I have to admit it. Had Ghost, Mastodon, and Opeth been playing anywhere else in the San Francisco Bay Area I don’t think I would have bothered to make the (300+ miles each way) trip. Seeing them in the Fox Theater is why I made the journey. The Fox Theater has so much personality and so much history. Ghost looks that much more in character in a place like this. The reverse is also true. The Fox Theater looks like it was built for bands like Ghost, Mastodon, and Opeth. The giant, gold statues flanking each side of the stage would not be out of place on a Mastodon album cover.

Posted on May 3rd, 2012 under Other. Tags: california, fox theater, ghost band sweden, nikon d7000, Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 Lens for Nikon. Comments Off on Ghosty Fox Theater

Oakland has a curfew of 11:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights. Opeth finished things up promptly at 11:30, but it seemed a shame to just go home with my all access pass still in effect so I headed back up to the stage for some photos of the now vacated Fox Oakland Theater.

This photo is actually five pictures taken vertically with an ultra-wide angle lens and then photomerged together in Photoshop CS5.

Posted on April 30th, 2012 under Other. Tags: california, fox theater, nikon d7000, opeth, photoshop, Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 Lens for Nikon. Comments Off on After the show

I just got back from my trip to Oakland to see Ghost, Mastodon, and Opeth. Things went even better than expected. Here is a photo of Mastodon onstage in the beautiful Fox Theater.

Posted on April 28th, 2012 under Other. Tags: california, concert photography, fox theater, mastodon, metal, nikon d7000, oakland, Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 Lens for Nikon. Comments Off on Mastodon @ Fox Theater in Oakland, California

Once upon a time (1990-1991) I lived on Webster Street in San Francisco with the nearest cross street being Haight Street. More of my disposable income went to CDs than pretty much anything else. Recycled Records on Haight and Masonic wasn’t far away, and I purchased many a CD in those hallowed walls. At that point in time probably 95% of Recycled Records’ inventory was CDs. A decade before Recycled Records’ inventory was probably 95% records (with the other 5% being tapes).

Flash forward to 2012 and the circle of life has ended up where it began as Recycled Records now sells little other than records again. Who could have predicted such a fate for the LP in 1991?

Posted on April 23rd, 2012 under Other. Tags: california, nikon d7000, san francisco, signs, Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 Lens for Nikon. Comments Off on Recycled Records – San Francisco

Posted on April 22nd, 2012 under Other. Tags: AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II, california, nikon d7000. Comments Off on The Flying Tortillas – Huntington Beach, California