Kittie Tour 2012 | Blackguard – May 14, 2012

Kittie Tour 2012
Bonded by Blood, The Agonist, Blackguard, & Kittie
May 14th, 2012 @ Empire (formerly Jaxx Night Club) in Springfield, VA

I don’t know if it’s obvious enough, but I’m a huge Blackguard fan (check out the gazillion – ok, more like 3- other Blackguard posts from me). These Canadian dudes are great at what they do; they always put on a great & exciting show; AND, they’re so chill. I don’t think I can say that about most bands that I get to meet, or let alone see live. With that being said, check out their work if you haven’t already: Facebook & Myspace. Also, I’d like to thank Paul for ALWAYS being generous and cool about photo passes. Paul, you’re the man!

Before the show, my buddy Scott and I ended up chilling with Étienne, who then coerced me into a shopping cart and gave me a quick and dangerous tour of the parking lot. This was a really good show in terms of crowd turnout (could have been better, but it was above decent for a Monday night). It was nice to see all the familiar faces there! \m/ With the photos, I did the usual settings, though make sure to check out the next post from the Soundstage show!).

Blackguard is:
Paul Ablaze – Vocal
Terry Roadcase – Rythm Guitar
Kim Gosselin – Lead Guitar & Orchestrations
Etienne Mailloux – Bass & Accoustic Guitar
Justine Ethier – Drums

-G.G \m/

Kittie Tour 2012 | The Agonist – May 14, 2012

Kittie Tour 2012
Bonded by Blood, The Agonist, Blackguard, & Kittie
May 14th, 2012 @ Empire (formerly Jaxx Night Club) in Springfield, VA

Check out The Agonist, an awesome Canadian band that I was not too familiar with before this tour (and mostly through Alissa’s vegan activism through Peta2). Pretty beast set-they definitely know how to put on a show! Check out their Myspace site and Facebook for their music and try to make it out to the show.

Regarding photography, I pretty much did the same settings as usual (but stay tuned for the Soundstage photos, because those are awesome!!).

Alissa White-Gluz

The Agonist is:
Alissa White-Gluz – Vocals
Danny Marino – Guitar
Chris Kells – Bass
Simon McKay- Drums
Pascal “Paco” Jobin – Guitar

-G.G \m/

Alissa White-Gluz

Korpiklaani | Ukon Wacka North American Tour – December 15, 2011

Ukon Wacka Tour 2011
Forged in Flame, Polkadot Cadaver, Arkona, & Korpiklaani
December 15, 2011 @ Jaxx in Springfield, VA

Where do I start with this band?!! My buddies got me into Korpiklaani when I was in high school (almost in passing, though). They actually got me into a lot of folk metal, so shout out to the metal crew! Needless to say, I’m a big Korpiklaani fan. Check out their official site, and their Facebook page. I saw them for the first time back in January 16, 2010 for the Vodka Revolution Tour at Jaxx and of course, they were amazing! At the time, however, I didn’t have my wonderful baby (ahem….the Nikon D3000). I remember hanging out with Jonne behind Jaxx and he was just getting plastered. I remember he told me he wanted to take me to Finland-ha!

The funny thing is…Jonne remembered me from a year ago apparently. As a matter of fact, he pulled me onstage right before they were going to play “Tequila” and made me folk dance with him for quite a while-hahaha!! I’m sure there are videos around and some of my buddies actually took pictures, so check them out on my Facebook page. It was fun!! It was completely unexpected, but I guess now I’m famous at Jaxx for that…(apparently people thought I was Jonne’s girlfriend??? The answer is no, of course!) I will miss these guys and I hope to see them soon A HUGE thank you to Ryan from Fresno Media/Nuclear Blast for the photo pass!! CHEERS!

After the show ... (Jonne was HAMMERED)

A note on the photography: As I mentioned before in the Forged in Flame post, the lighting was quite atrocious and so I had to reconfigure my camera settings a few times. I chose to put some as black and white because they worked best with the lighting. These are definitely not my best, but here ya go nonetheless!

Korpiklaani is:

Jonne – Vocals, Guitars
Juho – Accordion
Matson – Drums
Hittavainen – Violin, Jouhikko and Woodwinds
Jarkko – Bass
Cane – Guitars

Drink and dance ’till the morning!!! -G.G. \m/

After the show :) … (Jonne was HAMMERED)

Arkona | Ukon Wacka North American Tour – December 15, 2011

Ukon Wacka North American Tour 2011
Forged in Flame, Polkadot Cadaver, Arkona, & Korpiklaani
December 15, 2011 @ Jaxx in Springfield, VA

I’ve been listening to Arkona for about 8 months, so I was more familiar with them than the opening bands. I absolutely love their sound, especially the different vocals Masha can do. It’s kind of hard to memorize Russian lyrics, though!! If you’re a folk metal fan, obviously check out this band- here’s their official site. They are absolutely killer live as well \m/

Vocalist Masha of Arkona

Arkona is:

Masha “Scream” – Vocals
Sergei “Lazar” – Guitars
Ruslan “Kniaz” – Bass
Vlad “Artist” – Drums
Vladimir “Volk” – Folk instruments

Goi, Rode, Goi! -G.G. \m/

Polkadot Cadaver | Ukon Wacka North American Tour – December 15, 2011

Ukon Wacka North American Tour 2011
Forged in Flame, Polkadot Cadaver, Arkona, & Korpiklaani
December 15, 2011 @ Jaxx in Springfield, VA

Wow! They were trippy!! So these guys are relatively local (Baltimore, MD) and their music is rather eccentric. It was a great set, though I’m not a big fan of the ‘hardcore dancing’ spasms on stage by the bassist and the guitarist. Otherwise, they were fun to watch…They actually covered Billy Jean by Michael Jackson…and it was REALLY GOOD. Check out their music on their Facebook page, though YouTube has a bigger selection of their songs, of course…

Guitarist Jasan Stepp of Polkadot Cadaver

Polkadot Cadaver is:

Todd Smith: Vocals, Guitar, Keyboards
Jasan Stepp: Guitar, keyboards, programming, cello
David Cullen: Bass, keyboards
Scott Radway: Live Drums

-G.G. \m/

Forged In Flame | Ukon Wacka North American Tour – December 15, 2011

Ukon Wacka North American Tour 2011
Forged in Flame, Polkadot Cadaver, Arkona, & Korpiklaani
December 15, 2011 @ Jaxx in Springfield, VA

These guys were very good, though they were a bit out of place! I would describe them as good ol’ Southern rock from Cleveland, Ohio and I recommend you check them out on their Myspace page or their awesome official website. The lead singer was a total sweetheart and totally friendly towards everyone. The bassist, Cyril, is from France, too…I guess I just thought I should add that (I like me some French metalheads).

A note on the photography and lighting: Jaxx is currently understaffed, so there was no one tending to the lights. As such, the lighting was terrible and my photos came out crappy using my conventional camera settings (Night setting with 800-1600 ISO). These are certainly not my best!!

Forged in Flame is:

Gary Kane – Vocals
Jay Bonnel – Guitars
Cyril Blandino – Bass
Jon Vinson – Drums

-G.G \m/

Symphony X Tour 2011 | Symphony X – May 22, 2011

Almost a month later! I know, I know…so sorry. For once I got rather lazy with posting pictures. Check out my other batches from this show (Powerglove and Blackguard!)

Symphony X is by far one of my favorite bands in general (up there with Megadeth and Opeth in my book). This would mark the third (maybe 4th) time I’ve had to pleasure to see them live, and every time it has been amazing. Fortunately, this also marks the first time that I’ve taken professional (can I call them that?) pictures-yay!!! I thank Blackguard for the photo pass for the entire show!! And the guys from Symphony X were absolutely awesome to talk to! (We spoke to Russell, Michael Lepond, and Michael Romeo).

The lighting compared to the rest of the show was great during their set, so fortunately I got some really nice shots here. Let me know what you think! And yes, of course, I used my baby (ahem…Nikon D3000). Also, please note that this was the last night of the tour, and so members from Powerglove (Nick and Bassil) and Terry from Blackguard came onstage to duel with Russell towards the end of the Symphony X set. As you can tell from the pictures….Russell was victorious and holds his sword high

Check out Symphony X’s official website, Facebook page, and Myspace page…though I’d be really surprised if you haven’t given them a listen in the past.

Symphony X is:

Russell Allen – Vocals
Michael Romeo – Guitar
Michael Pinnella – Keyboards
Michael LePond – Bass
Jason Rullo – Drums

I’ve been twenty years awayyyy….from all I ever knew….to return would make my dreams come truuuuue…-G.G \m/

Symphony X Tour 2011 | Powerglove – May 22, 2011

A few photos from the Powerglove set. I didn’t take many considering the lighting was terrible. Anywho, if you haven’t heard of Powerglove: check out their official Facebook page and Myspace page. During this set, my buddies held their glow stick weapons high and….of course…the pink inflatable sword provided

Powerglove is:
Alex Berkson – Guitars
Chris Marchiel – Guitars
Nick Avila – Bass & Vocals
Bassil Silver – Drums

Go, go, Power Rangersss!! (My childhood!:) -G.G. \m/

Symphony X Tour 2011 | Blackguard – May 22, 2011

Blackguard is definitely a band that I photograph a lot-not only because they’re nice enough to give me permission, but because they kick ass!! If you haven’t checked out my other Blackguard galleries, feel free to do so; but most importantly, make sure to check out their Myspace and Facebook pages to check out their music.

This show was unique in that Paul Ablaze (vocalist) could not perform that night, so Nick from Powerglove did the first Blackguard set and then our very own Chris Bane (from an awesome local band called Cab Ride Home-check them out!) did the second set. I remember talking to Kim from Blackguard and he said it was an awkward show in that they’ve never played without Paul from what he can remember. We all agree that Nick and Chris did a pretty damn good job that night, though! Wooo! Unfortunately they played a short set

Random anecdote: when they were on stage about to start their set, Kim joked around gesturing what seemed to me to be indicating that I shouldn’t take pictures (at least not a whole lot) so when I found a break during a set, I had to ask. I was so confused and scared, so I didn’t take many pictures because I had to ask before taking any more! He was messing, though. Gotta love Kim

2nd random anecdote: so after the entire show was over, Étienne and some buddies started an epic sword fight!! MWAHAHAHA!! The (inflatable) swords were provided by Powerglove during their set, of course (you can see all kinds of swords in the Powerglove pictures coming up). If you’d like to see the sword fight pictures, please head over to my Facebook page and look for the album! Oh, and we also had a close-up shot war…..Étienne beat me My friend Ethan and I ended up hanging out a lot with Étienne at the end of the show out back, as usual. He is….uh….special (I say it with lots of love! Hahaha)

Anyway, it seems that Jaxx is still searching for a lighting tech because their lighting was poor (again!) AND some of the pics below look blurry because I was hastily taking pictures for some reason :/ They’re not as crappy as my pictures from Summer Slaughter 2010, but they’re close :/

All in all, I loved the show, but Blackguard always seems to make every show even better with their music and their friendly attitude (and crazy antics from Étienne).

Blackguard is:

Terry Deschenes – Guitars
Paul Ablaze – Vocals
Kim Gosselin – Guitars
Justine Ethier – Drums
Étienne Mailloux – Bass

Next round is on me!…..at the Kamelot show -G.G. \m/

“An Evening with Amon Amarth” North American Tour | Amon Amarth – May 2, 2011

Can’t get enough of Scandinavian metal! Amon Amarth announced this North American tour, saying they would playing two sets: their new album (Surtur Rising) in its entirety AND classics. Needless to say, the show was SOLD OUT I had been waiting for this show since December! Most of my buddies didn’t get their tickets in time, so I went pretty much by myself. I do have to think a couple of Mason students (Michael & Amy) for giving me a ride to and from the show-otherwise I would have had to pay a fortune for a cab. I had a class on Monday evening (the day of the show) and so I ended up arriving after most people. The line was intimidating; I was so far back. This worried me because Jaxx has no photographers’ gap, so I have to make my way to the front to get a nice picture spot. Fortunately, I found Cristina and Mario, a couple of friends of mine who were nice enough to let me skip all the way to the front. Sorry if you’re reading this and I skipped you! Hopefully the pictures will be worth your wait in line ^.^

The show was AMAZING. I haven’t been to a show so energetic in a while. Check them out at their official site, their Myspace page, and their Facebook page!
The lighting was decent, though the fog machine was going all out :/
Some of the pictures are blurry because of it (fog loves to stick to the inside of the lens). I used my Nikon D3000, of course! Let me know what you think of the pictures-enjoy!

A HUGE THANK YOU TO LIZ CIAVARELLA-BRENNER FROM EARSLPIT PR FOR THE PHOTO PASS AND GETTING ME ON THE GUEST LIST!!!

Amon Amarth is:
Johan Hegg – Vocals
Olavi Mikkonen – Guitars
Johan Söderberg – Guitars
Ted Lundström – Bass
Fredrik Andersson – Drums

A little side note: If you’d like to use my pictures, please let me know. I will send you whichever ones you’d like without the watermark. I’m cool about it as long as I’m notified about it. Otherwise, you’ll have to use these watermarked ones. Thanks!

Show no fear….-G.G. \m/

The Finnish Metal Tour 2011 | Finntroll-March 2011

Once again, Finntroll! Last time I saw them was last year, so it was great seeing them live again. Last time I wasn’t allowed to bring in my Nikon, though, because that’s when Jaxx started crackin’ down on professional cameras and photo passes, etc. I ended up using them with my friend’s point-and-shoot. You can check out those pictures in my blog as well. Check out Finntroll if you haven’t already at their official site and/or their Myspace site!

Regarding photography: The lighting in the beginning was a bit lousy, but started to pick up at the end (you can tell by the progression of quality in my pictures, etc.) The smoke machine was still kicking, though, so I did some intense contrast editing to get rid of most of it. As such, I didn’t get to take pictures of the drummer or keyboardinst I hope you like them regardless! I think I took some awesome shots

Finntroll is:
Mathias “Vreth” Lillmåns – Vocals
Mikael “Routa” Karlbom – Guitar
Samuli “Skrymer” Ponsimaa
Sami “Tundra” Uusitalo – Bass
Henri “Trollhorn” Sorvali – Keyboards, Guitar
Samu “Beast Dominator” Ruotsalainen – Drums
Aleksi Virta – Keyboards

Thank you to Outerloop for the photo pass!

…Trollhammaren…-G.G. \m/

The Finnish Metal Tour 2011 | Ensiferum-March 2011

I FINALLY get to see Ensiferum from Finland . Last year when they were touring around this area, I had swine flu so I couldn’t go. Anyway, I’ve been waiting for them to come around again, though I would have LOVED to see them with Turisas: a band I’ve yet to see! I’m not as familiar with Ensiferum’s music as I am with, say, Turisas or Finntroll; but these guys were pretty rad and they put on a helluva show. Check them out at their official site and/or Myspace site.

Regarding the photography: It was difficult to get decent shots because of the smoke machine (a photographer’s worst nightmare), but the lighting was awesome! Props to Jaxx for once! I did quite a bit of contrast editing to get rid of some of the smoke, so here ya go. Let me know what you think As usual, I took these with my baby, Napoleon, a Nikon D3000.

Ensiferum is:
Petri Lindroos – Harsh Vocals, Guitar
Markus Toivonen – Guitar, Clean Vocals, Backing Vocals
Sami Hinkka – Bass, Clean Vocals, Backing Vocals
Emmi Silvennoinen – Keyboards, Backing Vocals
Janne Parviainen – Drums

Thanks to Outerloop for the photo pass!

…from afar…-G.G. \m/

The Finnish Metal Tour 2011 | Barren Earth-March 2011

BARREN EARTH!! To put it simply, this is a Finnish supergroup consisting of members from amazing bands: Amorphis, Moonsorrow, Swallow the Sun, and Kreator! I’ve been waiting for these guys to come to the states since the summer of 2010 when I first heard their song “Flicker” on Music Choice’s Metal Channel. I’ve been listening to their new EP titled Curse of the Red River and their demo called Twilight. Definitely check them out at their official site and/or their Myspace page.

Naturally, if you like doom metal (i.e. pretty much the bands they’re coming from) you’ll definitely like Barren Earth. Beautiful melodies and badass heavy metal. That’s all ya need…It’s great to hear Sami on vocals, too. Not something you hear quite often, honestly.

So regarding photography, I have no idea why Jaxx decided to do a crappy job with the lighting. I spend a good part of the show just messing with the settings until I felt comfortable with them. They really need to get crackin’ on their lighting though, especially for “opening” bands! As such, some of the pictures are blurry and weird looking, so I tried to edit them in a way that looked artistic, etc. I wish I could have taken pictures of Sami!! But he was on the other side…I’m so used to him playing on the left side onstage with Kreator…but oh well. Unfortunately, I could not take any decent pictures of the keyboardist or drummer…as usual. Anyway, I took these with my baby Napeleon: Nikon D3000. Please enjoy and let me know what you think

Barren Earth is:
Mikko Kotamäki – Vocals
Olli-Pekka Laine – Bass
Kasper Mårtenson -Keyboards
Janne Perttilä – Guitar
Marko Tarvonen – Drums
Sami Yli-Sirniö – Guitar (ahhh…Sami ^.^)

Thank you to Outerloop for the photo pass!

…”Where they go death always follows…” -G.G. \m/

Loculus ‘Sinew’ EP Release | Loculus- November 20, 2010

Check out Loculus, a badass local band. They are relatively new, I would say, but they’ve gotten a great reception in the local scene, especially with their nifty merch and EP!! Everyone attending this show had the opportunity to get a free hard copy of their new EP titled Sinew. If you like bands along the lines of Cannibal Corpse, etc. then you should definitely check these guys out on their Facebook site, Myspace site, or their new (and cool) official site.

Thanks to Steve for letting me have fun “onstage” taking pictures. Mwahahaha.

Loculus is:
Bill Calomiris – Vocals
Steve Miller – Guitar
Andrew Grevey – Bass
Albert Born – Drums

Hacked apart….-G.G. \m/

Loculus ‘Sinew’ EP Release | Apothys- November 20, 2010

Another round of Apothys! \m/ This time, they played alongside Loculus, another of my favorite local bands (and buddies.) You HAVE to check out their stuff; they have an EP out called Advent: Doom. I’ve been into them since 2007 (?)-whenever I saw them open up for Symphony X (a while ago!) Check them out on their official site, Myspace site, or Facebook site.

These pictures are a bit more…normal?…than previous ones of the band. The lighting was pretty nifty-whew! I’ve organized them into non-flash (the first 8), then the black and white (the following 7), and the rest are with flash. Enjoy!

Apothys is:
Carrion Misery – Vocals
Eddie Misery – Lead Guitar
Joe Fuller – Guitar
Jason – Bass
Mason Grimm – Drums

Districtia terra…..-G.G. \m/

Design Your Universe Tour | Epica- November 16, 2010

Epica!! This was my fourth time seeing them live at Jaxx, but it was the first time I took NICE pictures! I have an old batch that I will eventually post from the show on January 26th, but that’s a different story. I am a HUGE Epica fan ever since I heard the song “Cry for the Moon.” If you haven’t already, check them out on their official site, Myspace site, or Facebook site. They have a relatively new album out called (you guessed it…) Design Your Universe-it is amazing, but personally, I prefer Consign to Oblivion…check out all of their albums! This particular tour was the second leg of their American Design Your Universe Tour this year.

Regarding photography, this is what I consider the perfect concert lighting (though I would have preferred an alternative to the smoke machine)!! I am really happy with how these came out, though, and I hope you all enjoy!

Epica is:
Simone Simons – Vocals
Mark Jansen – Guitar, Harsh Vocals
Isaac Delahaye – Guitar
Yves Huts – Bass
Ariën Van Weesenbeek – Drums
Coen Jansen – Keyboards

We’re panic-stricken…-G.G. \m/

Design Your Universe Tour | Scar Symmetry- November 16, 2010

Scar Symmetry-check these guys out on their official website, Myspace, and Facebook. I started listening to them when they had one vocalist (notice that, indeed, there are now two-just in case you didn’t know!)
Due to technical difficulties, the band could not play their entire set, so I was only able to take a few pictures (17, to be exact.) Enjoy those, anyways!

Scar Symmetry is:
Roberth “Robban” Karlsson – Harsh Vocals
Lars Palmqvist – Clean Vocals
Jonas Kjellgren – Guitars, Keyboards
Per Nilsson – Guitars, Keyboards
Kenneth Seil – Bass
Henrik Ohlsson – Drums

Iconoclast!…-G.G. \m/

Design Your Universe Tour | Blackguard- November 16, 2010

Once again, I bring you more Blackguard pictures (and just a month apart!) If you haven’t already, please check them out on their Myspace page and their Facebook page. They were formerly with Nuclear Blast, but now have signed with Victory Records. If you’re about to see them live, pre-order their upcoming album for $15 or add a T-shirt for $26 (I did ) at their merch table.

Some of these shots are pretty funny-Étienne has a knack for making hilarious faces XD

A note about this tour: this is the second leg of the American Design Your Universe Tour, the first leg was in January/February. I do have shots for those as well (crappy ones because I did not have the Nikon monster.) I will post those eventually-yes, I’ll be going back in time!

Feel free to check out my previous batch of Blackguard shots here while they toured with Nevermore, Warbringer, and Hatesphere.

Blackguard is:
Paul Ablaze- Vocals
Justine Ethier- Drums
Étienne Mailloux- Bass
Kim Gosselin- Guitar
Terry ‘Roadcase’ Deschenes- Guitar

Also check out the last 3 shots where some of the guys and my buddies took pictures-they’re all awesome \m/

Next round is on me!…-G.G. \m/

The Obsidian Conspiracy Tour | Nevermore- October 15, 2010

NEVERMORE!!! I love these guys-you all should definitely check out all of their albums! I had been waiting for a long time to see them live (I missed them last time they were at Jaxx.)
Warrel’s vocals were a bit shaky to say the least, but apparently he was recovering from something. I don’t think anyone cares about that though-it’s Nevermore. The lighting was awesome and I was right in front of…Attila *faints* YUM ^.^

Actually, Warrel and Jim looked SO high….just sayin’…it was a great show though!

Nevermore is:
Warrel Dane – Vocals
Jeff Loomis – Guitars
Jim Sheppard – Bass
Van Williams – Drums
Attila Vörös – Guitars

Taaaaake meee to the southern shoooooooore!!….-G.G \m/

The Obsidian Conspiracy | Warbringer- October 15, 2010

WARBRINGER=THRASH EPICNESS!!!Check these guys our on their Myspace page. They’re absolutely brutal-my ribs got annihilated! XD

Thanks to Kohn Kevill for the photo permission

Regarding photography: great lighting! These are pretty decent, I would say. Enjoy!

Warbringer is:
John Kevill – Vocals
John Laux – Guitar
Adam Carroll – Guitar
Andy Laux – Bass
Nic Ritter – Drums

Waking into nightmares…-G.G. \m/