Enjoy Every Moment...Go to Every Show
This photo is why I love rock photography...
2019 - Ace of Spades - Sacramento, California
The Chris Robinson Brotherhood was developed in the downtime of The Black Crowes and started putting out legendary music from day one. Maybe because the lead singer (Chris Robinson) had already rented space in my head and was free to move back in, or maybe because the CRB sound was more jammy with hints of H.O.R.D.E. festival and the Strawberry Music Festival (when it was in Yosemite - you know that was the best), I was already tuned into what they were going to play.
Either way, the CRB troop made a stop in Sacramento and was kind enough to kick Music Fan Magazine a few tickets and a media pass. I was thrilled because it was just a few years before when they stopped off in Nevada City, and our daughter Emilie, then only about 6 years old, ended up on stage dancing with the band. That was a fun night...and the music was just fantastic.
So Justine and I are at the show, and I'm snapping pics like a lunatic fan (I was one, of course) with Chris and the band looking at me, trying to give me a good angle for a cover shot. It was a lot of fun and even though no words were spoken, I could tell that Chris was not totally annoyed with me and possibly understood that we were both trying to get the best out of our equipment. Except...he was much better at making that guitar sing than I was and making the camera work the way I wanted to.
After a song or two, I tried something strange. I reached in my bag and pulled a 1972 Nikon F2 Manuel film camera with a 50mm 1.4mm Nikon lens and loaded with Ilford 3200 black and white film. I carry this from time to time to prove that you don't need a $5000 camera to take good pictures. I approached the stage again and leaned on the half-stack speaker right in front of Chris's microphone. The sound was deafening, even with earplugs, but I held my position and waited until Chris and his lead guitarist, Neal Casal, (in the background) crossed fretboards...then I snapped this photo (ISO 3200 / ASA 125 / F1.4).
The picture isn't technically perfect. Chris's head is cut off, the bottom of Neal's guitar is cut off, and he is out of focus. It probably could be brighter, but then again, this is a film at night, in a club, with beer getting spilled on me and sound so loud that it was difficult to even see straight. All in all, no magazine would pick this up as a shot worth printing.
But the sad fact is this is the last photo I would ever take of Neal Casal...the legendary guitar player who toured with Chris Robinson Brotherhood, Ryan Adams and the Cardinals, and so many more. Neal passed just a few months after this photo was taken. This is why I love photography...recording time and preserving moments that may never happen again. I love that Neal is in this picture...getting pictures like this is important. You never know.
I've sent this photo to Chris Robinson's people and the fine folks at the Neal Casal Foundation. I hope they like it. I sure do. It's what keeps me up at night, developing my own black-and-white film in the 1/2 converted laundry room until the wee hours of the morning, and I wouldn't trade it for anything.