Photos Archives

More of the same from D.C. United last night. Score early, give up a goal late and try (in vain) to finish with a flourish. They missed a few too many open chances for my liking. Someone needs to put the ball in the net.

Read Matt's DCist review here.

They'll try again on Sunday against the Mexican club America at 8 p.m. at RFK. I'll be there.

Pitchfork had a writer at the festival while I was taking photos. I still haven't had the time to put down my thoughts about the event, but he's pretty spot on with his report.

Whartfest in Baltimore. Wow.

2 days,
3 huge gigs,
26 bands seen,
over 200 miles driven,
2 full memory cards
and all I have to show for it is my photo set over at Pitchfork.

As for you Pitchfork readers clicking through, welcome!

Here is some of my recent photo work:
Travis at the 9:30 Club
The National at the 9:30 Club
Le Loup and XYZ Affair at DC9
Georgie James, Middle Distance Runner and These US at the Black Cat
The Pipettes and Smoosh at the Black Cat

Also, you can always see my work over on Flickr.

Wow.

Yesterday I told Ms. Smith that I was "stupidly excited" about going to see Travis last night, but at the same time I was worried that I was setting my expectations too high. I shouldn't have. They put on one of the best shows I have ever seen that the 9:30 Club. I had trouble sleeping last night because I was so energized by the show. I'm still pumped now as I write this.

Normally I absolutely abhor it when bands play "greatest hits" sets. But when it's been seven years since you've seen a band, those type of sets aren't exactly a bad thing. In fact, last night the set was perfect.
Because they played "Back In Black."
On a whim.
As the last song of the night.
It was INCREDIBLE.
Someone in the crowd shouted it out as a request just before they played "Why Does It Always Rain On Me" as what was supposed to be the last song of the night. So when they were done with that song, Andy started doing the AC/DC riff. The crowd was unsure if this was for real or not, and then Fran started doing his best Brian Johnson impression and it was on from there. I'm not sure they played it as well as AC/DC could, but they definitely had more fun doing it. We got the full rockstar poses and everything. It was awesome.

Other highlights from the show:
- The band entered from the back of the venue and wandered their way through the crowd wearing silk boxing robes while the "Theme To Rocky" played over the PA. Once they hit the stage, they were soundtracked by James Brown's "Living In America." Best.
- They played "Pipe Dreams," my favorite Travis song other than "Writing To Reach You."
- Fran asking the crowd to chant the touring keyboardist's name, Claes, while he was playing the piano solo in "Good Feeling."
- While instructing the audience to do so, telling everyone that Claes was Swedish and Swedish people are anal. But not in the porn way. But wait, yes. Maybe in the porn way too. Although Fran couldn't speak for Claes in this particular matter.
- Fran played "20" solo on the acoustic. It's been years since I've heard this song. It's a b-side from the "All I Want To Do Is Rock" single and I had totally forgotten about the song until he played it.
- Speaking of "All I Want To Do Is Rock," when it was time for his "big solo" Andy climbed the PA stack trying to get to the dressing room balcony above. He almost didn't make it. He pulled himself up from the PA onto the balcony just using his arms while his guitar was slung over his back. No mean feet. Also, when he finally got up there, he flopped over the railing like Nick Frost "leaps" over fences in Hot Fuzz. Hi-lar-ious.
- The new songs from The Boy With No Name all sounded great, especially "My Eyes" and "Eyes Wide Open."
- Playing "Flowers In The Window" like a barbershop quintet. Only with a guitar. Fran was wearing it, but Andy hit the notes on the frets and Dougie did the strumming. It was like a great, big Travis reach around! "This is so close to something else," Fran laughingly said during the song. Indeed.
- Fran instructing the crowd that he wanted each and every person the venue to pogo during the last chorus to "Why Does It Always Rain On Me." And you know what? We all did. Everyone. It was brilliant. I've never seen a D.C. crowd do anything close to that before. This was a show where you left your pretensions at the door and just had fun. More concerts need to be like this.
- Nigel Godrich was in attendance!
- Back In mother-effing Black!

Plain and simple, that was one of the best shows I have ever seen in D.C. Maybe in the Top-10 Best Concerts Ever list. My mind grapes were thoroughly and completely squeezed last night.

But wait! Here's the best part. NPR webcast the show last night so you can enjoy all of this for your very own. Go here to check it out. You can also see Joel's photos from last night, which unlike my own, are actually in focus.

So then, my weekend in a nutshell:

Friday

Friday night Ms. Smith and I ventured to the Black Cat to see The Vita Ruins. They were giving away free copies of their E.P., Thanks For Your Concern (But We're OK), so I grabbed a few for you readers (more on that in a sec). The band sound not unlike Black Rebel Motorcycle Club -- swirling, feedback-drenched guitars, sinister vocals and a driving back beat. They're obviously big shoegazer fans, which is always a good thing in my book. They drew a decent amount of people to the show, many of which were photographers, causing one person to remark "I've never seen so many photographers for a band I've never heard of." I'll be sending the copies of the E.P. I snagged as a consolation prize to those that didn't win those Editors CD's. So keep an eye on your inbox if you entered.

Saturday

Saturday I ran errands during the day (I need a new camera bag) and tried to stay out of the heat. Later that night I took in the D.C. United v. FC Dallas match at RFK. Expect a short recap on DCist later today.

Sunday

Can you name a better way to spend Sunday than drinking beer, eating BBQ and watching football? I think not. My only complaint was that the Brazil v. Argentina match was such a snoozer. Oh well. I spent the rest of the night editing photos. Exciting, no?