Black Sabbath @ 2016 Copenhell

At the last minute, Black Sabbath said “no” to pit photography. Initially I was a bit pissed, but it worked out for the best as I got a great spot, nearly dead center in front of the mixing booth so everything sounded perfect. In addition, the crowd around me was great. Had I shot from the pit for the first three songs, I probably would have had a horrible location for the rest.

What a fine show it was! My final time seeing Black Sabbath live, after seeing Ozzy (and Dio) solo in the 80s and Black Sabbath in the 90s and 00s.

Posted on July 23rd, 2016 under Denmark. Tags: black sabbath, concert photography, copenhell, metal, Nikon D500, Tokina AT-X 11-20mm F2.8 PRO DX. Comments Off on Black Sabbath @ 2016 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.

Posted on July 22nd, 2016 under Denmark. Tags: alice cooper, concert photography, copenhell, metal, Nikon D500, Tokina AT-X 11-20mm F2.8 PRO DX. Comments Off on Hollywood Vampires @ Britt tomorrow

August Burns Red @ 2016 Copenhell

@abrband @dustinabr @jakeabr @stubbornbrent

Dustin Davidson

Jake Luhrs

Brent Rambler

Posted on July 21st, 2016 under Denmark. Tags: august burns red, concert photography, copenhell, Nikon 24-120mm f/4 VR G lens, Nikon D500. Comments Off on August Burns Red @ Copenhell

“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.

Posted on July 19th, 2016 under Denmark. Tags: AF-S NIKKOR 85mm f/1.8G lens, concert photography, copenhell, king diamond, metal, Nikon D500. Comments Off on King Diamond @ Copenhell (part 1)

I was jetlagged; I was tired; I was wet. This was about my last shot of the evening on day one of Copenhell before I hightailed it out of there. I got more wet on my bike ride home, much more wet in fact, and lightning struck all around me in flashes and bolts. It was pretty spectacular at times. Riding past the Rundetaarn as lightning was reflecting off its windows was particularly memorable.

Had I been in a better mood I probably would have stuck it out. What got me in a bad mood? Strange I know, but it was not just the rain.

I love it when a band has really good intro music or the song they play over the PA just before going on is great. Take Iron Maiden. You know they are about to hit the stage when UFO’s “Doctor Doctor”, a fantastic song, comes on. I think King Diamond had Black Sabbath playing before he went on the next night. Megadeth had something cool too, but I can’t remember what it was now. Anyway, before the Scorpions went on stage Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” came on the PA. What a crappy song. The skies opened up at that point as if to piss on Metallica’s demise. My mood was worsening. Then the Scorpions came on about 10 minutes late which meant standing in a downpour for 10 minutes more than had they been on time. Finally, they opened with a lame song like “Going Out With A Bang”. Had they opened with something good and played something other than 90s Metallica before that, I probably could have pressed on through the rain. But I wasn’t looking forward to their ballads from the 90s or any more new songs either so I left to the sound of “The Zoo”.

Posted on July 12th, 2016 under Denmark. Tags: concert photography, copenhell, crowd, Nikon D500, rain, scorpions, Tokina AT-X 11-20mm F2.8 PRO DX. Comments Off on Singing in the rain