Queens of the Stone Age

I guess you could call last night the ‘opening act’ of my Foogasm tour. The Queens of the Stone Age played St. Louis last night and it was an AWESOME SHOW! I got there a little late and parking was a nightmare, so by the time I got inside the opening band was already playing. They were called ‘The Doughrollers’ I believe, a hard-edged rockabilly band that tasted a bit like the Stray Cats mixed with Social Distortion. They were good, although I’m not sure rockabilly suits the Queens crowd…still the crowd was polite and appreciative as seems to be the norm in St. Louis.

I worked my way down to the pit, hoping to get close enough for a decent photo or three. I got stuck around the middle of the floor behind five amped up dudes all over 6’ 3”. Damn. I tried getting around them, but no luck. I decided to wait it out, thinking there’d be a massive reshuffle on the floor once QotSA took the stage and I could flow right away from them. After a couple of elbows to the mouth and one to the right boob, I thought I might be doomed. The show hadn’t even started yet.

I think if I’d been drunker, I might have been more aggressive in staking my claim to a position on the floor. I’ve noted that for future reference…show up early and have a few drinks before attempting the pit. Anyway, the band took the stage and they were fantastic right off the bat, (Regular John and Avon nearly gave me squee overload) but there was no big wave that pushed me away from the tall guys. Bummer. I kept thinking to myself, ‘Damn, Josh Homme is 15 feet away from me, and all I can see is your nappy-assed head, drunk dude.’

I couldn’t get over how static the pit was. Usually once the band starts, it gets pretty liquid as people rock out, but last night everyone stood their ground like stone soldiers. Still, it was cool, I managed to get a few photos and rock out, but by the fifth or sixth song my battery died (photographer FAIL) and I had to pee and I wanted booze! So I crawled out of the pit. One guy literally would not move, so I apologized then pushed him out of the way so I could get around. Dude, you can’t just not move when someone’s trying to get out. Seriously, pit etiquette.

Ladies room, then the bar where I sucked down a very strong Jack and Coke. It was totally impossible to see from the bar area though, so I tossed my drink back and made my way over to a nice open spot in the back of the crowd stage left. It was perfect. I could see everything and I could dance! Squee! I watched the rest of the show there, but I noticed that there was a pathway guarded by venue staff that people were using to get right in at the front of the pit! Hey!

So when the encore came…guess where I was? Major fangirl euphoria when they played Little Sister. The whole crowd went nuts. Go With The Flow got an even bigger rush of fan love. I took some more pics with my phone, but…meh.

One of the aspects of the show that really made photography difficult was the constant blasts of really bright white light from behind the band. It made exposure a complete bitch. After doing some research on technique before the show, I’d settled on manual mode, ISO 800, auto WB, multi-point metering, and single shot instead of bursts. Things might have turned out differently, if my battery hadn’t died, but I learned a vital photography lesson last night (not just the battery thing either.)

When I shot Cowboy Mouth in February, I got more solid ‘good’ shots than any other rock show I’ve attempted to photograph. I shot it with my point and shoot, just like the Queens show. But for CM, I went with burst mode instead of single shot. On my camera, that limits you to ISO 400, which is really too low for the less-lit opening act, but better for the brighter lights they put on the main act (frankly, in the case of Queens I could have gone way lower on ISO). I don’t trust auto ISO at a show…shutter speed is just too unpredictable. Another thing I’d gotten right at CM was the metering. For that show, I used center-point metering and the exposure was more accurate and the shots didn’t wind up so washed out as they did last night. The advantage of burst mode is that you hopefully get one shot that is in focus. Motion blur from the band moving or me being jostled in the crowd is inevitable, so burst mode increases your chances of getting at least one good shot every time you lift the camera.

So…lessons learned.

1. Parking is a bitch, show up early.
2. Have a couple of drinks and go pee before entering the pit.
3. Look for alternate entrances to said pit.
4. Carry a spare, charged battery.
5. Burst mode
6. Central-point metering

Failures aside, I did get a couple of ‘okay’ shots. This is probably the best one…



However, this one is my favorite…



Overall, concert experience A+, Photography C-. Onward and upward.

In other news, the Foo Fighters are on SNL this weekend! :D And I’m going to a gig Friday night and shooting some local performers…more practice and fun with friends!