New Rule

And that new rule is from now on I'm keeping my fucking mouth shut until after the fact whenever big things happen or I get big news. Otherwise the news keeps getting rescheduled. First the Morrissey gigs and now the thing yesterday, which I can't talk about because it might still happen. But I digress...

Not sure what everyone else's plans for the weekend are, but I'll be heading to the land of people that don't drive so good, aka Maryland, to take in Whartscape, which gets shadier and shadier the more I find out about it. If there are no posts on this site on Monday, call the cops. But since I'm a music blogger, I guess I'm duty bound to go check out Dan Deacon. Seriously though, seeing Spankrock should be fun.

One show I'm sad to miss on Sunday night is the Bishop Allen show. DCeiver won't freakin' shut up about them. They're his [insert name of whatever band I'm obsessing about this week].

Here are some MPfree's of theirs:
[MP3] Bishop Allen | Rain
[MP3] Bishop Allen | Click Click Click Click

Did anyone else watch the MLS All-Star game last night? If not you missed the interview with David Beckham at halftime. The one in which he said he probably wouldn't play on Saturday against Chelsea. While he was saying that ESPN ran a graphic on the screen that said "Will make his U.S. debut Saturday v. Chelsea." So I guess this weekend we'll find out who's really running things in the Beckham camp.

Two other news items of note, both regarding photography.

First is the NFL making photographers wear vests with sponsor logos, which is total BS. That's a good way to be seen as impartial, no? Wearing a vest with Reebok and Canon logos on it?

Second is the whole Band of Horses hates cameraphones, which I totally agree with. I always find it funny how publicists stress to me "NO FLASH" whenever I get a photo pass at the 9:30 Club. I never say it, but the people they really need to worry about are everyone with Point and Shoots and cameraphones. They're the ones snapping away with their flashes. Not the "pros"* (with a few notable exceptions). I also can never understand why people standing at the back of the venue try and take pictures on their cell phones. They're way too far away from the action and it just comes out as this big unidentifiable glob of bad lighting. And yes, I am a camera snob.

At the same time, I realize that more and more people are bringing their cameras to shows and it can get annoying. That said, I rarely go to a show without my camera. DSLR's are fairly cheap now and more and more people are getting into photography. I'm not sure what the breaking point is going to be, but we'll get their soon.

For bigger shows, I just try and get my shots and get out of the way so people can enjoy the show. That's why I don't mind the "First three / no flash" rule at concerts for photo passes. I can never tell you what happens during the first three songs of a show I'm shooting, because I'm busy working and not really paying attention to the music. At the Travis show I totally forgot they played "Writing to Reach You" because they played it third and I was too busy working my way to the center of the venue to get a better vantage point to stop and listen. So I totally buy the "People are too busy messing with their cameras to enjoy the show" argument. But after the third song, I put my camera away and enjoy the show like everyone else. In most cases I also move to the back of the venue, so if I grabbed someone else's spot while I was battling for position up front, I can give it back to them. People are generally cool with that and I certainly try and be as unobtrusive as I can be (given the fact that I have all this gear hanging around my neck and waist). There are right ways and wrong ways to go about all of this. I guess what I'm trying to day is get your shots early and then put everything away and enjoy the show. A win/win for everyone.

* Please note I don't consider myself a "pro." I always tell people I'm a professional amateur, which I think is about right.