Nov
The Final Post
November 17, 2018
So this is it. The final post.
I can’t believe it’s been almost ten years since I started this adventure, and what an interesting ride it’s been. The last show I covered was Frightened Rabbit on May 9, 2016, and even though I had every intention of giving this site a proper ending, it’s taken two and a half years to do so. i must say, it’s been fun going through the archives, and I’m happy to finally end it the way I had envisioned.
For those of you who visiting for the first time…welcome. Bad news = you’re late to the party (this site operated from 2009-16 and is unfortunately over). Good news = no shortage of archived content. I’ve compiled 15 links below, where you’ll find highlights from each year, as well as comprehensive lists to every show I attended. I candidly discuss the progression and passion early on, and how it all came to an end it in 2016.
Along with the many photos and videos, this music blog tells a nice little story of progress. It shows how someone with almost no experience in this space (other than love for music and art), started a little blog, and ultimately ended up communicating with publicists, obtaining photo and media credentials, and photographing my favorite bands.
I don’t want to use the word easy, but I was surprised at how quickly I managed to become successful at my music site and concert photography. Back in the day, if I wanted to do something like this, I’d have to work for a notable publication, and perhaps compete with other photographers and journalists to cover shows, or even attend shows I wasn’t very interested in. Instead, I did my own thing, all by myself, and covered only the bands and music I enjoyed.
We live in any age where anyone can start a blog or online publication on pretty much anything and get visibility. If you have passion and create great content, people will eventually find and follow you. It may take a while, but they will. If this is something you’ve thought about doing (blog, photography, YouTube, etc), give it a shot. Worst case scenario, you learn a few things, improve your skills, and have something you’ve created and can look back on. With passion and hard work, you may get further along than you might think.
And for those of you who read publications, blogs, or view any kind of art online, realize that the vast majority of these folks don’t get paid for what they create, and if they do, it’s usually very little compensation. They do it because they love it. That person you follow will one day question if all of their hard work is actually worth it, if anyone truly cares, and come to the crossroads of whether to keep going or write the final post. If you like the content you’re viewing, let the creator know. Drop a like on it, reblog/retweet it, or send a short email saying thanks. It may seem trivial, but It may mean the difference in whether or not that individual keeps doing what they enjoy, or move on.
I’ve been very fortunate to see many great artists over the years, and if I can say one last thing, it would be to discover new music. Check the calendar for your local music venue, give the artist a listen, and go see a show. There were many days where I was on the fence about going to a concert, but if you think about it, you’re never going to remember the night you stayed home and watched TV, or a great night’s sleep, but if you venture out and see some live music, you may just see and hear something that changes your life, or creates a lasting memory.
Don’t be afraid to go to a concert by yourself either. You’ll be surrounded by some very good people, and immediately have something in common with every single person (you might even make a new friend). It’s better to attend a show alone than miss out completely. As we’ve sadly seen recently, that artist you’d like to see may leave us too soon.
I really enjoyed doing this, and was an absolute dream come true. I experienced so many great shows, new bands, and met countless amazing people during these seven years. Music is a common bond that strikes emotion, and brings people together like nothing else. I may not have done anything groundbreaking, but I feel this was a personal success, and perhaps i exposed someone to new music, helped them experience or relive a concert though a video, or even inspired a person to start their own blog.
I maybe biased, but I feel this was a damn good time for music as well, and think we’ll eventually look back and appreciate it more as time goes on.
And with that, I say farewell. Thank you to everyone who has stopped by over the years. If I happen see you at a show in the future, be sure to say hello.
Below are 15 links to posts that sum up this music site very well.
2002-2008 - Before the blog
2009 - The Start
2016 - The End
2017-18 - Final Thoughts
Concert Archive of all shows 2009-’11
Concert Archive of all shows 2012-’13
Nov
Photography Site
Prior to my Boston music blog in 2009, I always enjoyed photography, and would occasionally snap photos with my little Canon point & shoot camera. My music site ultimately gave me a much needed push to take the next step, and I purchased a DSLR camera in 2010.
I decided to create a site where I could showcase some of my favorite photos. Not just concert photography, but also city and landscape pictures from New England and my travels throughout the U.S. I ended up choosing several hundred, and if you want to check them out, you can do so here:
I still take photos from time to time, just not as much, and I’ll likely add a few others as time goes on.
Thank you for stopping by.
Chris
Nov
2002-2008
Before I dive into the shows I’ve covered on this site, I’ll give you a ittle background on the events that led up to it. I grew up in Indiana, about an hour from Chicago, and the first concert I ever attended was at Chicago’s Vic Theatre (capacity 1,000) to see House of Pain (don’t judge). My friends and I got there early and secured a spot close to the stage. The opening band soon came out, and to our surprise, they absolutely killed it. That unknown band was Rage Against the Machine. In hindsight, I was likely chasing the high of that first show by attending so many concerts over the years. I actually put together a short post on that show a while back, which you can read here.
During the 90′s, I would attend a handful of shows each year, and managed to see bands like Radiohead, Blur, The Cure, Smashing Pumpkins, Bob Mould, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, several Lollapaloozas, U2, Beastie Boys, Oasis, etc. I successfully managed to save about 90% of my concert stubs, which makes it a bit easier to remember.
I moved to Boston in the fall of ‘02 (by way of New Jersey), and found myself in a city with no shortage of music venues and concerts, as Boston is an incredible concert market due to all the colleges. This was also a great time for music, especially indie rock, which I became partial to, and went to several shows at the Paradise, Great Scott, Middle East, and TT the Bear’s Place.
I saw plenty of shows during this 2002-’08 era, both, big and small, but the larger ones (Neil Young, Billy Joel, Elton John, Oasis, Springsteen, Tom Petty, Phish, Peter Gabriel, Simon & Garfunkel, etc.) didn’t quite have the same feeling as the smaller, more intimate shows. The bands that played the smaller, sweatier clubs had something to prove and played their hearts out, leaving the audience with a lasting impression, so they could hopefully make it to the next level. It was no surprise that I liked those shows the best.
In 2007, I was armed with a nice little Canon SD1000 Powershot point & shoot camera that took fairly decent photos for the time. Luckily the audio wasn’t too bad either, as many of the other digital cameras seemed to struggle with recording bass, but this little camera actually worked well for recording live concert videos.
In October of ‘07, I recorded and uploaded my first video to YouTube. It was The National singing “Fake Empire” at an extremely tiny Boston bar. Throughout the years, I managed to record over 600 videos in less than ten years, and they often became a staple of my reviews, and was something most of the other music blogs weren’t doing at the time.
For General Admission shows, I would always arrive early for a spot against the stage, so it just kind of made sense to film a song or two, as nobody was in front of me. I also enjoyed recording because of the challenge; I only had one shot at recording the song. I made no edits and needed to have a steady hand.
You can view all of my videos at my YouTube channel here.
Below are a few shows from ‘02-’08 (prior to my music blog) that stuck with me, and ultimately inspired me to start mu music site in ‘09.
Nov
2009 - The Start
I’m originally from Indiana, but moved to Boston (by way of New Jersey) in October of ‘02, and was fortunate to live close to several Boston music venues like Great Scott, the Paradise Rock Club, and Harper’s Ferry (now Brighton Music Hall). I’d often walk to shows, seeing no shortage of incredible concerts, and it wasn’t long before I started to document these experiences.
About ten years ago, blogging was taking off, and there were no shortage people documenting and sharing their lives online. One such blogger was musician Ryan Adams, who had a blog on Tumblr - foggy.tumblr.com (since deleted). He was living in NYC at the time, and would share his thoughts, photos, and even new music. Being a huge Ryan Adams fan, I enjoyed the openness of the content, and appreciated the intimate look into his life. He was using the platform as a creative outlet, and genuinely seemed to be posting whatever he wanted. I guess you could say I felt somewhat inspired by his blog, and thought about starting one myself. But what would I write about?
During this time, I was listening to so many talented artists like Bon Iver, Death Cab for Cutie, Arcade Fire, The Tallest Man On Earth, Bright Eyes, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Fleet Foxes, Band of Horses, The Swell Season, Ray Lamontagne, Langhorne Slim, Frightened Rabbit, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, The National, Dawes, Wolf Parade, The Low Anthem, The Avett Brothers, LCD Soundsystem, and countless others. It was such a good time for music, and I found myself connected with these artists and their songs.
In late October of ‘07, I recorded and uploaded my first YouTube video - (The National playing “Fake Empire”) at a small Irish bar in Boston. Surprisingly, it turned out quite well, and I couldn’t help but think I was witnessing something special at these shows. Seeing upcoming bands in tiny venues, and watching them play their passionate hearts out as they’re trying to make it, was incredible. I managed to see several bands in small clubs that would eventually become well known, and play much larger venues years later. I felt these were exciting times, and felt compelled to share these bands and their music with other people.
On January 18, ‘09, I ventured down to Great Scott to see a new band that I liked, Frighted Rabbit. Armed with my trusty little point & shoot Canon camera, I arrived early, secured a spot against the stage, and over the course of the night, ended up taking a few photographs and videos. Taking pictures at Great Scott with a DSLR camera can be challenging due to the extreme darkness of the club, so you can only imagine what it’s like snapping pictures with a tiny point & shoot in ‘07. I ended up posting four photos and two videos that night, wrote a few short paragraphs, and it was the first of many concerts I would cover on this site.
Oddly enough, this site didn’t start out as a dedicated Boston music blog. In the beginning, it was about 80% music-related, and the other 20% consisted of random thoughts, experiences, and travels. I mean, it wasn’t like anyone was reading it, so I pretty much just posted whatever I wanted. It wasn’t until things progressed in 2010, that I made it 100% focused on music.
I began with no followers, and didn’t really promote or tell anyone about my site. Eventually people found me via Google searches, Youtube, Tumblr, or I’d meet them at shows. Things just kind of organically grew from there, and I’ll talk a little bit about how things progressed in the next post - 2010.
I’ll be sharing highlights from each year, starting with 2009 below. My coverage of shows started out very simple, consisting mainly of a few photos and videos with my Canon point & shoot camera. The early posts are a little remedial, but hey, you have to start somewhere, and I did my best with the tools I had. It wasn’t until later, when I was able to upgrade to a DSLR camera, and obtain media passes for shows.
I invite you to click on the bold print below for links to each of the 14 shows, where you will find photos, videos, and maybe even a few words.
These are just a handful of some of my favorite shows from ‘09, and to see the full list of every show I covered in ‘09 (with links) click the ‘09-’11 archive here.
Nov
2010 - Camera & Photo Passes
In the early days, i was covering shows with my trusty little point & shoot Canon camera. Looking back, I’m actually quite surprised at some of the photos I was able to take in such low light, and without using a flash. They obviously weren’t the best pics ever, but they were passable for review purposes..
However, it wasn’t long before I went from content to frustrated my photos. I remember attending the Arcade Fire show in August of ‘10, and checking out photos from other Boston music blogs that covered the same show, comparing mine to them. I suddenly became critical, as my photos weren’t nearly as good. Well, of course they weren’t as good. I mean, I was using a little $200 point & shoot camera, while the other photographers had thousands of dollars worth of camera equipment and fancy low light lenses. If that wasn’t enough, they also had press passes and were taking photos on the other side of the barricade.
I now found myself at the crossroads. I wanted to take better pictures, but the only way I was going to achieve this goal was to upgrade to a DSLR camera. So in September of ‘10, I purchased a Canon Rebel T2i, a 50mm 1.8 lens, and had no idea what I was doing. I was clueless. It probably took me a good ten minutes to figure out how to mount the lens to the camera body. However, I had the drive to learn. I’d watch Youtube videos, read books, ask questions, and slowly taught myself how to use it.
The first show I used my new camera was The Boxer Rebellion at the Middle East Upstairs (9.22.2010). My first thought was “Wow, this is so much easier, and the pictures are so much brighter”. Being pinned against the stage at a small crowed show isn’t ideal for a 50mm prime lens because it puts you too close to the band, but unfortunately it was the only lens I had, and I had to made it work. It was a good first experience, and I was slowly beginning to learn.
Small music venues typically allow you to bring in cameras without issue, but larger venues require a photo pass to carry in your professional camera (typically defined as having a detachable lens). Small shows weren’t really going to cut it for me, as I had my sights set on bigger venues. I wanted to cover the British band James at the Paradise Rock Club next, so I decided to take the necessary steps to try to secure a photo pass for the show.
One obtains a photo pass via the band, who typically hires a publicist to handle such requests. Now, I could write an entire chapter on my dealings (both good and bad) with publicists, but basically, the band gets a certain amount of photos passes and tickets allotted specifically for the press to cover an event, and while each publicist has their own set of criteria, they all want positive visibility for the band. You could be an amazing photographer, but if no one sees your photos, the band essentially has nothing to gain from letting you cover the event.
The publicist then takes all requests to cover the show, and assigns passes to media outlets they deem worthy of said tickets/passes. If there happens to be five passes available and five respectable publications put in a request, everyone’s typically approved and a happy camper. If twenty people apply, there will be fifteen people who get rejection emails. It was frustrating getting rejected over and over, and even though I tried not to take it personally, I was still disappointed.
Getting back on track, I sent an email to the band’s publicist to see if I could get a photo pass for the James 9.25.10 show at the Paradise Rock Club. This was sort of a big deal. I was emailing the publicist of a band I liked, and waited patiently for a response. From what I recall, I didn’t get a response after several days, and began to wonder if she’d received my email. In hindsight, she totally got my email - haha. I was just peon number whatever asking for another photo pass, a total newb with an amateur blog at that, I really wanted this pass, so I sent a second email, to which she did eventually respond. While she didn’t say yes right off the bat, she didn’t say no either. I could tell she was hesitant, and after some creative persuasion, she eventually said yes (likely because she didn’t receive many other requests to cover the show, and had nothing to lose). But anyway, the reason she approved me was irrelevant. I was in, had my pass, and that was all that mattered.
It was my first time shooting at the Paradise Rock Club, and I felt the photos turned out well, considering I was still understanding how to operate my new camera and all. After that show, luck was on my side, as I was approved for a few theater shows - LCD Soundsystem (Orpheum) and The Tallest Man On Earth (Somerville Thatre). The 50mm wasn’t quite cutting it for the larger shows, so I would occasionally rent lenses from the guys at Calumet photo in Cambridge. I eventually purchased the Tamron 17-50mm 2.8 for wider shots and now had two lenses.
Mind you, I was still getting rejected for press passes on a regular basis, so it wasn’t all roses, but my success rate for covering shows was steadily increasing. The approvals became key, as I now had examples from prior shows that I could now use for my email requests to publicists for future shows. At the time, my site had very low traffic, but no one really had any idea what sort of viewership I had. Remember, this was 2010, and there weren’t website rankings like you have today.. As long as your site looked legitimate, you were legitimate. How many publicists really have the time to look at more than a few pages of your site anyway? And when they saw several recent quality reviews on my site, that was usually good enough to get me the pass.
Towards the end of the year, I upgraded to a Panasonic point and shoot for recording live videos, as it had a stereo microphone, and was superior to my Canon for audio. The image stabilization wasn’t quite as good as the Canon, but it did have an optical zoom.
I felt 2010, was a solid second year for my new site, and I attended many memorable shows.
I invite you to click on the bold print below for links to each of the 12 shows, where you’ll find photos, videos, and maybe even a few words.
These are just a handful of some of my favorite shows from 2010, and to see the full list of every show I covered in ‘10 (with links) click the ‘09-’11 archive here.
Nov
2011
After a fairly successful 2009 and 2010, the third year of my Boston Music Blog seemed to progress in similar fashion. I now had a DSLR camera, a new point & shoot for videos, and was slowly feeling more comfortable. I still had a lot to learn regarding concert photography, but I wasn’t afraid to experiment or ask questions. Success for photo passes was still less than I wanted, but it was definitely better than the year before. 2011 was about improving my photography, my site, building relationships, and gaining new followers.
Surprisingly, I was occasionally contacted by publicists to cover new bands. I will say this - even in the early days, I managed to stay true to myself. I’d have an open mind and give these new bands a listen, but if I didn’t like the music, I’d kindly pass on covering the show. This isn’t quite easy as it seems, as there are several large PR firms that manage numerous bands, and journalists can sometimes get guilted into covering a band who’s music they don’t necessarily like, in hopes of gaining approval to cover a popular band served by the same publicist.
I definitely discovered several awesome upcoming bands via publicists promoting their new clients. I had to sift though a lot of email of bands that weren’t my cup of tea, but when I managed to fine one I liked, I felt I was part of something special, and could see this unknown band in a very intimate venue.
I was also looking for ways to improve my site, and I now had the domain bostonthoughmyeyes.com instead of a .tumblr url. I noticed that people slowly began to find and follow my site (not many, but a few), and being Tumblr-based, it was easy to tag posts and obtain a small following. I also began promoting my website through my YouTube videos, and even Google searches were helping send a few people my way.
2011 was good to me, and I was able to see and photograph many of my favorite artists. Though it varies by venue, photo passes for most larger venues allow access directly in front of the stage for the first three songs, which is a unique experience in itself. During 2011, I was fortunate to cover Josh Ritter, Bright Eyes, Iron and Wine, Cage the Elephant, Fleet Foxes, Ray Lamontagne, The Flaming Lips, My Morning Jacket, Wilco, The National, M83, and so many other talented artists. It also marked the first year I obtained media credentials for the Newport Folk Festival, which was an absolute dream come true. I felt like I was living out my own version of the movie Almost Famous.
In 2011, I attended many memorable shows. I invite you to click on the bold print below for links to each of the 9 shows, where you’ll find photos, videos, and maybe even a few words.
These are just a handful of some of my favorite shows from ‘2011, and to see the full list of every show I covered in ‘11 (with links) click the ‘09-’11 archive here.
Nov
2012
2012 was a dream come true, with each show seemingly bigger than the next. I was now covering shows at significantly larger venues, and obtained press credentials for my first shows at Agganis Arena and the TD Garden, which seemed impossible in the beginning. It was also a damn good year for new music, and I was fortunate to see some incredible bands in the early stages of their musical careers.
It’s crazy some of the shows I was getting approved for at this time, being a small-time music blogger and all. In hindsight, I think I had a few things going for me. I had a legitimate looking site, decent photos, better relationships with publicists, and the fact there wasn’t an overabundance of Boston music blogs, probably helped a little as well.
In 2012, I attended numerous memorable shows. I invite you to click on the bold print below for links to each of the 17 shows, where you’ll find photos, videos, and maybe even a few words.
These are just a handful of some of my favorite shows from 2012, and to see the full list of every show I covered in ‘12 (with links) click the ‘12-’13 archive here.
Nov
2013
I was now in the fifth year of my music blog, and things were going well. I’d try to cover as many shows as I could, only covering artists I liked, and there was no shortage of talent rolling through Boston, which made for a busy year.
In 2013, I attended numerous memorable shows. I invite you to click on the bold print below for links to each of the 19 shows, where you’ll find photos, videos, and maybe even a few words.
These are just a handful of some of my favorite shows from 2013, and to see the full list of every show I covered in ‘13 (with links) click the ‘12-’13 archive here.
Nov
2014
2014 was another solid year. At this point I’m feeling comfortable, having fun, and it’s safe to say both concert and outdoor photography were a passion of mine. I never really had the patience for staged photos with a tripod, and loved the challenge of concert photography because you can’t use a flash, have to deal with low light, moving subjects (sometimes moving crowd), and unpredictable lighting, etc. No two shows were the same, and I loved it.
I ultimately decided it was time for a new camera. I updated my Canon T2i to a 6D, and now had a solid trio of lenses to pair with it - 70-200 2.8, 24-70 2.8, and the 50 1.4. I still kept the T2i, and would use two cameras for shows so I didn’t have to swap out lenses.
In 2014, I attended numerous memorable shows. I invite you to click on the bold print below for links to each of the 22 shows, where you’ll find photos, videos, and maybe even a few words.
These are just a handful of some of my favorite shows from 2014, and to see the full list of every show I covered in ‘14 (with links) click the ‘14-’16 archive here.
Nov
2015
If you were to chart a graph of my happiness and passion for covering live music since the begging of this site in ‘09, it’d probably peak sometime in 2014, and 2015 would start the stow decline. I now found myself pondering a question I wouldn’t be was possible many years earlier. Is it possible to burn out on concerts?
I’ll dive into that question during my thoughts on 2016 (the end of my blog), but in 2015, I did manage to see some memorable shows. I invite you to click on the bold print below for links to each of the 20 shows, where you’ll find photos, videos, and maybe even a few words.
These are just a handful of some of my favorite shows from 2015, and to see the full list of every show I covered in ‘15 (with links) click the ‘14-’16 archive here.
