“Had the Powers That Be at the Daily Planet known that photographers would be relegated to the sound board (akin to shooting from across the street) at the State Theatre on May 12, they might have instead opted to send a writer to fill the single press spot they were granted by Cake. However, as the sole TCDP representative, I will endeavor to share some of my observations with you.”
Photos and reluctant review by Mandy Dwyer.
“After another batch of songs from C’mon, the gorgeous ‘Sunflower’ off of 2001’s Things We Lost In the Fire was the start of my realization that this was to be one of the best shows I’ve seen Low play out of well over a dozen shows.”
Review by Kyle Matteson, photos by Mandy Dwyer.
“Apparently confident in his drawing power, Tiësto’s bookers bumped the DJ up from Epic, where he last played in Minnesota in 2009, to the Roy Wilkins Auditorium—a venue with 244% of Epic’s capacity—and additionally bumped his ticket prices up by 60%, to a steep $72 for general admission. Unsurprisingly, the reserved seats in the upper deck were sparsely populated, and though the general admission floor was busier, outside the clutch of people pressing towards the stage, the event felt something like a school dance with plenty of room left open for the Holy Spirit.”
Review, with fantastic DJ/crowd photos by Mandy Dwyer.
This was the first time in my one second “career” as a show photographer that the band management placed any stipulations on the photos I took. The day before the show, I received an email that said “**PLEASE NOTE: All photos must be cleared by Tiësto’s management prior to use.” Not overly demanding considering the increase in rights-grabbing contracts that photographers are being presented with these days but interesting nonetheless. I didn’t actually sign anything agreeing that I’d follow protocol but I did anyway. I had four or five shots rejected - mostly all close-ups of Tiësto. I think that part sat worse with me than the approval requirement in the first place. I figured it was to protect themselves in some way from lewd, inappropriate shots (whatever those may be for someone who stands at a computer the entire show) but this seems to be just plain vanity. And that’s lame.
Lots of discussion on rights-grabbing, over the top demands on music photographers going on in the Music Photographers group on Facebook.
“Apparently confident in his drawing power, Tiësto’s bookers bumped the DJ up from Epic, where he last played in Minnesota in 2009, to the Roy Wilkins Auditorium—a venue with 244% of Epic’s capacity—and additionally bumped his ticket prices up by 60%, to a steep $72 for general admission. Unsurprisingly, the reserved seats in the upper deck were sparsely populated, and though the general admission floor was busier, outside the clutch of people pressing towards the stage, the event felt something like a school dance with plenty of room left open for the Holy Spirit.”
Review, with fantastic DJ/crowd photos by Mandy Dwyer.
“How do you even ‘review’ a show like this? It was absolutely fucking nuts. Almost everyone danced the whole time. Arms were constantly in the air. People were grinding on each other on the mezzanine rail and even on the pizza counter, for God’s sake.”
A review of Girl Talk at First Avenue, with amazing photos by Mandy Dwyer.
“If it seemed unbelievable that I was walking home on yet another snowy night in this endless winter, it was just as unbelievable—though much more happily so—that I was walking home from a Gayngs show. The sprawling supergroup united by Ryan Olson for last year’s blissful but complex disc Relayted are miraculously somehow still together; on Sunday night they played in Minneapolis for the first time since the epic Last Prom on Earth in May 2010, headlining First Avenue for a three-room mini-festival of acts who are, er, affiliyated with Gayngs members.”
With super saxy photos by Mandy Dwyer.
Yann Tiersen at the Cedar Cultural Center on February 26: Photos by Mandy Dwyer.
Josh Ritter at First Avenue: So happy. Review by Kate Gallagher, with beautiful photos by Mandy Dwyer.
“‘Ladies and gentlemen, I’m a weak man. A couple of my weaknesses are ladies—well, now that’s the sound I like!’ said Earle, pausing while a few women in the audience screamed—’and fried chicken. And I can’t decide which I like better…but let’s face it, fried chicken is cheaper but it gives me a lot less to write songs about.’”
Natalie Gallagher reviews Justin Townes Earle’s Valentine’s Day performance at First Avenue, with sexy photos by Mandy Dwyer. You’ve been warned!
The Decemberists and Mountain Man at the State Theatre: Review by Kyle Matteson, with stunning photos by Mandy Dwyer.
Rite in the Rain All-Weather Journals.
Made some new staff illustrations for The Tangential writer page today. More to come tomorrow.
To paraphrase the Grateful Dead, “Birther, don’t you come around here anymore.”
you got way too much money for...
Here is Erica firing the MP5 like she’s Ripley from Aliens. Complete badass. Fearless. (Taken with instagram)
I. Love....
Author Jonathan Lethem talks about his book on Talking Heads’ Fear of Music in the latest installment of our Paper Trail feature...
Over the memorial day weekend, I visited the Red Wing Shoe store, in Red Wing...
