2015: A Year in Pictures

Hello, darlings. I hope you are having excellent holidays, or at least excellent days.

Normally this feature is just a year’s worth of shows – or a year and a bit – but I’m doing something a little different this time around. 2015 has been amazing, at times, and brutal, at others, and as I uploaded my images, it occurred to me that some of the silences had as much of an impact as the instances of joyful noise.

So, here it is: a year of pictures of rockstars, and some other things, too.

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Book of Love, Terminal 5, New York, NY, Dec. 31, 2014

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Andy Bell, Erasure, Terminal 5, New York, NY, Dec. 31, 2014

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Kennedy (tuxedo) and Nikita (fluffball), dozing, New York, NY, Jan. 17, 2015

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Nikita, 2001-Feb. 16, 2015

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Kennedy, Feb. 28, 2015

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2013: A Year in Pictures

A full year of rock ‘n’ roll pictures, January to December, New York to Boston to Philadelphia to Brooklyn. They might not be the best pictures ever, but they are mine.

Magic Trick, Webster Hall, New York, NY, January 14, 2013
 

Father John Misty, Webster Hall, New York, NY, January 14, 2013
 

Wildstreet, Best Buy Theater, New York, NY, January 24, 2013
 

William Control, Best Buy Theater, New York, NY, January 24, 2013
 

Andy Biersack, Black Veil Brides, Best Buy Theater, New York, NY, January 24, 2013
 

Andy Biersack, Black Veil Brides, Best Buy Theater, New York, NY, January 24, 2013
 

Ashley Purdy, Black Veil Brides, Best Buy Theater, New York, NY, January 24, 2013
 

Jake Pitts and Jinxx, Black Veil Brides, Best Buy Theater, New York, NY, January 24, 2013
 

Jinxx, Black Veil Brides, Best Buy Theater, New York, NY, January 24, 2013
 

Pete Wentz book signing, New York, NY, February 21, … Continue reading

Postcards from the Pit: Black Veil Brides / William Control / Wildstreet, 1/25/2013

This was not my first show of the new year, but it was the one I looked forward to for days in a state of nervous, fluttery happiness. It was also my second Black Veil Brides event in one week; the first one was a viewing of Legion of the Black, the movie that accompanies / amplifies their new record, Wretched and Divine: The Story of the Wild Ones.

I say accompanies/amplifies because the movie both illustrates and provides a narrative structure for the record. You can listen to and enjoy the record without ever watching the film, but it’s somewhat like listening to the official soundtrack of a Broadway show and never seeing the stage play itself.

I got watch five minutes of the movie at the listening party in December; having now experienced the rest I can tell you it is interesting, conceptually and thematically, but I’m holding off on making detailed commentary until I can watch it again when it gets a wider re-release in the spring.

Meanwhile, onwards to the show:
 
Wildstreet, of New York, were up first. They have a new record out. Here are some pictures of (most … Continue reading

Report from a Listening Party: Black Veil Brides, Wretched and Divine

Wretched and Divine: The Story of the Wild Ones is album number three for Black Veil Brides.

As a quick introduction to their current aesthetic, here’s the video for the first single, In the End, which dropped on Wednesday:
 

Watch this video on YouTube

 

The rest of Wretched and Divine is due out in early January, and will be accompanied by a movie called Legion of the Black.

Buying a ticket for the New York premiere of Legion of the Black was what led to me being one of the lucky people who got to attend a listening party for Wretched and Divine today.

We got to listen to it all the way through one time. The following notes and observations are based on that single hearing:

  • This record is big, in the sense that it is ambitious, and in the sense that it contains multitudes. It is expansive, but not bloated, and heavy, at times, but not ponderous.

    One of my notes on I Am Bulletproof, the first song, was WHAMMO guitar time! More punch than drag; heavy drums, lots of shredding, but … Continue reading