadow that seemed to make his skin look even more pale, too.
Looks like you and Keith have similar taste! Thanks for the picks.
I would have liked to have Benson’s full foot in that wide shot, too, but you know how these things go! But from a composition standpoint, I completely agree.
As for the differences between 7 and 2, I think Benson was getting some unflattering side-lighting in 2, while in the latter shot he’s getting full-on spotlight that isn’t creating shadows on his face.
On the drummer shot, that was made right at the beginning of the set, when the band came out to strobes and other quickly flashing lights. I fired off a burst to try and catch the light — all the other frames were dark.
Thanks again, Chris! I always appreciate your comments.
22. Melissa | June 21st, 2008 at 2:14 pm
gorgeous set of pictures! I didn’t catch them at
The Pageant, because I was going to Bonnaroo and got to see them there, they are incredible and it shows through your work!
23. Todd | June 21st, 2008 at 5:23 pm
Thanks, Melissa! Glad you caught the set. While I didn’t get down to Bonnaroo, I should be able to photograph the Raconteurs again at Lollapalooza in August, which is exciting.
speak up
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