Grandson – Live at the UnderGround CLT (Sept 2019)

What a great show. I had the pleasure of seeing Grandson play once a year earlier at the same location when they opened for Nothing But Thieves. I attended that show exclusively to see Grandson, but it is always a bit disappointing to have such a focus on an opening band. Not only does an opening band not get to play long, but the stage setup is is sub-par and the sound is frequently poor as compared to the headliner. I recall at this show in particular, the sound was way too low and so the powerful moments in the songs really lost their impact as a result.

This headlining show made up for those deficiencies considerably. And, as you can see from the picture, I even got to meet Jordan, the lead singer. There was a pretty inexpensive VIP option where we got to come in early for a meet and greet and also listen to an unreleased track.

The unreleased track played was produced by Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park (who he’d worked with previously) and was a solid Grandson track, very good and exactly what you’d expect. It was incomplete but we heard most of it and it sounded pretty close to done in my opinion. He said he was a bit unsure of how it would be released or when because with the American Tragedy EP series compete, he has multiple other projects in the works. This song will be a part of one of those, but he didn’t drop any hints on what is planned.

I was in early so got right up front and was able to easily take unobstructed video of the whole show without much effort. This was the first show I’d recorded with my new iPhone 11 Pro so I was excited to see how much better it could do with sound and challenging lighting and I think it came out great. The iPhone has gotten better for concerts with each release. I mostly zoomed way out to use the new wide angle lens and capture the entire stage. I was pretty into the show so didn’t do much zooming; particularly because I kept the camera very low and out of the way.

Here it is, the full show, beginning to end…

The girl next to me got the set list, so I took a picture of it too which adds to a pretty complete document of the show!

Atmosphere 2018

I caught Atmosphere touring for there great new album Mi Vida Local in Charlotte last week and was happy to get a great spot up front where I could shoot the show while barely looking down at my phone. I enjoy recording shows, but being up front I didn’t want to hold my phone up at all. The result is very little zooming but it wasn’t really necessary given my position.

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Spoon at the Orange Peel

An amazing show and a great performance, I was very lucky to be right up front in the middle. I always enjoy recording shows, but this one was especially worth recording as I’ve already watched it many times myself.

Eleven songs in total:

1. Do You
2. Whisper I’ll Listen to Hear It
3. First Caress
4. Do I Have to Talk You Into It
5. Underdog
6. I Ain’t The One
7. Rent I Pay
8. Don’t You Evah
9. Stay Don’t Go
10. Can I Sit Next To You
11. Camera

Miike Snow at the Fillmore Charlotte

I record a lot of concerts and have for many years. I started with a point and shoot camera that took video and it was relatively good for video but lighting was a problem and audio was often quite bad. I’m so impressed with how each new iPhone handles the very load bass of a live concert better and better. The last show I recorded was one of the best I’ve managed and that was Spoon at the Orange Peel in Asheville, NC a couple weeks ago.

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DellWorld 2012, Camp Freddy Concert at ACL

At DellWorld 2012, the evening event was at Austin City Limits and the description was very odd and read only “Camp Freddy and featured guests from Linkin Park”. I’d never heard of Camp Freddy before, so like many, was in for a big surprise treat!

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Virgin Mobile FreeFest 2012

Virgin Mobile FreeFest is on its way this October 6th. I’ve gone the last couple of years and it is always an awesome time. This year, I’m most excited to see Jack White, Ben Folds Five and Skrillex. A few other bands on the list are interesting too, but most I’d not heard of. As a Spotify user, I’ve created a collaborative playlist containing the top few songs by each band in an effort to make sure I don’t regret making my way over to one of the smaller stages to catch a future favorite. Check out the playlist here!

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