While Mastodon was graced with some of the more interesting light of the night, quick changes and a stack of monitors on the stage made this anything but a cake-walk of a shoot. Still, the sheer intensity and delivery of Mastodon is enough to win over any music photographer even in spite of ghoulish color combinations.
Photographer's Notes:
Mastodon are always great subjects for live music photography, and while the lighting was a beast for this heavy metal group, their set was still a blast to cover on the Adult Swim Presents 2009 Tour performing with Dethklok and Converge.
Overall, the band wasn't too active on stage, what with power stances and vocal duties that required attention, but Mastodon still laid down a really fierce performance. I was a little surprised in this regard, as I seem to recall that the guys moved around on stage a little more when I caught them at Mayhem Fest last year.
The lighting mix for this set was a very deep treatment of cyan, magenta, and warm white light – sometimes all at once.
Due to the height of the stage at the Pageant and the wedges, the Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 was plenty wide for this concert, while the Nikon 70-200mm was nice for what it does best: bringing the action in close.
Here's a wide snap to give you an idea of the setup and the general balance of the lighting:
