A Cold Pizza and Coffee Update - Photo Pit Etiquette

Here it is…a blog that I never thought I would have to write, but it seems that it is a must.

After photographing the past few shows that I have, it has come to my attention that there are a lot of “newer” (and by newer, I am saying starting to become concert photographers within the past five years) who do NOT follow the “does and don’ts” of a band’s rider for photographers. And this is a personal pet peeve of mine.

So, for a prime example, I had the fortunate chance to photograph Dinosaur Jr. a bit ago at The Truman, in Kansas City, MO. There was an email that went out from the band’s PR rep that asked for us photographers to follow a few guidelines when photographing the show. Those guidelines included the following:

- Photos are only permitted during the first three songs.

- Don't use flash when taking photos

- Make sure your focus assist light is off.

- Photos of the show are not permitted for sale.

- Masks are required while in the photo pit (if the show has a pit)

- Please send along your coverage once it's live.

This seems simple enough to go through and follow….correct? I mean, it is only six rules to follow. HOWEVER, it seemed like everyone outside of me who could follow them. So with that being the case, let’s go over some primary concerns and WHY we must follow the rules.

First, the first three songs. If the band says that they are only allowing for the photographer to do the first three songs, then for the LOVE OF GOD, only shoot the first three songs. Even if you are the venue photographer, that does not make you any more special than any other photographer there. You are going to be limited to those first three songs. That does NOT mean that you can shoot the first three songs from the Photo Pit and then shoot anywhere else in the venue that you want to, unless it is expressed. This is the surest way to get your credentials taken from you fact, if not your entire SD or CF card (and yes I have seen this happen before). It will also get you blacklisted from the venue or from shooting the band again. OR even worse, the word will get back to their Public Relations or Record Label or their Management and they will blacklist you from not only that band, but possibly from every band that they work with, period. And, the funny thing is that they talk to other people in the industry. So lets say that you do something that goes against the bands list of what they want you to do or not to do, and they find out, they can relate that back to their PR people, who handle the photo passes for each show, and you could find yourself not able to work with any band that is under that companies’ roster, but they might talk to someone else in the industry and they will blacklist you as well because it is obvious that you cannot follow a simple list of what to do or not to do, and they don’t want to put up with that.

The same thing goes with wearing a mask if the band asks you too. Look, it is not something that is unheard of. It was just a few months ago really that we were still in the middle of Covid Pandemic. Sure, things have started to cool off since the main outbreak, but have some fucking common courtesy here. It is not about you as the photographer but rather the band. At the show that I mentioned earlier, I was the ONLY photographer in the pit who wore a mask the entire time while shooting. There was one guy who ended up putting on a mask during Dinosaur Jr.’s set, but went maskless during the other two bands that were performing that night. It is stupid (for a lack of better wording) to think that the entire rider for photographers pertain to you for every band that is on the bill for that night, EXCEPT for the mask aspect. It is not only a smart thing to do but also the RIGHT thing to do, strictly because that is what the band asked to you to do.

Once again, these are not suggestions that you could follow if you would like, but rather things that the band is requiring you follow to be able to shoot their show. It is because of them that you are able to photograph their show, not the other way around. They could have told you no, and still can. Also, if shit like this continues to go on, at different venues across the city, where photographers are just putting the band’s guidelines by the side and just doing what ever the fuck they want to do regardless, the entire city could be blacklisted. I have also seen this/been told the city was by a friend of mine who is a PR rep…and was told that the artist black listed the city because the photographers could not go through and follow the rules that were set up for them.

So in short…don’t be a douche and just follow the rules that the band(s) set up for their shows. It is only a few minutes out of your life that you have to do what someone else has told you that needs to be done, and on top of it doesn’t fuck things up for the rest of us because you think that you are above everyone else (which you are not, trust me).

A Cold Pizza and Coffee Review - Twenty One Pilots

On Friday, Sept. 9, a show that was long awaited by a good portion of the Kansas City metro area youth (or at least young-at-heart) took place; when the duo that goes by the name Twenty One Pilots took the stage. Before their appearance for the Icy 2022 tour took the stage, something interesting happened.

To avoid being a passionless, impersonal concert review, we’ll say this: Peter McPoland, a guy who got his start before becoming famous on the social app TikTok, blasted the T-Mobile Center with what could be called a strange, forced, and overly dramatic performance. While the backing musicians and overall singing were fine, McPoland’s onstage antics caught the most attention. This kid had more energy than Hammy the Squirrel.

Now, bouncing around on stage, getting into the music that you are playing is one thing, but when you look like you are trying to rip off the clothes that he was wearing, circa late 1990s/early 2000s “mom dressed me for my junior high yearbook photo,” showing signs that would almost mock someone with Sensory Overload With Anxiety is frankly, boring, and unattractive to see on stage. This is even more so when everything that was done on stage reminded one of the early 2000s stage performances of bands like Hot Hot Heat, Vendetta Red, and other bands of the like, which does not mesh well with the all-time classic song “Twist and Shout” by The Top Notes, at least not the stage antics that McPoland was giving the audience

Yet, there were a lot of fans out there to see Mr. McPoland. And rightfully so, as his songs were fun to listen to, and with one of his more famous songs leading off the night, “Shit Show,” the crowd got ready for what was to come. It was just a shame that the T-Mobile Center was almost empty when his six-song set that could have been called the same visually was halfway done.

The wait time between the two acts was overly long, so much so that the crowd had the time to do a dozen “waves” around the entire arena and include a brief call-and-answer game of “Marco Polo,” amongst other little bits. But when the lights finally dropped…that is when everything took off. The video entrance that the band showed was fun and appropriate for their Icy tour, showing the two members of the band walking through a winter blizzard to a blue door, which they eventually went through (still all on the video monitors) to appear on stage, where fake snow blasted. Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun performed their first song of the night, “Good Day,” in their customary stage costume of matching outfits and black ski masks, before Joseph ripped his off and played the remaining 25 songs (which included two “encore” songs, where the band really never left the stage in the traditional encore fashion).

Yet, with two stages (Stage “B” making up of really nothing more than a small platform with a piano on it which was positioned in front of the soundboards, with an additional high rise/diving board height platform behind the soundboards which were both utilized by Joseph in a few different songs), a “campfire acoustic set”, which included a real camp fire set in font of the band (which the band thanked the folks at the T-Mobile Center for letting them do, as some other stops along their tour refused to let them use actual real fire, most likely due to the 2003 Station Nightclub fire where the band Great White’s pyrotechnics caught the venue on fire, burning it to the ground and caused 100 deaths and more than 200 injuries), it was a fantastic and enjoyable show. The duel, and their backing band which included the likes of Dr. Jesse Blum on trumpet and bassist Skyler Acord, from metalcore band Issues.

Mr. Joseph further interacted with the audience by doing skits like crowd surfing on an air mattress from Stage B back to Stage A, as well as running along both side of the pit and up to the midway point of the first level of the seated portion of the audience between sections 116/117 and 106/107.

Throughout the show, one could glance over the audience, which had filled the T-Mobile Center, and see people singing along, dancing to the music, overcome with so much emotion that tears were coming down as the band played on. Everyone, including the Kansas City Police Department officers who were there to help with the flow of people after the last song of the encore, “Trees,” could be seen singing along and dancing. To sum it all up, from overhearing one 20-year-old attendee of the show, “That was fucking awesome.”

The Crowd

Peter McPoland

Twenty One Pilots