May 2011: Loudness, Rammstein & Nolan Garrett

Wow... We actually had a pretty calm month! BUT, I know what's coming - London. So I think we planned it this way.

05.06.2011: Loudness at The Boardwalk in Orangevale, CA

OK, I had no knowledge of this band at all. Why did we drive down to the Sacramento area for this show? Loudness is one of Mike's favorite bands. They are an 80's rock band from Japan and they seldom tour the states. This worked out perfectly cause we had plans in Reno the day after the show so we drove down a day early to catch Loudness in Sacramento then drove to Reno the next morning.

The place was packed. I stayed up front and snagged a pic from the bass player. There were a ton of people there that knew all the words to the songs. Mike was the only photographer allowed. 

Here are the shots: Loudness - The Boardwalk - Orangevale, CA 5/6/11

05.15.2011 Rammstein at the Tacoma Dome in Tacoma, WA

OK.. WOW is the only way to start off talking about this show. Are you kidding me? Crazy good music and even crazier good show. How they get away with some of their antics and show posters, I have no idea! Check out my video:

05.27.2011: Nolan Garrett at Louie G's in Fife, WA

We go from 80's rock to a young blues guitar player. Nolan is only 13 and is already opening up for Randy Hansen (The composer and Jimi Hendrix tribuite musician). Nolan plays a lot. if you have a chance to catch him, please do. The youth musicians in this area are really something to be excited about. There is a new generation of musician that really have bright futures and they all play styles that are just a little bit different from each other.

Photos: Nolan Garrett Trio

Feb 2011: Slash, A7X, Stone Sour, Hollywood Undead, New Medicine

February only had a couple of shows this time around, but they were good ones!


Slash with Myles Kennedy:
February 5th was Slash at the Tacoma Dome opening for Ozzy. Mike shot Slash, but he didn't get a pass for Ozzy. Dailies and weeklies only this time around. No radio stations or blogs. We had great seats and I was allowed to bring in my point and click so I did manage to get a few shots in.

This was the second time that I had seen Slash perform with Myles Kennedy. I liked them better in the larger arena. Myles sounded better too. I think he may have had a cold the previous show.

Ozzy held his own. To this day it amazes me that he is coherent on stage but completely incoherent off stage. He is alive when he performs and seems to be really present. I'm not an Ozzy fan, but I did enjoy my first Ozzy show. Here's a video of 'Iron Man':

Ozzy Osbourne - 'Iron Man'

Toyota Center, Kenewick, WA 02.12.2011:
Headlining the show, Avenged Sevenfold of course killed it along with it's tech in this video of the opening song 'Nightmare'. He's just fine ;)
I've seen Avenged several times and am NEVER disappointed with their show, other than it ends.

New Medicine opened up the show and I got to use my new D7000 for the first time to shoot it. I only had a photo pass for them so you get videos of the rest. We are friends with the guys so I am completely biased when I say they totally nailed it. Next up was Hollywood Undead who I had never seen before. High high energy. It was interesting but a little much for me. Before A7X took the stage, we got to see Stone Sour. I've seen them a few times as well. This time though, I was actually distracted by Corey's hair. I'm used to seeing in shorn very short. After Stone Sour was done, Corey came out to the soundboard and was standing right in front of me visiting with either M Shadows OR Synyster Gates wife (they are married to twins dontch know).

Stone Sour - 'Digital'

Hollywood Undead - 'Young'