No Offense Live @ Rodeo (03/05/2009)

It was high time I posted something here - with all the craziness (mostly good and a few drops of bad) in my life right now, it is all I can do to keep my work and absolute necessary blog posts up to date. However, it would not feel right NOT to announce this here.

A friend from the immensely active Japanese community of Athens, Vlassis "FlexXxible" Tsiamas, aka Flexxy (or Fle-chan, when we want to get on his nerves - a pretty common occurrence) and his band, No Offense, will be doing their first big gig after getting back together again, at the Rodeo Live Club, on the 3rd of May. The evening will be split between three bands in total, the other two being The Virgin Steve and Accidents Happen.

I have not managed to attend one of No Offense's lives yet but watching some of their live video recordings and often witnessing Flexxy singing, I can say pretty confidently that they got their mojo right. As far as I know, at the moment they are focusing on covers from early millennium alternative-indie music, although as I have been informed, they plan on doing "Cockroach" from the Japanese band, The GazettE. Here's what the original sounds like:

Hopefully, I will be there to cover the whole thing with my camera and then report it here.

Cheerio,

Speedgrapher

Shiverspine Live Report (19/03/2009 @ AN Club)

My acquaintance with Shiverspine goes back to the original parties at KABATZA and I originally met Freaking Candy Freak at the first cosplay there, on the 9th of March 2008 (although I had no idea who that cool Gaara was at the time). Over the next weeks I became acquainted with two other members of the band, Ploutonas and Chiroto, while FCF kept amazing people with her cosplays, such as Death Note's L (most faithful rendition that I have seen to date). I believe I met their singer, Jay Tegg, during the Underworld season of Japanese events but I am not entirely sure.

However, no matter how many times they told me they would be doing a live gig and no matter how many times I said I would (and really wanted to) go, something always came up and I ended up breaking my promise. Other people would tell me how the live was and I could assume a few things about the band's stage presence, from the way they dressed every time I met them, but still, I had not seen them on stage and felt rather bad about it.

That is why, when I learned of their gig on the 19th of March, I decided not to say anything at all: if I could make it, all was well, if not, I wouldn' t be seen as bullshitting them for the n-th time. As it turned out, I managed to go, along with a good company of friends, Didi, Flexxy, Ed Elric, Louiza, Milk, Xander and of course, Kyoshiro, among them. Kyoshiro even brought the equipment to film their live at AN Club. Hence, camera in hand and half-blinded by their psychedelic lights, I started trolling around and taking pictures.

I finally realized how easy it had been to take pictures until then, when my subjects' movements were restricted to just walking around and I could rely on a powerful flash to make up for the lens's speed. However, as you will see further on, the pictures at the live were really worth it without the flash. That is why, of the total 86 pictures taken, I have chosen only 40 and among those, some who are not "quite right" but rather, "interesting". Here we go then:

Here's the first one, with flash...

...not bad, not really but...

...I don't think it compares!

Chiroto was the one I took (and rejected) the most photos of...
It was so hard to catch him somewhat clearly.

Jay Tegg and Freaking Candy Freak. If you wonder
why she features most prominently in this post...

...she was the most stationary and I could therefore
get the most clear shots out of her!

This is the clearest one I have of Chiroto but really,
the lack of lighting takes away all the feel.

Photographically waaaay wrong...

...artistically interesting.

Again, one of the most clear ones of Ploutonas
(without flash).

This is definitively the clearest shot of Jay Tegg
I could get (guy was headbanging so hard!).

There: now this was an all too common occurrence
but I still like the psychedelic look of this one.

The band's bassist (Nick)
proved nigh on impossible to photograph during
the live and not have him look like Cousin It.

Kyoshiro, ever making faces,
here with Full Metal...

...Milk and KrizDaMan!

Finally, the whole band crystal clear, after the gig.

Shiverspine's music is a very particular mix, which I am kind of inadequate to describe, but I have liked their sound ever since I listened to a couple of songs they had posted on their MySpace. Harshness and melody mingle to make a sort of distorted poetry (which yes, does send shivers up one's spine) but as usual, much of that was lost to me because I was, well, shooting like crazy. Congratulations guys and gal!

Their next gig will take place on the 12th of April. Read below for more details:


Cheers,

Speedgrapher