“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.
