Derek Sanders of Mayday Parade. All Rights Reserved.
Yesterday (or I guess two days ago now, considering it’s technically Monday) I spent my Saturday night at Bogart’s for The Noise Tour featuring Mayday Parade, We Are The In Crowd, You Me At Six, There For Tomorrow, and The Make. I’m a huge TFT fan and Mayday isn’t too shabby, but I keep going to these kind of concerts knowing that the screams of the teenagers there are more likely to make me go deaf than standing next to the subwoofers in the pit after the first three songs are up and I can’t photograph anymore.
I’ve been starting to wonder if I’m getting to old for these kind of shows. I love live music and I think emo kids put on the best show of all (though some of them could use a lesson in lighting). Their fans are the most dedicated and most excited than most others, but most of them can’t even drive yet, and if they can, then they’re sure as hell not old enough to buy cigarettes (or at least alcohol).
I’m 22 years old and I graduated from college almost a year ago. Ninety-nine percent of the photographers up in the pit with me are my age or even significantly older, and everyone likes to roll their eyes at each other when the girly screams begin. Seriously, you would have thought Biebs was there.
So I sit here now with a full show lineup this week. I’m headed to see Avicii at the Madison Theater on Monday night (tonight?) in Covington, Kentucky as a fan and I couldn’t be more excited. On Wednesday, I head up to Oxford, Ohio (home of Miami University) where Taking Back Sunday and The Maine are performing at Brick Street Bar. As a Miami alum, I’m super excited for the homecoming festivities that follow this weekend, but I’ll be cutting them short because I’m heading to see Never Shout Never Saturday back at Bogart’s.
It seems odd that a 22-year-old college graduate with a world of opportunity would choose to spend her Saturday night with a bunch of tweens and their moms, but I love concert photography too much (and I do secretly like some of the music, too) to ever want to give any of this up. So I guess to answer my own question, I’ll be going to these shows until I really don’t like it. Right now, I still love it for reasons completely different than those of the fans pressed up against the barricades in the front. However, when you ask me to move or think that I’m trying to take your spot, please think again. I think I speak for all photogs when we say that we’re not out to get you, we’re just here to do our job, and we want you to have as good of a time as we are. But hey, we are closer to the stage, we get to bring in professional cameras, and we don’t end up all sweaty pushed up next to hundreds of people for hours, so I guess I do think that we’re having a better time than you.
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