Andrew St. Clair

Last year, I saw Peelander-Z at Santos Party House and it was one of the best shows I’ve ever been to. If there was a Grammy Category for Most Entertaining Live Act Peelander-Z would absolutely be a nominee. So when one of my favorite live bands were added to the bill performing alongside two of the best (if not the best) 8-Bit/chiptune bands out there, it became a must see show for me.

I got there early for soundcheck to hang with the bands and Brooklyn Vegan’s own Leia Jospé, who had been traveling with Anamanaguchi for the last week or so on a tour of the East coast.

The Studio is a small space. When I normally shoot there, I’ll drop in early and stake out a spot at the foot of the stage and stay there most of the night. With today’s show however, I decided to give myself a break and chill out backstage until the last minute. Leia braved the crowd from the beginning of Starscream’s set (and got some fun stuff), while I attempted to move back and forth from the stage to backstage. The crowd was slightly easier to navigate while Starscream was performing, as everyone was still making their way inside.

When Peelander-Z went on, the table with Starscream’s gadgets was moved over to stage left which means my view (and Leia’s) from stage left was now blocked. So, I shot from the right side, but mostly from the rear of the stage. By the time Peelander-Z came on, it was pretty crowded and hard to move around. Plus, the crowd was a little rowdy and I decided to avoid wading through it. At one point, the band asks the crowd to part down the middle for giant squid bowling. What I could have done was run down the middle and secure a spot back at the front of the stage, but again, I was being lazy. Good to keep in mind for next time though.

When Anamanaguchi started their set, I tried shooting from the middle of the crowd, but everyone was cheering with their hands in the air, jumping up and down. Again, I was shooting more for fun than anything else so I didn’t feel pressured into getting a crazy variety of angles. Anyway, the show was a lot of fun and I enjoyed hanging with everyone. I think I got some cool shots and decided to submit them to RadioExile.com and do one of my rare write-ups. You can check it out here.