To be completely honest, I did not do my homework on Swingin’ Utters before heading out to shoot their opening performance for Reverend Horton Heat at The Alley this July.  Had I done even the slightest of research, I would have learned early on that this was not ‘just some band’ hopping over the hill from the San Francisco Bay Area punk scene.  Swingin’ Utters are actually a pretty big deal when it comes to the streetpunk genre, and even more so when it comes to expanding the genre to include elements of Irish music, a little bit of that country twang and at times a nostalgic Clash-era reggae influence.  What seemed even more impressive was the fact that there were members of the audience who would, have, will again and most definitely did drive for miles to see Swingin’ Utters perform live in Reno/Sparks; regardless of whoever might be headlining the evening.

As far as shooting goes, there is no pit at The Alley.  It is every man, woman and child for themselves when pressed against the 2-3 foot tall stage, making room for moshing, jumping, fist pumping, slam dancing and any overall exaltation of life.  I was using the same Nikon 50mm f/1.8D lens that has been attached to my Nikon D7000 since SXSW this past March and, much like other recent shows, aperture and shutter speed were set to 1.8 and 1/250th of a second, respectively.  The ISO however, did find it’s home at 2500 for this set, letting as much of the nominal stage lighting in as possible without introducing undesirable noise.  In retrospect, I should have opened it up to 3200 on some of the shots, but then anything under the white spotlight would have been overexposed.  Well, maybe we’ll try a show with auto ISO set between 800-3200, whaddaya say?

Bonus:  While conversing with several audience members, I tried pinning down a great ‘introductory’ album to lead a new listener like myself into the sounds of Swingin’ Utters … you know, something that these undeniably devoted fans would feel comfortable recommending to a noob like myself.  The general consensus was the 1996 release, Juvenile Product of Working Class (Fat Wreck Chords).  Great jumping off point if I do say so myself.  Thanks for the recommendation guys, and to those who may just now be discovering Swingin’ Utters — Enjoy!

 

VIEW THE FULL SWINGIN’ UTTERS GALLERY HERE

 

Camera(s) Used:

Nikon D7000

Lens(es) Used:

Nikon 50mm f/1.8D

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