Andrew St. Clair

The night started off pretty crappy for me. It was raining. I got there at 8pm, only to have the show start at 9:30 (not 9pm as it was listed on the web). I wasn’t on the list, so I was forced to buy a ticket or wait out in the rain for an hour while it was settled (I chose the former). And then I had to deal with a security guard with a stick up his fucking ass.

Normally, I don’t have an issue getting past security to head upstairs to the backstage area. Most of the time, it’s so I can drop off my equipment bag, coat, etc. and I only if I’m already friendly with one of the bands or management (I usually don’t walk around like I own the place). But the security guard claimed that ‘The headliner doesn’t want any photographers backstage’. This sounded like bullshit to me. Eventually, Johnny (AKA Shell) and Jenn who make up the power couple Shellshag and Mimi from Heavy Cream came downstairs and hung out with me at while I staked out a spot at the front of the stage. Shell told me about the time they opened for Iggy Pop. Won’t get into it here. You’ll have to ask them yourself.

It was the first time I’ve seen Heavy Cream in a large venue. They did pretty well. But unfortunately only played for about 20 minutes. I think their sound check was longer (ha ha). Drummer Tiffany Minton reminds me of Amy Klein from Titus Andronicus in that they are both always smiling while they are rocking out. I’ve shot the band 7 times in the last year. Always up for seeing my Nashville buds.

Now, when I decided to shoot tonight’s show, I knew that the crowd had the potential to get rowdy. I don’t have an issue with this. In fact, I prefer it when the audience has that kind of energy and overall, it makes it that much more interesting to shoot.

So, the crowd started moshing during Shellshag’s set. Everything would have been fine, except for this one douchebag with a beard and a backpack. He was being very antagonistic by elbowing and jumping into the crowd standing along the front of the stage. Completely on purpose trying to start some shit. A rule of thumb is that if you aren’t participating in the moshing you will be left alone. You’ll probably be the victim of residual pushing and shoving, of course. But this guy… I could tell he was looking for an altercation. And yeah, I knew he would most likely not stop… but I had to say something to him. So, I asked him pretty nicely to refrain. Instead he threatened me with violence and kept at it. Just great. Oh, and I have a bruise from his elbowing me. Thanks dickhead!

Instead of headbutting him in the face with the back of my skull, I tried to reason with him once more asking him to stop. Instead he started yelling at me. Saying “Start Something!” motioning to his face for me to hit him (on second thought, maybe he wasn’t looking for a fight). He claimed that he was in the right to keep hitting me and said that this was “…a punk rock show and I should deal with it.” Then he yelled to Shell on stage and asked “Is this not a fucking punk rock show?!” Shell agreed with this sentiment, but also must have seen what was going on and pointed to me and said “Be nice to my buddy there.” And then, Jenn gave me a fist bump from the stage. Not only did this guy stop elbowing into me, but he went out of his way to avoid accidentally bumping into me, period. Thanks Shellshag!!

Shell and Jenn were great. Energetic as usual. Fun to watch and a pleasure to shoot. Jenn even jumped from on top of a stool (which apparently, she doesn’t ever do). It’s no coincidence that my best shots of the night belonged to Shellshag’s set. 

After the first song or so into Japanther’s set I left the crowd on the main floor, which was getting pretty gnarly (as expected) and headed to the balcony for some wide shots of the stage and crowd. Then, I noticed about half-a-dozen photographers on the stage (not to mention random people dancing) and decided to join them. As I entered the door to stage left, the security guard from earlier pulled be back and told me that “photographers (weren’t) aloud on the stage.”

THE FUCK?!

I pointed out that there were other photographers and he was like “I’m only doing my job.” Whatever, dude. I entered the stage by the sound booth and stayed there for the duration of Japanther’s set.

It was pretty much a free-for-all on the stage. People dancing along, singing, taking pictures. There was a huge Japanther banner that hung in between their sound equipment. So, I was able to hang out behind it and take pictures of from behind the band. I lent my Sony point & shoot to photographer Valerie Shustero (who had run out of film in the disposable camera she was using). Some of her shots came out pretty good, considering the camera’s limitations.

So, a night that started out kinda crappy, ended up being pretty fun. Can’t wait to see Shellshag again (They are playing 2 NYC dates in July). Heavy Cream are playing Death By Audio next week, and Japanther… well, it was a ruckus celebration of their 10 years together as a band, but at the same time, felt like your average, crazy Japanther set… except with more hugging afterwards. Here’s to Matt and Ian and another 10 years of screaming into telephone receivers! Check out the coverage on BrooklynVegan.com.