The HorrorPops
Left Alone
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
A couple of weeks ago, cloquewerk asked me if I wanted to see a show with him. A psychobilly show. Since I'd never gone to a psychobilly show, how could I possibly refuse? I agreed without even knowing the name of the band. Or any of the details. Which is good, because he didn't have them at the time.
Then, on the show date, I met up with messiahdivine at Café L'Etranger. The entrance appeared to be blocked by construction, which is a typical thing for this time of year, but we found a convoluted way inside. I brought along drheld and his girlfriend, who were staying at my place at the time. They left, wlach and _watchtower_ showed up. Then someone else, whose name I have now lost, showed up as well.
We walked to Club Soda, where the music was already thumping. I made my way to the front, where a small crowd was standing by the stage. Two people, wearing black T-shirts were busy flailing their bodies about in epileptic dance. I slowly navigated to front and centre, where I could try to get some photographs. Which reminded me that they had checked me for a "professional" camera as I came through the door.
Kamilla
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
I'm not sure I thought about Left Alone, who were very loud and difficult to hear. But the audience seemed rather pleased at it. Indeed, there were even people singing along, so I'm sure there were fans in the audience. The nice thing about this audience was that they were really into participating in the show. The poor thing about this audience was that their participation was not always constructive. Security guards were peppered liberally throughout the audience.
The Horrorpops were greeted by very loud cheering. Their setup was quite interesting, as they had dancers as well as musicians. This was actually a very good plan, because the dancers were not only fun to watch, but also good at inspiring the crowd to dance. Interestingly enough, the crowd's idea of dancing was very similar to moshing.
I had trouble standing still to take pictures. And my poor camera isn't very good at low light photography anyway, so I had to try very hard not to get jostled whilst protect it from flying bodies. It was exciting.
As the show went on, I began to acquire an appreciation for the music. But it was really the showmanship that was more exciting. One girl was wished a happy birthday by Patricia Day, and the girl was absolutely thrilled.
HorrorPops
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
One of my secrets for taking concert photographs is to just keep on trying to capture moments when the stage spots get turned up. Typically, the musicians will pose, which makes for an interesting picture. But really, I do it so that I won't have to use the flash. Another secret is to keep on taking photographs, because most of them will turn out terribly. This is how I use probability to make up for a lack of skill.
By the end, my camera was full and I was sick of getting blows to the back. So I wandered towards the rear where I found Will moshing with some people in a less crowded environment. I stood around there a while, before I saw Watchtower trying to avoid the crowd. She was wearing these stunning heels, which were gorgeous, but not very useful in a mosh-pit.
Once the show wrapped up, we sat around outside on some temporary walkway and chatted. St-Laurent is being dug up again, so there are plenty of those to do that upon.