Dave Navarro is great at working the photographers during the first three songs. Once that\'s taken care of he works the audience. Th Doobie Brothers played in Fort Walton Beach as part of an effort to counter the loss of tourism income from the BP oil leak. They really put on a great show. I knew Michael Franti usually come down to interact with his fans. When I saw him moving to the edge of the stage I got in position to grab this shot. Rodney Atkins came off stage and moved to the hey bale barrier to sing with his fans. When I saw him get on the hey bales and saw the spotlight hitting the smoke from the bonfire behind the audience, I slipped the flash onto my camera and moved behind hi Chris Lucas, of The Locash Cowboys, loves to give photographers plenty of these. Especially photogs he\'s familiar with. The light for this show was so sweet I got plenty of top quality shots. Of course, it helps that these guys have been doing this for forty years and still love it. Yelawolf has a unique blend of country, southern rock, and hip hop. Gotta love the crimson, Bear Bryant hat on backwards. Like his \'brother\' Chris, Preston Brust of Locash Cowboys loves playing with the photographers but he tends to be more energetic animated with it. Nick Hexum of 311 jumped like this three times during his performance. This was the best shot. If you\'re used to shooting concerts you start to notice repetitive things and can put yourself in a position to take advantage of them. Rusty Whitfield opened this USO show that featured Tracy Lawrence as headliner. I wish I had a nice fisheye for this one. Locash Cowboys scored big when they aquired Eric Halbig (Lefty) as lead guitar. He complements them well without drawing attention away from the front men. Daikaiju puts on a fantastic show that combines awesome, high energy surfpunk music with a total immersion into their theme of English translations of Japanese style fantasy characters.<br />That doesn\'t really describe them sufficiently. Just go see them. Steve Bergeron, here with Meriwether, is a rare heavy metal guitarist who is more about finesse than just overpowered, distortion-filled energy that you find in many groups. I loved the way this light beam separated Lenny Kravitz from the background and the motivated directional lighting on his face. It took three tried to get this shot. Thanks, Lenny and lighting guy for holding it long enough to get this. One of the cool things about hangin\' out in bars that feature indie bands is that you sometimes get to see a band like The Whigs with a really small intimate crowd. This was the very last shot of an outstanding show by Justin Moore. Buckwheat Zydeco takes a break from his accordion to jam on the his organ. I think this shot really expresses the joy of his music. I borrowed a Nikon 10.5mm fisheye for this shot of The Black Crowes from backstage. Thanks for the loan of it, Ian. Somebody buy me one. I love the quasi-Black and White nature of this Ben Moore shot. I love the irony of him seemingly making contact with the camera when He\'s one of The Blind Boys of Alabama. Gearge Clinton and P-Funk put on such a great show that I skipped shooting a band on another stage to stand in the pit (in mud two inches deep) and catch the whole show. This was the first, and only time I had seen Rodrigo y Gabriella. All I can say is Wow, you gotta see them. What\'s better than catching Grace Potter and The Nocturnals at a festival? How about Grace going to the other stage to join Warren Haynes and Gov\'t Mule on a cover of Gold Dust Woman? It\'s not every day you get to shoot an American Hasidic Jewish reggae musician. But, here\'s Matisyahu. I noticed a nice backlight behind Coy Bowles of Zac Brown Band and took the shot. The light moved and got even better so I shot again. The light got even more intense again so I took another. This is the peak of a series of about five shots. The lighting was kinda poor (photographically speaking) at this show. I really wish I\'d been able to do justice to this incredible dress and the way Lorrie Morgan rocked it. Contrary to popular belief, if you watch him very carefully you can occasionally catch Richard Turner of Blackberry Smoke actually smiling. Anyone who knows Mr. Gnome can attest that they\'re a very difficult band to describe.<br />Paste magazine tried and got this - \'Sounds like ethereal icelandic fairies being pummeled by concrete guitars in a dirty Cleveland parking lot. AKA: awesome.\' Tracy Lawrence entertained the troops at a USO show. Adrian Young, of No Doubt, sat in for an ailing Allen Shellenberger at this Lit show. I saw this light shining behind Eric (Lefty) Halbig and knew I had to hurry into position to grab this shot before it all changed. This was my first time shooting Gwar. It\'s hard to take pictures with you camera wrapped up in plastic. My Flicker account gets more searches for Benjamin Burnley and Breaking Benjamin more that any other terms. This isn\'t really an uncommon shot for him. Dusty Hill. \'Nuff said. Melody Duncan is a joy to shoot. Not only is she easy on the eyes, but she plays that fiddle with her soul, dancing the whole time. Kenny Loggins put on an even better show than I expected at this BP oil spill concert. Tailor Swift is county\'s answer to Brittney Spears (early cute Brittney). Her songs seemed mostly for the teenage girls in the audience. This was the very end of Meriwether\'s set. The lights were really working so I decided to drag the shutter with a rear curtain flash and got this shot of Drew Riley as the last note rang out. Trey Anastasio puts on quite a show. I tried here to show the level of production on the stage. It was quite impressive. Orianthi was scheduled to be Michael Jackson\'s guitar player for his tour that, sadly, never happened.
Copyright © 2010-2012 Al Graham. All rights reserved.