Photographer: Sarja Hasan
Site: FB
Based in: Richmond, VA
ONE
THE ADICTS. Jaxx – Springfield, VA: 03/2011
This venue is a little more than an hour away from Richmond, VA, where I live, and driving up there was a painful experience. It’s in the weirdest almost strip-mall type environment in what seemed like the middle of nowhere cause we got turned around so many times due to construction and one too many “ROAD CLOSED” signs. Plus, I was the one driving and if you ask anyone that knows me, I get turned around real easily to begin with. Already tired & delirious, “Hey Jack! The ROAD’S CLOSED!” quickly became a hilarious inside joke, which, reiterating now… doesn’t sound too funny at all. But that’s what happens in a car full of girls who have been on the road for over an hour, going to see a band that makes them feel like they’re 15 all over again. Anyhow, the Adicts were definitely worth the hassle. They put on an amazing show & ended with bubbles & beach balls & streamers. There was confetti & glitter all over me by the end of the night & my friends and I somehow ended up being the obnoxious girls on the floor after everyone had started to clear out. Some guy asked to take a picture with me & whoever he was probably still has it on his camera. And, as most obnoxious girls get their way, we ended up hanging out with the Adicts in their tour RV afterwards & drinking their Heinekens while they lounged around in their pajamas.
TWO
AGHAST. Alley Katz – Richmond, VA: 02/2009
This was taken at Alley Katz, before it was called Kingdom, during the second Kollapse Fest (which, sadly, no longer takes place. It only went on for 3 years but helped continue to bring the Richmond punk scene to the attention of so many people.) I love this photo just cause it’s not of the band, but anyone who’s seen Aghast live or knows Shravan personally knows about their thing with frogs. I don’t remember who it is in this exact picture that got to wear the mutant frog suit, but seeing him surf the crowd in it was a lot of fun. I was upstairs during this whole particular set so I was able to get a lot of fun crowd shots.
THREE
CULT OF YOUTH. St. Vitus – Brooklyn, NY: 10/2011
This was the first time I’d heard Cult of Youth and I was really impressed. My boyfriend’s band, Dead Reich, was playing their first show with Anasazi, Cult of Youth & Lost Tribe so that was my chance to see them. I dropped my camera on the stage during Anasazi’s set that night, who had gone on right before, and it ended up breaking my built-in flash which I was pretty bummed about cause I didn’t have an external one yet. But the lighting at that venue was ideal, and the lights from the video they had playing were right on the singer & made for some really cool patterns so I was able to take advantage of that & not really need my flash at all (which I try not to use anyway when I can help it.)
FOUR
A GLOBAL THREAT. Peppermint Beach Club – Virginia Beach, VA: 09/2006
This was one of the last shows AGT played before they broke up. I’m pretty sure a fight almost broke out at the end of this (The Casualties headlined) between some kids and the bouncers. Other than that, I don’t really remember much about this show, it was so long ago. But I love this picture for some reason & wanted it to be shared.
FIVE
MOTÖRHEAD. Madison Square Garden – New York, NY: 01/2012
Motörhead!!!!!! I was so psyched to see them, I never had before. And some people still can’t believe we didn’t stay to see Megadeth, but I don’t really care for them. And I didn’t wanna get stuck in that crowd trying to leave that venue. We got there a little late and sadly missed out on the first couple songs they played, which made their already short set seem like it went by in seconds. But I’d still say it was worth it. Our seats were actually in the very back (and even still they were so expensive) but when we walked in and they were already playing, we just walked as far up as we could go before getting stopped by the guys working there. We ended up standing on the steps but visibility was no issue & we didn’t get asked to move. Pretty awesome.
SIX
NIGHTFALL. Alley Katz – Richmond, VA: 02/2009
This was also at Alley Katz during the second Kollapse Fest. This was the second night of the fest, I remember that for sure because this is one of the last shots I took all weekend. Mega Minge played after them & during their set, Josh, the singer, fell into his mic stand & it ended up falling on my face. I was able to save my camera but I remember feeling really dizzy & stunned from getting hit by the metal. When I reached up and touched my face, I felt blood & realized immediately that my nose didn’t feel right at all. I’d never broken a bone before so I wasn’t sure what to expect, but there was no doubt that my nose was broken. It was nearing the end of one of those drink-all-weekend-long experiences too & I’m sure my blood was thinned out a little from all the alcohol consumption and it was flowing out of me like crazy! I remember pushing through the crowd & dizzily making my way up the steps into the girls’ bathroom (labelled “pussy cats” on the door.) Then the last thing I remember is pushing open the bathroom door. Luckily my roommate / best friend was in there. I remember her having a somewhat horrified expression on her face. She asked me if I was okay. Then I blacked out and (she says) passed out on the floor. I don’t remember anything after that except waking up downstairs with her face hovering above mine and a crowd of people surrounding me. Mega Minge had to stop playing their set since their drummer (now the singer of Lost Tribe) drove me to the hospital & I’m sure more than half the people at the show had no idea what was going on. When I first started dating my boyfriend now, this story came up & he remembered it happening but didn’t know the details until he met me a couple years later. Crazy times.
SEVEN
WARCRY. The Acheron – Brooklyn, NY: 10/2011
Warcry was awesome. Sadly, there weren’t many people at this show. It was at the end of October, right before Halloween. I’d spent the week up in NY with my boyfriend for my birthday and the weather had been absolutely perfect. Then all of a sudden, the night of this show, we got about 3 inches of snowfall! Totally random & it definitely kept a lot of people indoors. I was dressed completely inappropriately, and I had fake blood all over my neck (I was a vampire victim for an early Halloween…. my boyfriend was gonna be the vampire but he didn’t wanna sing with vampire teeth in, understandable) which ended up just melting off & I (think I) smelled funny all night. It was awful.
New Comments