The Knitting Factory (the end of an Era) & Justin Riner's Birthday Show

Justin Riner on Accoustic

I thought that I would start posting some of the photos from this Weekends show and tell you all about it. The show was for my friend Justin Riner's Birthday party. Every year for the past 8 years he has taken over The Knitting Factory for his Birthday Party show. Unfortunately this will be the last year as we've found out The Knitting Factory will be officially closing their doors in the next couple of months. It is sad and unfortunate that such Hollywood Landmark will be gone...

It's hard to imagine a Hollywood that doesn't have "The Key Club", "The Whiskey A Go Go", "The Roxy", and "The Knitting Factory" among many of the other venues.


A Quote from Justin regarding The Knitting Factory
" I said to the club manager, "I'm sure going to miss this place. Awesome venue, great staff, good pay.. and you let me take over your stage and fill it with whomever I want, I mean, who am I?" The club manager shrugs, smiles, and says, ..."you're Justin Riner." Thanks to everyone who played, came, and had a great time. It was an awesome birthday and end to an era of my life."



It was a great night that started off with performances by Jon Caliguri, Sofa City Sweetheart, and Spectre Township. Sarah Ault then took the stage for her soulful beautiful melodic set. Justin Riner and Rob Gallagher (of Back Pocket Memory) who was also celebrating his Birthday that night did a small interlude of accoustic songs before Back Pocket Memory energized the show for an amazing performance so full of energy the roof completely blew off The Knitting Factory (J/K).
Justin's own band Jane Error did a really cool set to keep the crowed going into the late night (I never thought I'd hear a New Kids on the Block Cover that I would actually like)
To end the show with a bang Stolen From The Radio a really awesome cover band played until the doors closed.


To sum up the show and wrap up this blog. The show was definitely worth it and if you get a chance to see any of these bands live I'll suggest you take that opportunity. I'm not really sure what Justin is going to do next year for his Birthday. I hope that another venue will be as nice and pleasant to let him take over it for the night... Only time will tell

-Steven

Here are some of my favorite photos from the night.


Rob Gallagher (of BPM) and Justin Riner playing their birthday interlude


The Lovely Sarah Ault


Spectre Township (one of Justin Riner's 3 bands)


Lauren B and Justin Riner of Spectre Township


Back Pocket Memory with Justin Riner (Tamborine) and Sean Diamond of Sky Diamond City


Justin Riner's other band Jane Error performing



Guitarist of Jane Error


Guitarist of Stolen From The Radio (This guy really played it up for the camera)


Guitarist of Stolen From The Radio (This guy really played it up for the camera)

Jubala, Back Pocket Memory, Hollywood Way! Howl at the Moon #2

Hey everybody I wanted to share this with you. I did another concert at the great venue Howl At The Moon at the Universal City Walk in Universal City, CA on June 29.

This was my first time shooting with my new Ultra Wide-Angle lens (Tokina 12-24mm f4) It is a beautiful lens, and I was able to get some interesting shots. I also used 1 strobe for this set.

Here are a few of my favorites.

Enjoy!

Also as a reminder, if you did not realize it before, if you click on the photos on the blog here they will take you to my flickr page where you can check out much, much more of my photography.

Here is a link to all of my concert and performance photographs

Jubala

Jubala performing @ Howl at the Moon


Trevor on Keys with Chris on Guitar


Zack on Bass and Sam w/ guest singer sister Niki Saletta



Back Pocket Memory

Back Pocket Memory performing @ Howl At The Moon


Eddie and Ian on Guitars


Rob on Bass with Eddie. Chris singing (Ian in background)



Hollywood Way

Hollywood Way @ Howl At The Moon


Zach on Bass and Andre on Guitar


Spencer on Drums and Tom with Vocals.


Tom singing on the audience floor

Protecting your ears while having a good time

As I had announced in my last blog, I had shot the band "Back Pocket Memory" and their friends "Corvo Radio". The Photographs turned out really well, despite having to deal with very bad lighting conditions.


"Back Pocket Memory" performing @ Aura Nightclub in Studio City, CA
(Ian Felchlin - Guitar / Vocals, Jason Montgomery - Drums, Chris Pennington - Lead Vocals, Rob Gallagher - Bass / Vocals, Eddie Rosales - Guitar)


Ian Felchlin, Guitarist of Back Pocket Memory and my buddy Jason Montgomery playing drums in the background.


"Corvo Radio" Performing @ Aura Nightclub in Studio City, CA
(Jeff Lusby - Guitar / Lead Vocals, Kieran Smiley - Bass / Vocals, Ethan Rea - Drums)


Kieran Smiley of "Corvo Radio" singing their new catchy song "Alien"


Hearing Protection

I wanted to talk about something that is important to me that I think everybody should take into account before they decide to shoot an event like this or even attend live concerts. I don't mean to go to your local hardware store and pick up a couple of foam ear plugs. Those will work to save your hearing but they will make the sound quality so undesirable you will not enjoy the music.

There is a company here in the states called Etymotic Research, Inc. who is Illinois based that specialize in developing some of the most advanced hearing technology. They have products ranging from ear phones, noise reduction technology, very advanced ear plugs, and even hearing aids. I definitely recommend a browse around their site.

The product I ordered was the ER-20 High Fidelity Hearing Protection which are supposed to attenuate the sound levels to a safe listening level while maintaining the sound quality. Normal voices should be audible and understandable, although with a little more difficulty than normal hearing.

I had heard about this type of protection before while I was involved in music programs for years, but had never considered it before now. Let me tell you a little story of how one moment is all it takes. I have a fond memory of going to The Whiskey A Go Go about 6 years ago to see some local bands play (there was probably a good 7 bands on that night) I remember it being loud, but after awhile I got used to it and stayed up in the balcony area with some friends. On leaving the club that night I remember shouting to my friends and turning the stereo on in my car and going "Where's the music at?" I then realized I could hardly hear anything. Let's just say my hearing recovered, but it was never the same again. I've heard a couple of stories of people going to see "The Smashing Pumpkins" and having permanent ringing in the ears for the rest of their lives. So as hard as it is to believe, our hearing is a precious thing and we should try and protect it as much as possible.

Back to the Ear Plugs!
What is great about these ear plugs is that you can still hear the music, feel the music, and enjoy the music without it sounding all muffled and bass. This is because it attenuates evenly with a 12-20 db decrease, where foam ear plugs only take out the dangerous high frequencies leaving the low bass frequencies at their levels.

Reviewing the plugs
Simple answer to this. They do what they are designed to do and they work great at it for a pretty low price. If I were a professional musician or start doing shows all the time I probably will order the custom molded ear protection that Epytomic Research, Inc offers. They are supposed to be a lot more comfortable (as the ER-20's are not the most comfortable after wearing for awhile) and they offer more or less Db attenuation depending on model.
But for less than $13 you can not go wrong with the ER-20's. It feels great when I can stand 2 feet from an Amplifier screaming sound out that would make anybody step back about 6 or 7 feet and I am not even affected. This allowed me to definitely get some amazing shots and I still had my hearing at the end of the night, the next day, and the rest of my life.

Moral of This?
The Moral of this blog is "Don't take your hearing for granted" you will not miss it until it's gone, and technology has not advanced enough to really give it back.

What is it and where can I get them?
I ordered the
ER-20 High Fidelity Ear Protection
$12 from Etymotic Research, Inc and Amazon.com
They come in 6 Assorted Colors and have smaller version for narrow ear canals.
They also come in a cool plastic case that I have strapped right on my camera strap for easy access.

In Europe the leading ear protection is Alpine MusicSafe Natural Sound Ear Plugs which cost around $30 and come with interchangeable filters for difference sound level attenuation.
They can be picked up, along with the ER-20's, at The Ear Plug Superstore

Disclaimer
The ER-20 can only protect your hearing for so long given the situation. With continued exposure to loud noises your hearing will be affected.

There is a really useful chart in the Instruction guide that let's you know how long you can use them for each situation depending on the Db levels.

Back Pocket Memory has invited me to shoot their next concert!

The other day I was talking to my buddy Jason who is a drummer. I've known him since High School when we were in the music program together at John Burroughs High School in Burbank. He was the captain of the entire drum line at the time. I was talking to him about my photography and how he's in a band now called "Back Pocket Memory" check out their myspace here!

So it turns out that the band is looking to get some new photographs in the next month and they have invited me to come to their gig this next Wednesday the 6th in Studio City. It should be a lot of fun and I will also be shooting the Arizona based band Corvo Radio which should be a blast as well. So today I went and bought some new ear plugs and am preparing for the show.

Should be fun! Look for a new update with how it went and what I learned doing this show!