The Road to Warped
Or
How Cobra Starship Changed my Life
My wife, son and I are all into music, though often it’s very different music. It was my wife and son who dragged me to The Chance in
I wasn’t looking forward to it. I'd been a big concert goer in my youth. In high school that meant big arena rock shows - Van Halen, The Police, Blue Oyster Cult, David Bowie. In college I switched to punk. Concerts in those days weren't that great. The big shows were impersonal, the bands didn't seem to give a shit about the audience, were going through the motions, collecting a check. If they did give a shit, it was hard to tell from halfway back in some huge auditorium. The punk shows were more raw, but the bands were often indifferent or outright hostile toward the audience. The Ramones, wonderful as they were, acted as if the crowd wasn't there. I remember Jello Biafra from The Dead Kennedys excoriating us all as "brain dead sheep." What a way to build a rapport.
The first act was Cobra Starship, a last minute addition to the bill and a favorite of my wife and son. I’d never heard Cobra before, and only had the vaguest clue who they were. Yet once they took the stage, I realized how wrong all my preconceived notions were. I was blown away. They were simply amazing. Their connection with the audience was real. Their energy was impossible to fake. I loved it. And I realized that music had changed since I was a young man. The bands were really into it. Really working it.
The other reason I’d come along was to take some pictures. At this point, the digital camera our family owned was a Fuji Finepix F550. A decent enough little rig for birthday parties and vacation photos, but no where near good enough for taking concert photos from audience position in a darkly lit space like The Chance.
To put it mildly, the pictures sucked ass. Here’s an example, in case you don’t believe me. Shit, right? I think that's Gabe. Maybe.
Thus began my obsession – getting decent concert photos. I especially wanted to capture Cobra. I wanted to record that energy on film, freeze it in time, and let it live forever.
I shot all through the night, as four more terrific bands played culminating in an amazing set by TAI. I wasn't crazy about all of the bands, musically speaking, but I respected them. These were young artists working their asses off. Anyone who works their ass off in pursuit of a dream can hold their head high, as far as I'm concerned. I had a chance to chat with some of them in the merch area, including Gabe and Rylan, and found them all to be smart, level-headed people who were willing to do what it took to succeed and had a genuine loyalty to and love for their fans.
That was the good part of the night. The bad part was the pictures. I kept taking photos, with little but shit to show for it. I tried every strategy I could think of, and failed.
I vowed to do better next time.
Our next concert was Fall Out Boy at
I decided to upgrade cameras. After researching extensively, I settled on a Canon point and shoot model. My wife and son went to see Cobra again at The Chance. (I missed it because of work.) The pictures were better, but they were too busy dancing to take that many.
I was disappointed I didn’t get to go to the show. I wanted to see Cobra again and, damn it, I wanted to get some good photos of them! This is a totally male thing. Present us with a challenge and we won’t quit until we beat it. This was my challenge.
Our next concert was The Bamboozle where both my wife and I shot. Most of the event was day lit, and the night shows were very brightly illuminated. So we did okay.
But not good enough. Shooting from the audience position just wasn’t cutting it for me.
It was time to stop screwing around. I decided to take this seriously, to the point of founding my own website devoted exclusively to pro-level concert photography. The seeds that had been planted trying to shoot that first Cobra Starship show had blossomed. Thus, was Shotmonster born.
Having the idea wasn’t enough. I spent days researching cameras and lenses, finally settling on the Nikon D300. (Now that the D700 is out I have to seriously consider upgrading one of my bodies) But having a site and a camera wasn’t enough, I needed a show to shoot. I went straight to the Cobra website to see when their next tour was. I saw they were on Warped, pleaded for a photopass, and what the hell, I got one.
I shot the
I threw myself into the shoot. It was one of the most exciting days of my life. Being so close to the bands, right in the middle of the action, was a non-stop adrenalin high. I didn’t stop for a second, running from stage to stage, covering every band I could.
But the one band I had to get was Cobra Starship. By the time their 8pm set rolled around, I was utterly spent. I’d been on my feet all day with 20 pounds of camera gear hanging off my neck. I’d had no time to eat anything except the beef jerky and trail mix I’d brought with me. I’d been hit with water bottles, kicked in the head by surfers coming over the barricades, argued with stubborn security guards who didn’t understand that my photo pass meant that yes, I was actually allowed to go right in front of the stage for the first three songs of each set.
So, yeah, I was exhausted. I parked myself in front of the Highway 1 stage, set my cameras on a speaker stack to get the weight off my neck, and watched as the sun set, praying it wouldn't get too dark to shoot.
Even as the last notes of the Gym Class Heroes set next door faded, Cobra took the stage. All exhaustion was gone and I lit up like a Christmas Tree. Their energy was infectious, and I shot over 900 pictures in the space of maybe twenty minutes.
We got kicked out of the pit after the third song. I decided to get the hell out of dodge, get to my car and beat traffic. I had a nearly three hour drive home staring me in the face. As I was walking out, I heard Gabe begin his intro for Bring It. No way I was going to miss this. I turned around, made my way to the edge of the crowd and raised my camera to my eye.
Full circle. I’d started in the audience at The Chance shooting Cobra Starship with a Finepix F550. Now I was back in the audience, shooting them again. Only now I had the firepower to actually capture something usable. Better than that, I got the thrill of being there for an incredible.
Think about these guys do. Not just Cobra, all of them. They're on Warped, traveling hundreds of miles a day, from city to city, playing over and over again, yet each time they come out, they perform with an energy that makes it seem like the first time they ever played live. Simply amazing. My hat is off to each and every band, from the smallest acts playing outside near the ticket booth, to the biggest acts playing main stage. You guys all rock.
What a day.
Thanks, Cobra, for getting me into this. I hope you guys like the photos.
