October 7, 2008 – The Whigs were opening for the Kooks, but to be honest, I don’t think they got the memo. The Athens, Georgia trio blew right by rote support and delivered a thrashing, fiery banger of a set, drawing on a raw energy that left the stage bruised, stained, covered in sweat.
Photographer’s Notes:
This one was rough, but at the same time, just one of those shows that makes one want to persevere in the name of rock ‘n roll. The situation was far from ideal, but the Whigs threw down, so I figured I would give it a shot!
The band was set up fairly far back from the edge of the stage, so wide angles weren’t generally of too much use for this performance. I shot this gig almost exclusively with the Nikon 50mm f/1.4 and 85mm f/1.4, mostly wide open. If I had to, I think I could have gotten away with just the 50mm.
Lighting for this show was very challenging, with lots of yellow and magenta washes in the original schemes. The somewhat more distant position of the band actually worked out pretty well for this, as if they were at the front of the stage, they’d have received an even dimmer dose from the front cans.
The stage was brightest around drummer Julian Dorio’s kit, with considerable falloff toward the edges. Unfortunately, this is exactly where Parker Gispert loved to rock out the most! Next time, right.
End Notes:
Fresh off their support of the Kooks (and the Toadies before that), The Whigs are touring with the Kings of Leon, so I’ll get another crack at these guys next week. Stay tuned, we’ll compare notes.
9 Comments Add your own
1. AlainG | October 29th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
Beautiful, as always :)
2. Todd | October 29th, 2008 at 3:10 pm
Hey Alain, thanks very much.
3. Dan | October 29th, 2008 at 3:49 pm
I think you did a wonderful job under those difficult conditions!
Well done Todd!
4. Todd | October 29th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
Hey Dan, thanks! This was a rough gig with the lighting, but I hope some of the rock came through. I’d love to photograph the Whigs with more “suitable” light levels. ;)
5. Chris | October 30th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
Damn, it’s a shame these guys were so far back. I shot these guys when they opened for Drive By Truckers last year and despite only playing for 30 mins, they absolutely killed it. I can only imagine what you would have taken if they were up close and personal.
6. Todd | October 30th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
Hey Chris,
Yeah, I was bummed to see that they were set up so far back, but it was a lot of fun just to see them rock out. I recall your shots from DBT and it would have been a party.
We’ll see on Monday how it goes when the Whigs open for Kings of Leon!
7. Chris Owyoung | November 4th, 2008 at 9:28 am
How did it go, hopefully they won’t be nearly as far back. Hopefully no potential was squandered by distance?
8. Todd | November 4th, 2008 at 2:28 pm
I haven’t taken a look at the images, but I dare say that their opening set for the Kooks was the more fruitful of the two shoots.
9. Mike | November 12th, 2008 at 5:03 pm
Todd, I am happy you’ve got to shoot The Whigs, they are my friends and all around great guys. They can definitely be a challanging shoot. When I shot them in Athens they brought their light show which meant they were almost entirely backlit - yay.
speak up
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