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Hollywood Vampires @ Britt tomorrow

alice cooper copenhell

Alice Cooper @ 2016 Copenhell

The Hollywood Vampires are playing at Britt Festivals on 7/23/16. I will miss the show as I’m still in Denmark, but I did get to catch part of the show at Copenhell a few weeks ago. Alice Cooper did a portion of the set as part of his own. I thought it was excellent.

August Burns Red @ Copenhell

copenhell august burns red

August Burns Red @ 2016 Copenhell

@abrband @dustinabr @jakeabr @stubbornbrent

copenhell august burns red

Dustin Davidson

copenhell august burns red

Jake Luhrs

copenhell august burns red

Brent Rambler

Yukata stroll

arashiyama yukata Hozu River Togetsu Bridge

Togetsu Bridge in Arashiyama

King Diamond @ Copenhell (part 1)

king diamond copenhell 2016

“I Command You To Scream…”

@COPENHELL #copenhell @RealKingDiamond #KingDiamond

Fun King Diamond Story #1 (of 4 or 5)…

Once upon a time, I had just turned 15 years old. I was laying on my bed late on a Friday night listening to the radio. I don’t remember the station, but it could have been KSJO, KRQR, or KOME. Back in the day these stations would play decent music in the San Francisco Bay Area. You could hear Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, or Judas Priest during the day. However, you had to tune in late at night, especially on weekends, if you wanted to hear the latest and greatest in heavy metal–maybe Iron Maiden or something newly released.

Such was the case one night in November of 1983. The DJ put Mercyful Fate’s 11+ minute “Satan’s Fall” on. I had never heard anything like this before. I got goosebumps. Luckily I had my tape recorder going so I was able to listen to it again and again before finally buying the CD in 1986. Anyway, the DJ said something about this band being from Copenhagen, Denmark. Never in a million, billion years did I ever imagine that I would be standing at this guy’s feet in Copenhagen 33 years later taking this photo.

Prague from Powder Tower

Prague from Powder Tower

I’m back in Copenhagen, now, after three days in Prague. My only regret is that I didn’t bring a long lens on the trip (and I had a 70-300mm sitting on my table back in Denmark! What was I thinking?). That just gives me an excuse to return to Prague someday. This shot could have been cool at 300mm, instead of being a 4-photo photomerge @ 11mm, with the Church of Our Lady before Tyn on Old Town Square in the foreground and St. Vitus Cathedral in the Prague Castle area on the other side of the Vltava River in the background.

Prague really can’t be captured in photos adequately. In person my jaw was dropping around every corner. Next time I need to go when it isn’t tourist high season. Does such a time of the year exist? All I know is on my way out of town on Sunday morning at 8 a.m. the streets were empty. Next time I’ll spend more time out in the streets at dawn and more time sleeping in the afternoon when decapitation by someone else’s selfie stick is a serious concern.

博多祇園山笠

Diorama in Hakata Machiya Folk Museum of the Hakata Gion Yamakasa Festival (博多祇園山笠)

Diorama in Hakata Machiya Folk Museum of the Hakata Gion Yamakasa Festival (博多祇園山笠)

I have never been fortunate enough to be in Fukuoka for the first half of July to witness first hand the Hakata Gion Yamakasa, but the display, in miniature, at the nearby museum is pretty cool.