“Fictional” melodic death metal band Dethklok put on a very real set at the Pageant that had metalheads in the front rows doing very serious hair whips.
Photographer’s Notes:
After photographing Converge and Mastodon, I had my doubts about this tour’s lighting. While doing research for the Adult Swim Presents 2009 tour, I saw a lot of red, green, and blue washes, which had me wondering just how bad the lighting for this gig was going to be.
And, while there were a lot of primary washes on the stage, this was, for the most part, punctuated at times by nice blasts of light from spots on the stage that created a lushes and more complex treatment.
Of course, the lighting design was intended to highlight the animated nature of the “band,” as a large screen at the back of the stage flashed video throughout the show.
At the forefront for this live performance was Brendon Small, Dethklok’s “co-creator,” who very seriously laid down lead vocals and guitar for this gig.
Small didn’t put on a tremendously active performance, but for photography this was actually a boom, given the lighting. For the most part, Small’s vocal duties kept him locked to the mic, though he did step back from time to time to rock out.
While monitors, lighting rigs, and his mic stand blocked super clear views of bassist Bryan Beller, I had a lot of fun photographing him. I always enjoy covering a man (or woman) who loves to rock the powerstance.
Given a plethora of monitors at the front of the stage and the band’s relatively removed position, I used the Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 and Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 for this set. The 14-24mm f/2.8 was simply too wide for this gig, though I would have liked to use it given that ultra-wides are usually a match made in heaven for metal.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 21st, 2009 at 5:13 pm and is filed under Music Photography and tagged with adult swim presents, brendon small, images, live, metal, Music Photography, photographer, photos. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Fictional or not, animated band Dethklock very seriously rocks. There were hairwhips. I was whipped by human hair. http://retwt.me/1gdwc
Fictional or not, animated band Dethklock very seriously rocks. There were hairwhips. I was whipped by human hair. http://retwt.me/1gdwc
@bryanbeller Thank you for aping for me, sir. My face — and my camera lens — were melted. http://retwt.me/1gdwc
RT @toddowyoung Images of Dethklok | ishootshows.com http://retwt.me/1gdwc
[...] group, their set was still a blast to cover on the Adult Swim Presents 2009 Tour performing with Dethklok and [...]
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My name is Todd, and I love the rock show. My work has appeared in publications such as Rolling Stone, SPIN, the New York Times, Alternative Press, Metal Hammer, Entertainment Weekly, and Billboard Magazine. I'm available for worldwide travel for editorial and commercial assignments.
Gorgeous as always, Todd. I was bummed to miss that show. Where are the drummer shots, man? Mean Gene is the real deal.
Hey Woody, nice to hear from you. Sorry, no drummer shots on this one. Gene looked pretty ferocious, but so was his drum kit, which blocked just about all angles on him. Lighting on the drum kit was
also pretty bleak. Next time!
Fuck yes, these fuckin’ rule. Now I’m really sad I missed that show.
Hey Joey,
Thanks for the comment – you should catch this tour if they’re coming back around your area, it’s a great one.
Absolutely beautiful shots! (I’m a FOBB who caught this from his Twitter) – having seen both the Chicago and Columbus shows from separate POVs, a wide “full-on” view in Chicago and a “stage view” in Columbus and having seen some downright astounding shows in the recent past (NIN’s “Lights In The Sky” comes to mind as the most innovative rock show from a visual perspective) you’re dead-on in both respects: that DethKlok wasn’t an “amazing” show in terms of lighting design, but that wasn’t it’s purpose. Brendon’s described the live band as the “Pit Orchestra” (pun certainly intended) to the video aspects, and doesn’t want to “break the fourth wall” in that regard. Given that, I think the fairly high-intensity fills and the spot and strobe hits make for a very nice compromise in the “Live Band vs Video” focus of the show.
You also might want to consider contacting Mike Lull Custom Guitars (the builders of Bryan’s basses) – he’s playing a new model of theirs on the ‘Klok tour, and your shots are so nice (the “blue fill” especially) that I can see them being interested in licensing a shot or three. :D
Hey Ian,
Always nice to hear from fans of the musicians I photograph, glad you found these images through Bryan’s Twitter.
I think that this tour had a good balance between the screen and effects for the band. I think that there could have easily been even more emphasis on the animated aspect, but, as you said, the treatment was a nice compromise.
Thanks for the tip on Mike Lull guitars, I’ll follow up on that. Cheers!