§ D.R.I. at the Bluebird Theater
I never really listened to these guys until recently and am glad I had a chance to see them live before they pack it in (though, judging by this performance they’ve got a lot of time left in them). I was a bit worried that this would be a “reunion tour” quality performance but the energy level was better than any show that I’ve seen in the last few years.
Not to beat a dead horse but, again, the Bluebird was dark. Not as dark as last time but still challenging. Picking the right moments were key. Even though I was able to shoot at 1/160 @ f/2.8 and 1/125 @ f/3.5 using ISO 6400, movement on stage was still mostly moving too fast to be able to capture everything. Wether they were predictable or I was having a good night doesn’t matter to me ‘cause I was able to get a good set of photos that I am really happy with. Lack of decent front lighting in the middle of the stage is a bit of a hindrance at the Bluebird but overall a good moment will survive less than optimal lighting conditions if captured properly.
And, once in a while, you just get lucky with what little light that there is:
I hung back on this one. The area in front of the stage is small and was dominated by the pit and I was too worried about getting my equipment banged around while down there. In retrospect maybe I should have tried but since the theater didn’t have enough room back stage for all the band equipment there was an area roped off to the side that I was allowed to work in so I had a nice cushy space on the first level all to myself.
Speaking of the mosh pit. All you young, dumb, pit wannabes should read up on how to survive in a mosh pit. I saw quite a few kids dive right out in to where there was nobody waiting or head out feet first. C’mon… its not that hard.
Back to the music: I’m now a fan of the opening bands Evile (lead guitarist pictured above) & Gama Bomb (lead singer and bassist pictured below). If you like metal/thrash/punk or good ol’ speed metal you should check ‘em out. Gama Bomb lead singer Philly Byrne occasionally channels the spirit of Rob Halford to pull out some truly iconic metal high notes. You just can’t go wrong with that.
Photos and review originally appeared in Reverb, the Denver Post’s music blog.
Tagged as: bluebird concert d.r.i. denver evile gama bomb lrbo punk rock show theater thrash
