a will away
It feels like the past year hasn't happened.
As I write this, it's September 2022, two weeks after I turned 31. And I feel like I didn't even live the year of being 30 years old. My energy shifted so much from exploring music and working on various creative projects to focusing on my health and managing pain, which has sometimes been unbearable. Has any time even passed? All my attention has been on my body and health – what about my life?
I don't know who I am right now or what I'm "doing" or what my purpose is. In 2018 – seven years into my writing career – I dove in harder than I ever had in hopes of avoiding my emotions. Then something incredible happened: it seemed to pay off. I was forming relationships with publicists at top labels, artists I loved and writers I respected liked my work, and most importantly, I felt something: I was proud. I was grinding, pushing out feature after feature all while working a full-time job and being active in volunteering. Writing became more of who I am than it ever had been. It all felt worth it, until one day, it didn't.
Read More2016 has certainly been an interesting year. I shot 129 shows in 2015 but I shot significantly fewer this year, since I was on the road with PETA and peta2 most of the year. I spent this spring on the road for peta2's college campus tour, and made it a point to check out shows on my nights off whenever I was able to. I spent this summer working for peta2 on the Vans Warped Tour, which was a dream come true. I worked hard at outreach, and whenever I had a break or a day off, I was shooting sets. I spent the end of the summer and the beginning of the fall in Orlando as the Tour Administrator for PETA's I, Orca exhibit, where I was able to catch some shows at Backbooth and The Social. This fall and winter, I've worked ten shows for peta2 around the Northeast as a Concert Rep.
This year, I was able to travel to Thailand and Israel (blog post coming soon, but there are a few images up on my Instagram already). I never thought I'd be able to visit either of these places, so to go to both in one year was absolutely incredible.
I'm so grateful for all of the traveling I was able to do this year. I narrowed it down to 22 of my favorite live music images from 2016- some of them I've posted before but some have yet to be seen by anyone but myself. These images were taken in 15 cities across 12 different states; 7 are from Warped Tour and the rest from other shows. There are local bands and some of my longtime favorite musicians.
Without further ado, here are my favorite and most important live music images from 2016.
Read MoreI first met Pentimento in March 2013. I'd been following the band and listening to their music for awhile, and I'm glad I skipped studying / paper-writing to go to the show: they definitely didn't disappoint. Mike (drums / vocals, as well as the band's primary lyricist) and Jeramiah (vocals / guitar) were both incredibly well-spoken in the interview we did that day (check that out here), and they, along with Vinny (bass / vocals) and Lance (guitar), have always been so kind and welcoming to me at their shows. It's rare that you find a band that are not only such great musicians- both recorded and live- but great people as well, and I'm grateful to be able to call Pentimento friends of mine. One challenge I made to myself this year was to photograph bands multiple nights in a row, or at least multiple nights on the same tour. I want to focus on being able to produce images that are unique, yet have a certain consistency from night to night. I've found that doing so gives you a different insight into a band's performance- you really start to pay attention to and get to know how they move on stage, who stands where and who does what, when.
From mid-October to early November, Pentimento went on their first proper headlining tour in the East Coast / Midwest, where they were joined by Better Off, A Will Away, and Caleb and Carolyn. One of the perks of living where I do in New Jersey is that there are so many cities within an easy driving distance (or an easy commute on public transit), and I'm glad it worked out for me to photograph five dates of the tour! I photographed each band that performed each night (Better Off didn't perform the last few shows I was at, as they had to leave the tour early; and I missed Caleb and Carolyn's set the first night), and some of the shows had local openers as well.
Check out the full blog after the break!
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