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Highlights from Rocklahoma 2011 (or, "Zakk Wylde Loves Family Guy!")

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Last weekend I was at Rocklahoma 2011.  This is a 3-day rock festival (in Pryor, Oklahoma) featuring 60 bands - mixing both established and newer bands. I went with my good friend Craig Schiller.  We photographed many of the sets and interviewed several bands, covering the festival for TheyWillRockYou.com.

In no particular order, here's some highlights:

Gypsy Pistoleros

A  band you probably haven't heard of but might enjoy, Gypsy Pistoleros is a sleaze/glam/rock/flamenco outfit.  They put on a great show, are not posers, and blend the music you might have heard in 80's L.A. clubs with flamenco.  Here's their cover of Ricky Martin's La Vida Loca (with my photos of their set).

Shooting a Dozen Concerts on Manual

Last year, I got several tips from a great concert photographer - Rich Gastwirt.  One of them was, "don't be afraid to shoot manual."  (As opposed to either fully automatic, or program mode, or time- or aperture-control.)  Rich's point was: the lights are constantly changing; camera is trying to compensate each shot for what it thinks the correct exposure should be; and you try to compensate for the camera - and you wind up with this multi-layered guessing game.  Instead, he said, shoot all manual - that is, choose the shutter speed and aperture, look at your results, adjust.

It took me about a year to get the guts to do that.  It was intimidating to have to choose all the settings - shutter speed, aperture, ISO.  But turns out, it's not so bad.  Between looking at the results and the histogram, you can zero in on some good settings.  And once you zero in on settings that work well, you don't need to change that much, unless the light dramatically changes.  For example, at Rocklahoma, the main stage was lit much better than the smaller stages, so I tweaked the settings once I left the big stage.

So it was a great opportunity to try this technique, shooting over a dozen sets, in various lighting conditions, to learn and refine the technique.

Sebastian Bach

I've never seen "Bas" live, and listen to just a couple Skid Row songs.  I did enjoy watching him on reality TV, trying to put together a supergroup with Ted Nugent, Scott Ian, Jason Bonham and Evan Seinfeld.  Seeing him live was a blast - he's a hell of a frontman, a great vocalist, energetic bordering on hyper, and clearly has a great time on stage.  Here's photos from his set:

Whitesnake

I don't have a deep catalog of Whitesnake, but I'm a fan of the 80's hits such Still of the Night, Here I Go Again, etc.  David Coverdale put on an awesome show, was super-energetic and engaging.  (Full gallery here.)

Poison

I've always thought Poison was a fun band (though didn't have the same reverence for them as Guns N' Roses or Aerosmith).  What we saw was that they are STILL a fun band.  C.C. DeVille is a great guitarist, and the band put on a great show.  Sure, Brett Michaels might have a separate trailer just for his bandanas, but that's forgivable :)   (Full gallery here.)

Zakk Wylde (loves Seinfeld and Family Guy!)

Though I was originally a fan of Zakk based on his work for Ozzy, the Black Label Society material is certainly a sonic pounding worthy of attention.  And as much as Zakk might seem a macho bad-ass, he's a caring guy with a giant heart.  The band hugs each other after each set, Zakk thanks a higher power, and he's a family man.  So it was a real blast to interview him, and photograph his set.  (There's a few tidbits, including his love of Seinfeld and Family Guy!)

Motley Crue

I'm a huge Motley Crue / Nikki Sixx fan, so I have to list them here.  It was indeed fun to watch them close out the festival with a great set Sunday night.  And it was a special treat to meet Nikki on my plane the next day - a super nice guy.

The one bummer was that they were the only band that didn't let the media shoot from the pit.  Instead, we were shooting from what seemed a mile away, the sound board.  (I am guessing it's because they don't want you to see Vince up close.  But really, guys - you sound great, look fine, so WTF?)  Anyway, I'm going to stop bitching and get a 1.4X teleconverter!

Papa Roach

What can I say - it was fun to interview and photograph Papa Roach.  An incredibly passionate performance from the guys - WOW.  (Full gallery here.)

Interviewing the Bands

One really fun part about Rocklahoma was spending some time in the Media Tent, chatting with the bands.  They were typically very pressed for time, talking with radio stations and journalists, so we’d have 2-5 minutes max.  Between Craig and me, we interviewed:

1. Zakk Wylde (Black Label Society, Ozzy Osbourne)
2. Papa Roach
3. Drowning Pool
4. Sick Puppies
5. Saving Abel
6. Pop Evil