We're Havin' A Heatwave

Yes, it was Tropical Heatwave yesterday, and I was there with my trusty camera.  I haven't been posting much, but that doesn't mean I haven't been taking pictures.  I shot this last night during the Vodkanauts set in Centennial Park in Ybor, and I promised the girl you see that I'd post her picture  (I didn't get your name, sorry...).  Well, here it is.  Unfortunately, the camera is focused on her friend taking the picture, not her and Jonathan becoming BFFs.  So if she stops by, here is your picture.  I didn't even notice she had on a Gators shirt, so if she really is a Gator fan, she'll dig this.

Let Me Stand Next To Your Fire

Here's another photo I should have shared with you way back when. This was at Rockabilly Ruckus, an annual concert at Skipper's Smokehouse where they bring in a couple dozen bands and play variations on rockabilly all day and most of the night.  At one point, the Psycho Devilles came onstage, and who knew what was about to happen... I'd wondered why this guy's bass had a big stainless steel skin on one side, and as soon as he picked up that can of lighter fluid, I knew what was about to go down. I crouched down in a good spot with my camera and let the rapid-fire picture taking commence. This was probably my best shot of the night. I think I was trying to share my pictures of that night with you when Blogger decided to quit working for a while. By the time it got back to normal, I'd lost the urge to share.

Rockabilly Ruckus-Act Three

The third act of the night was actually a repeat of the first act, the one I skipped over earlier. It was a group of five pre-pubescent girls who dressed up and sang some songs to a pre-recorded tape. No idea how they got added to a bill of hardcore rockabilly acts, but they were cute. Closest they came to actually singing a rockabilly song was Jailhouse Rock. Other than that it was pop songs from Rockin' Robin to We Got The Beat. The audience sang along and everybody got a big kick out of it. They even snuck in a few costume changes. I imagine there were some proud parents in the audience.

Young'uns

A second kid picture in less than a week? That's a little out of character. Anyhow, this is a young fan enjoying the rockabilly stylings of the band I just showed you, Midnight Bowlers League. There were plenty of kids at the show, and I think some of them actually had parents in the bands performing. You'd see people who had just been up on stage in the audience, playing with their kids and introducing them to the music that they love.

Rockabilly Ruckus-Act Two

Let's see, who was up next at Rockabilly Ruckus 2011? I believe this is Midnight Bowlers League. I don't know anything about these guys, but I think I saw them at a previous Rockabilly Ruckus.





I love those big upright basses. I think every band that performed that night had an upright bass. One of them switched to a regular guitar-shaped bass for a song or two, but then it was back to the big mama-jama.


I think I need to work harder at getting shots of the drummers. I've noticed that I always seem to forget about them back there in the back, slaving away at the beat, but never getting the recognition that the guys up front are getting.

Rockabilly Ruckus-Act One

As I think I mentioned, I went to a concert this past weekend at Skipper's Smokehouse in Tampa. It was called Rockabilly Ruckus and it featured a handful of bands all loosely associated with rockabilly. The act you're seeing here was actually the second of the evening, but the act that preceded them played twice, so we'll catch them later on. This is 6 Volt Rodeo, a fine musical quartet. The guy getting shot to bits above while introducing the band is actually one of the DJs from WMNF, sponsor of the evenings festivities. This was the beginning of eight full hours of musical mayhem that left me drained, yet wanting more.

Pay close attention to that bass player, Mike Daley, you'll see him in at least one of the other bands on the bill. That seemed to be a recurring theme, people showing up to play in a second band later in the evening. My memory for faces is terrible, yet even I noticed the same people showing up again.

Twice during their set, they brought out this lovely lady to sing some sultry lead vocals. There were lots of ladies in the audience wearing their best swinger chick 60's outfits. If was a more forward photographer, I'd have gotten more pictures of them, but I'm too shy, and their boyfriends are too big... Actually, most of the ladies were taller than their beaus due to the popularity of some extremely high heels.

Talkin' 'Bout Last Night

OK, how many of you made it out to see The Vodkanauts perform The Wall last night? Not many, I'm guessing. From the looks of the State Theatre crowd last night, it may not have even sold out. And the crowd that was there was oddly sedate for a rock show. Everyone sat down for the whole show, even though it was general admission. And the dance floor was deserted, but that may come as no surprise to those familiar with the works of Pink Floyd. But it was still a great show, and I really enjoyed it. It changed just a little from the rehearsal the night before, the music was the same, but they added a backup singer, and there were more visuals on the screen. And the megaphone worked much better. So, what have I got for you? Just a couple of quick pictures before I head out of the house this morning. The shot above is the two lead singers for the evening. Jonathan, on the left, did most of the Gilmore vocals, and the guy on the right did the Waters stuff. What is his name? He's not a normal Vodkanaut... Brian, I think that's his name.

This is Mark, the lead guitarist. You can't see it here, but the back of his guitar says Beatles on it. I was going to give him a hard time about it, but I decided against it. Not that I don't like the Beatles, but it's a Floyd show...

This is the other guitarist, another non-Vodkanaut. He had some pretty good chops. I can't find his name anywhere. Sorry...

And this is Jonathan with the keyboard player, Ryan, who sat way back in the back and was hard to get a picture of. I, personally, am hoping they do Dark Side of the Moon in it's entirety next, but I'm not holding my breath.  Great show guys!

Tonight, Tonight, Tonight

For those of you who might be near Saint Petersburg tonight, be sure you come out to The Vodkanauts show. As I mentioned last week, they are performing Pink Floyd's The Wall in it's entirety at The State Theater on Central Ave. I was lucky enough to get to attend a rehearsal last night, and I have to say I was impressed. Even for a rehearsal, with all of it's stopping and starting, it's missed cues, it's flubbed notes, and multiple issues with a megaphone, it was quite the show.

I shot a little over 2000 pictures. I like to get my money's worth, and since I had the access, a rented lens, and a lot of enthusiasum, I went all out. I don't want to share too many shots here, especially since I don't want to ruin any of the surprises in the show. Trust me when I say it's worth your time and $15 to come out.

I didn't mention, but the performers are actually The Vodknauts and Friends. Some of the folks you'll see up on stage are just helping out for this show, and aren't regular members of the band. But they do a really good job of blending in and making it feel like a cohesive group. All the guys in the band were super nice to me and I have to admit it was really cool to be the only guy in the whole theater who was just there to enjoy the show. I'll be there tonight, but I'm sure I won't have the access I had during rehearsals.

Oops, there's that pesky megaphone!

Next Weekend

I found out a few days ago that perhaps my favorite local band, The Vodkanauts, would be performing perhaps one of my favorite albums, Pink Floyd's The Wall, in it's entirety for two shows next Friday night. That's April 2nd, in case you see this post too late. I shot some pictures of these guys last year at Tropical Heatwave, posted a few to the blog, and got an email a little while later from a band member asking if they could post them to their website. I was tickled pink that the band cared about my pictures, so I sent them all of the good ones.

When I heard about this Floyd show, I decided I wanted to shoot it. I fired off an email to the guitarist, who I'd sent the pictures to last time, and he said come on up. He even invited me to a rehearsal the night before the show!

So I am stoked about getting to see a band I like, playing music I like, and I get to take pictures with their blessing! How cool is that?

Now I have to rent a couple of nice lenses that can shoot in the dark. Can't just use any old equipment. :) Wish me luck!

Getting Closer To Famous

Those hep cats from the Vodkanauts were kind enough to post some of my pictures from their concert last Saturday at Tropical Heatwave to their own website. I like to think it's because I take such great pictures, but I have to admit it's because I was the only blogger that popped up when their lead guitarist went looking for pictures of the show a couple of days later. (There were lots of folks there with cameras, many of them nicer than mine. I always get lens envy at events like that.) Again, it's worth your time to go see these guys if they come to your neck of the woods. It might even be worth it if you have to drive a couple towns over, too.

Dig The Vodkanauts

Went to a music fest last Saturday, and nearly got rained out. But the rain finally let up and most of the acts went off without a hitch. You might remember some of my posts from Tropical Heatwave last year, and that's the show I went to this year. Unfortunately, I didn't like most of the bands they had this year. There was one good rockabilly group, but I couldn't get close enough to the stage to get any decent pictures. However, I lucked out when I decided to come inside and check out the oddly-named Vodkanauts. The bald guy above was belting out a swinging cover of Judas Priest's You Got Another Thing Comin', and I was hooked. These guys covered everything from Elvis to Prince, hitting the Stones and David Bowie along the way. Highlight for me was a Neil Diamond medley that had everyone in the ballroom jumping like they were playing House of Pain.

I love shooting live concerts, but I really don't have the equipment for it. I need a much faster lens, that is, one that let's in more light and lets you take shorter exposures. It's hard to capture the motion of spirited performers on stage if you have to shoot pictures that need half a second or more of exposure. But I think I got some good ones. The convert lighting was only marginal, and there were so many people in the room I couldn't get to the other half of the stage to shoot the other band members. But I got the lead singer and the guitarist. (I guess you can see the bassist and drummer in the background if you look close...)

Dig the model of the Sunshine Skyway bridge on the back wall of the stage. They had both parts back there, but only one was lit up for some reason.

Sometimes, a longer exposure works to your advantage. I don't think this shot would be as interesting if it were sharp. But most of the blurry ones are garbage. Anyhow, go see the Vodkanauts if they come to your town. They're local to the Tampa-St. Pete area, but you never know when they might branch out.

The Soulphonics Featuring Ruby Velle

Here's another of the bands from Tropical Heatwave last month. They're called The Soulphonics Featuring Ruby Velle. They play some sweet soul music. Well, that seems a little mellow. They were pretty upbeat, as you'll see in some of these pictures. You know that any band with a prominent horn section has to be pretty good.

The horn section alone can't carry the band though, so there's a guitarist and a keyboardist, too. I hope there's a better picture of the keyboard player here somewhere. He was an important part of their sound (think Booker T.), so I don't want to slight him with not having a picture. We'll see.

Oh, yeah, there's a drummer in there, too. You see him hanging out behind Ruby in many of these shots. But obviously the main focus of my lens is Ruby.

OK, here's the whole band so you can get an idea of who's where. This is the same hall that I saw Rocket 88 in later on in the night. This seemed to be the best stage of the four, at least as far as I was concerned.

There's the piano player again. Maybe you can see him a little better this time. Oh, and the drummer man. And of course, Ruby.

And more Ruby. She's got some pipes, trust me.

Still more Ruby. I'm like John Cusack's character in High Fidelity, I want to date a girl who's in a band. Put me in the liner notes to your LP, please. :)

And there's Ruby again, giving us all the finger. Or telling us she's number one. Yeah, that's it, she's number one! Oh, and I like the key she has on a chain around her neck. I used to have one of those on my keychain. Had it for years and years and years. I wonder what I did with that?

Ruby can't stop doing The Monkey. Or is it The Frugg? I'm not sure...

This must have been a more tender song. These guys are based in Atlanta, so I figure maybe I'll try to go see them the next time I'm up there. Maybe I can convince my buddy to hire them for his wedding reception. Oh, Ben?

When she first came out, I think I said something about her looking like Amy Winehouse. Maybe a little, but not so much. Any is a little scary sometimes in some pictures. Perhaps it's the crack. Don't know. Ruby hung out for hours after the show and watched some of the other bands play. She was even doing some crazy swing dancing at one point, which was pretty cool. I don't think you can swing dance if you've been smoking crack. I could be wrong, but I doubt it.

Here's a better picture of the drummer. Drummers don't get enough respect. They sit at the back of the stage where you can barely see them, and they rarely get a moment in the spotlight. And then there's the unfortunate fact that drum solos are a little passe at the moment... Oh, well.

Rocket 88

Here is another set of great photos that I have been remiss in sharing. One of the great bands I saw at Tropical Heatwave a month or so ago was Rocket 88. I'd never been to see these guys, as they are based over in Orlando, and don't make it over to Sarasota as far as I know. I did, however, manage to see The Midnight Ramblers several times, a spin-off group of sorts, featuring several of the same guys, and those were always great shows. So I had high hopes. Looking at that first photo above, you might think this was going to be a plain old ordinary show by guys in shiny suits.

Even the keyboard player looks as if he might be more inclined towards Beethoven than Bo Diddley.

Well, first impressions can be deceiving. These guys jumped into a set of flaming rockabilly that didn't let up until all the amps were fried and my ears were ringing. I don't think I knew any of the songs they played, but I was jumping around and screaming along with the rest of the audience. These guys knew how to put on a show.

I was surprised at some of the pictures I got. I didn't think I would get any shots at all of the drummer, as he stayed back in the dark for the whole show. But I got lucky a few times.

And the keyboard player got into the act quite a bit as well. (The keyboardist from The Midnight Ramblers, who I thought was in Rocket 88, used to pour lighter fluid on the fake piano built around his keyboard and light it up. This guy didn't do that, but he was still pretty good.)

The guitarist made that thing talk.

And the bass player made it talk, too. Or maybe it's just a really big guitar. Hard to say...

The lead singer? Well, he's not one to let the audience down.

He even let the audience sing a few bars every once in a while. That guy you can't see too well on the right of the picture was trying to swing dance down in front of the stage. Several times I felt his partner's feet whiz past my head as he was throwing her up into the air. Who knew dancing could be so dangerous.

I think he was channeling some demon here, or maybe Sid Vicious. Not sure... That shirt gave my camera fits the whole night.

Sometimes things got a little topsy-turvy down at my end of the stage.

This is right towards the end of the show. The bass player climbed up on top of the bass, and was playing for all he was worth. I was down on my knees trying to shoot upwards for a better angle.

Next thing I knew, the lead singer is down in my face, singing (or screaming) into my lens.

All I could do was hold down the button and hope for the best. I wasn't disappointed. If I were you, I'd go out and buy a Canon camera. They are the best.

And be sure you get a Rocket 88 CD!

There's nothing better than a little in-your-face rock and roll. This is why you want to be down front at the show.