Photos: Das Racist @ Cargo in CommRow 2012-04-03

Das Racist @ Cargo in CommRow, Reno, NV 2012-04-03

Have I mentioned recently that my interest in shooting more shows at Cargo @ CommRow is on the rise?  This semi new-ish venue in downtown Reno is bringing in some great talent these days, with plenty of national touring acts (Murs, K.Flay, The Green) and with the first sell-out show coming from local vocal hero Whitney Myer, there is no doubt that more will be catching on to the growing buzz surrounding this elegant nightspot.

I showed up to the venue a little early for Das Racist’s show on Tuesday, April 4th and not having seen any opening acts mentioned on the Facebook event or ticketing Website, I was curious to see what this alternative rap trio from Brooklyn had up their sleeves for their 2012 Reno, NV performance.  There were several younger fans there ahead of me and I had the pleasant opportunity to chat with both the female bartender on duty for the evening and the venue’s Production Manager, Dan Bishop, who were both a joy to share words with.

The show started shortly after 9PM with an illuminated screen filled with projections of psychedelic waves surrounding a large domesticated feline being ridden by a juxtaposed animated character whose face switched between ex-pres. George W. Bush and Osama Bin Laden.  There’s a shot of that below if you’d like a visual to accompany the description.

The three members of Das Racist (Heems, Kool A.D. & Dapwell) made their way onto stage with an air of wit and humor, and after a couple songs began to pass out jumbo-sized bags of gummy worms and (presumably warm cans of) Tecate to the audience.  There was also a chicken dinner plate and cantaloupe offered up to the crowd, both of which are also included in the Super Happy Fun Bonus (B&W) Pics featured at the end of this post.

The show lasted about an hour and the trio of east coast gents made a point of hanging out with their fans at the merch booth directly outside of the venue’s 3rd floor entranceway.  A true testament to the intimate live music experience Cargo @ CommRow provides to both local and visting concertgoers.

Camera settings on my  Nikon D7000 + AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED body and lens combination included a range of ISO from 1600 – 6400 and steadily held aperture and shutter speed settings of f/2.8 and 1/200th of a second, respectively.

There was no photo pit, but front of stage access was pretty easy to come by, and with a little bit of leaning room available at nearly every angle, a variety of close-up shots were within reach, provided ample lighting was in frame.  I was also able to move around behind the front of stage crowd for a couple interesting shots encompassing more of the high up stage lighting and a more wide angle view of the venue’s atmosphere for that evening.  Needless to say, these things please me as a live music photographer.  Thanks Cargo / CommRow!

As our readers may have noticed in our last live music post here on IShootReno.com, there is now the option to order high-quality lustre poster prints of your favorite shots, delivered to your door!  Feel free to peruse the full gallery below and click-through to add your favorite photos to your shopping cart for checkout!

VIEW THE FULL DAS RACIST GALLERY HERE

NEW: ORDER PRINTS HERE!

Das Racist @ Cargo

Das Racist @ Cargo

Das Racist @ Cargo

Das Racist Crowd @ Cargo

Das Racist @ Cargo

Das Racist @ Cargo

Das Racist @ Cargo

Das Racist @ Cargo

Das Racist @ Cargo

Das Racist @ Cargo

Das Racist @ Cargo

Camera(s) Used:

Nikon D7000

Lens(es) Used:

AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED


Go On, Treat Yourself to Something Nice!

Do you buy stuff online? Do you buy camera stuff online? If this post or anything else on ishootreno.com was helpful to you, please consider supporting this site and making your next photo gear, music or general purchase through one of our affiliate links:

Every time our readers buy new gear through our affiliate links, it helps us bring to the table more of that which brought you here in the first place — the ‘money’ shots!

The best part?!  It doesn’t cost our readers anything extra to show their support!

If our readers do pick up some new gear, please drop us a line … we always love to hear about your new additions!

Comments, Praise, Feedback?  We’re all ears!

Please let us know what you thought of this post on ishootreno.com!

Super Happy Fun Bonus (B&W) Pics!

Das Racist @ Cargo

Das Racist Crowd @ Cargo

Das Racist Crowd @ Cargo

Photos: John Digweed, Erik Lobe @ Knitting Factory Concert House

John Digweed @ Knitting Factory Concert House
John Digweed @ Knitting Factory Concert House

What better way to describe John Digweed’s recent headlining performance at Knitting Factory Concert House as one that will go down in the record books as mind melting, jaw dropping and a pure form of aural stimulation.  It will also go down in my personal record books as one of the toughest shoots I’ve ever experienced.  In general, there was very little usable light in the venue, Mr. Digweed was in no way, shape or form in what one would call ‘direct’ light and to top it off there were super-powered lasers adding an extra layer of challenge to the mixing bowl of variables for the evening.

The crowd was dancing up a mild storm and the lighting installations were moving all over, so the traditional methods of identifying a pattern of usable light and waiting for the right moment to snap was tossed right out the window.  While some photographers may throw in the towel and try to salvage the rest of their evening, this lens jockey started to experiment, and take all those notes he’s been reading over at IShootShows.com and put them to good use.

Most of the images found in the John Digweed, Erik Lobe Gallery were shot at ISO 6400 with aperture of f/2.8.  What I found to be my secret weapon of the evening was a range of shutter speed from my standard 1/250th of a second going all the way up to 1/10th of a second (as seen in the image above).  Due to this experimentation, what ended up taking place was a lot more light being let in to properly expose the shots, with a tradeoff of a slightly less ‘focused’ end result whenever John’s face actually made it, visibly, into the shot.  Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely would not have been able to bring back the shots I did if it were not for the Nikon D7000 + AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED body and lens combination and the Kata KT DW-495, aka oversized fanny pack, helping keep my lens pen, earplug case, extra battery, point-and-shoot LUMIX, iPhone charger and water bottle close at hand throughout the evening.  Oh, and Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 is a godsend for bringing out the ‘hidden’ lighting captured in these .NEF RAW photographs.

All lighting gripes aside, this was a fantastically amazing show to have taken part in, and the performing artists (John Digweed, Erik Lobe) brewed up a piping hot pot of danceable beats, chest-pounding bass and brain-bending visualizations; which validated that excited feeling of stepping into a rave … right in downtown Reno!

Check out the full photo gallery by clicking through the link below (see the big, ALL CAPS lettering?) and commenting on this post with your experiences at this show or ones similar!

 

VIEW THE FULL JOHN DIGWEED, ERIK LOBE GALLERY HERE

 

Erik Lobe @ Knitting Factory Concert House
Erik Lobe @ Knitting Factory Concert House
John Digweed @ Knitting Factory Concert House
John Digweed @ Knitting Factory Concert House
John Digweed @ Knitting Factory Concert House
John Digweed @ Knitting Factory Concert House
John Digweed @ Knitting Factory Concert House
John Digweed @ Knitting Factory Concert House
John Digweed @ Knitting Factory Concert House
John Digweed @ Knitting Factory Concert House
John Digweed @ Knitting Factory Concert House
John Digweed @ Knitting Factory Concert House
John Digweed @ Knitting Factory Concert House
John Digweed @ Knitting Factory Concert House

Camera(s) Used:

Nikon D7000

Lens(es) Used:

AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED


Go On, Treat Yourself to Something Nice!

Do you buy stuff online? Do you buy camera stuff online? If this post or anything else on ishootreno.com was helpful to you, please consider supporting this site and making your next photo gear, music or general purchase through one of our affiliate links:

Every time our readers buy new gear through our affiliate links, it helps us bring to the table more of that which brought you here in the first place — the ‘money’ shots!

The best part?!  It doesn’t cost our readers anything extra to show their support!

If our readers do pick up some new gear, please drop us a line … we always love to hear about your new additions!

Comments, Praise, Feedback?  We’re all ears!

Please let us know what you thought of this post on ishootreno.com!

Super Happy Fun Bonus Pics!

John Digweed @ Knitting Factory Concert House

John Digweed @ Knitting Factory Concert House

John Digweed @ Knitting Factory Concert House

John Digweed @ Knitting Factory Concert House