Andrew St. Clair

The House of Vans warehouse in Brooklyn is a great venue to see bands. Nice big stage, large photo pit, and free beer and food! For me, as a photographer, the only complaint is that their lighting can be a little more backlight driven than I’d prefer (ie. Lots of silhouettes). It’s a minor quibble, however as the lighting is better than most venues.

Right out of the box, the crowd got gnarly for the hardcore band, Ceremony. The crowd started throwing water and beer toward the front of the crowd and into the photo pit. There were people at the front who were also pushing into photographers. But, if you’re gonna see a hardcore show, having a pit is the safest way to do it I suppose.

It’s the second show in a row where a lead singer got hurt and was bleeding from the head. He jumped into the crowd several times just within the first 3 songs of their set. After my time in the photo pit expired, a mosh circle formed. There were quite a few people that were just being fucking assholes and violently slamming into people (who were not taking part) on the edge of the crowd. Thankfully, It wouldn’t be like this for the remainder of the show, however.

Next was Cults, whose brand of indie-pop didn’t really fit into the rest of the hardcore/noise band lineup. But it was nice to see them. The hook from ‘Abducted’ always sticks in my head after I see them perform. I snuck in the band area afterwards to say hello and they graciously posed for portraits. Thanks Brian and Madeline.

The last time I shot HEALTH, it was at Santos Party House with very dark moody lighting. I was never thrilled with the shots I took and promised myself that I’d use a flash for some of their set the next time I saw them in a similar lighting situation. This was mostly to get better shots of bassist John Famiglietti’s whipping long hair around. Much happier how they turned out this time.

No Age sounded fucking great, but as far as shooting them, I pretty much put my camera down after the second song, as I got everything I needed and just took in their set. Really great band.

Ever since I moved to Brooklyn a month ago, I’ve been shooting a lot more shows in the borough and been seeing a lot more familiar faces than I would normally see at shows in Manhattan. I guess because so many people live here. So, in-between sets I got to hang with Pete and Ary from Anamanaguchi (who are headlining Music Hall of Williamsburg this month), Alon Shapiro, Nikki Lancy from Xylos (who are about to go on tour with Jessica 6), Ahmad ‘Frohawk’ Bihal (okay, fine I see him everywhere no matter where the show is), & my +1, Kristen Y. Kim from TheMorningAfterPills.com. Then, after the show, I saw Brad Oberhofer (who is on the 4Knots Festival bill) on a bike heading to 285 Kent. Recently, I’ve seen him at more shows than just about anyone having seen him at Northside fest and the Fucked Up/JEFF The Bro show. I feel pretty lucky to have met so many cool people. Anyway, enough name dropping. Check out the coverage on BrooklynVegan.com