Photographer: Kevin Hobbs
Site: HERE
Based in: San Francisco
ONE
CoRE
CoRE. Constructs of Ritual Evolution, they are performance artists; a strange rogue’s gallery of characters both scary & bizarre. Drummers pounding away the whole time while that orange light is spinning off to the side. This was at the Oakland Metro Operahouse, October 2009. By the way, those spikes holding the wings go through piercings in the back. I think this was before they even got to the “suspension” act. This was a wild night; first a punk house show in West Oakland, then off to Thee Parkside for some metal, then back to Oakland Metro for some performance art *whew*.
TWO
Bone House
House shows… I love them. After working decades at big concerts, house shows are an exotic, rare treasure. Around here people nickname their houses. This was at the Bone House. The bands were playing in the dining room, mosh-pit in the living room. I am always busy doing videos, so I don’t usually have time for “regular” photos. Most of my photos (maybe 3/4 of them) are single frames from the videos. Sometimes they are a little grainy, but I can get the exact moment I want. It is now my “preferred” method of photography. And without a flash, it preserves the ambiance of the moment. Sometimes the faces tell a story better than sharpness or color. For some reason I am always drawn to this photo.
THREE
Blod Rott
Generator shows, may fav. Even better than house shows. This was Blod Rott at a generator show about hour North of here. The intensity level was amazing; and unlike the big stadium shows, you can get up really close to the band. The videos came out great (this is another screenshot from a vid, my usual method of getting pix). These guys were crustier than a buttermilk biscuit. Mosh pit, lots of nice friends, music outdoors…what more could you ask for? I did once hear that in San Diego they occasionally have “sewer shows”. I want a sewer show. I once saw a show at night in a cave by the ocean, that was amazing. But for now, generator shows still rule.
FOUR
Fireball
This is the one photo I see *every* day. Farticus playing at the Black Metal Toga Party one evening in someone’s back yard, “The Doghouse”. Farticus plays fartcore, a.k.a. brown metal. Suddenly one guy starts blowing fireballs into the sky. As if the female signer didn’t already have enough of a fetish for fire, now the audience is blowing fireballs at each other. House shows are so much more Barbary-Coast than the stadium shows; anything goes. This picture is now my computer’s desktop wallpaper.
FIVE
Attitude Adjustment
Attitude Adjustment (with Kevin Reed on vocals) at a generator show at Diablo Cove. Night. Outdoors. Miles from anywhere. Raging mosh-pit. Lots of friends. Moon in the background (in the upper-right). This started as a screencap from a video, added a special effect and…*Whoa* came out like a painting. This is why I started a photo album called “Favs”, had to keep this one handy. I still have trouble believing it’s from my camera.
SIX
Die Maschinen
I generally prefer not using a flash, I prefer ambient lighting. Especially with colored lights where a flash would wipe out the color. With rapidly changing lights, I instead shoot video for a few seconds, then step frame-by-frame to get just the right instant. This one of our regulars (and also the caterer) for the beloved San Francisco Industrial club Die Maschinen. He has a flashing LED blue light below his chin (green overhead lights for a “Matrix”-inspired evening). Came out kinda creepy. Gotta love all those little skulls on his shades 🙂
SEVEN
Fermentae
Fermentae at Retox, one of Kevin Gan Yuen’s bands. He is also a guitarist for Circle of Eyes and Sutekh Hexen. He is a master of artwork, both visual and auditory. Here we had tons of fog, and just 1 red light. When conditions such as lighting are harsh, one must adapt. Very little light to work with? Use darkness instead; film by silhouette. In this video, the red background gradient pulses with his movements in front of the bulb, as the camera automatically keeps adjusting the brightness. At every show of his I find myself learning even more tricks to put in my little bag. If he’s playing, I’m going.
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