Drive N Drag @ Soldier Field South Lot, Chicago, IL
Photos and review courtesy of Taylor Nettnin | August 09 2020
The Soldier Field parking lot was used for much more than parking on Sunday, August 9th in Chicago, IL! The Drive N Drag Tour rolled through Chicago for six shows Friday through Sunday and featured many fan favorite drag queens from recent seasons of “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” Season 12 top three Jaida Essence Hall, Crystal Methyd, and Gigi Goode were reunited on stage for the first time since their filming wrapped. Other queens that were performing were Season 11 winner Yvie Oddly, Vanessa Vanjie Mateo, Plastique Tiara, and Asia O’Hara who also doubled as the emcee for the night.
It has been many months since Chicago has had a live event due to Covid-19 and safety guidelines, so this show was very different in the sense that fans had to wear their masks and stay around the vicinity of their cars. At a typical drag show you can go up to the stage and tip the queens, but everyone in attendance respected the safety of the queens and everyone around them and made sure to follow the rules, even when the queens came out into the crowd for their final number.
It was thrilling to be at a show once again. You could feel the genuine happiness of the performers to be in front of their fans again, as well as the excitement of the crowd to be watching a live performance. Each queen had their own time to wow the crowd, complete with costume changes and backup dancers. A highlight of the night was Yvie Oddly and Vanessa Vanjie Mateo performing their original song “Hype” together; their energies meshed well together, and their different styles complemented one another.
Utilizing Asia O’Hara as the emcee was an amazing move for this tour. In between acts Asia came out in the crowd to ask “Drag Race” trivia questions and generally interact with the crowd. She even found someone in the crowd who was willing to share their food with her, safely of course.
Although this show wasn’t like what we’ve grown accustomed to for live events, it was still uplifting to be around the distanced crowd and watch performers in front of a live crowd once again. If this is what shows are going to look like for the foreseeable future, it seems as though everyone is already well adapted to it and can’t wait for who they can see next!
Crossfaith with Ocean Grove @ Chalk, Brighton, UK
Photos and review courtesy of Gili Dailes | March 3, 2020
Crossfaith, photo by Gili Dailes
When things were still relatively normal in the UK, just days before COVID-19 forced us into lock-down, I had a chance to photograph Crossfaith in their Brighton leg of the tour with support from Ocean Grove.
Little did I know at the time but this would be the last shows I will photograph in a long while- and I’m glad that I was there to capture the raw energy these two bands have brought down to our seaside town.
Hailing all the way from Japan, Crossfaith have spoiled us with their upbeat set, a hybrid of heavy metal, drum n base and industrial metal. Every single member of the band knows how to get a crowd engaged, and with their strong stage presence and exceptional talent they had everyone hooked for every second of the set.
Supporting Crossfaith tonight were the Australian nu metal band Ocean Grove and Black Futures.
Ocean Grove’s music is quite different to Crossfaith’s and the immediate connection between the bands was not obvious at first. They did, however, get everyone hooked to their energetic show, during which front-man Dale Tanner managed to lose his kilt within the first 30 seconds of the first song- leaving him wearing nothing but his pants and a fishnet tee for the rest of the show (which he didn’t seem to mind at all!).
Wire @ Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY
Photos and review courtesy of Edwina Hay | March 11 2020
The influential punk band Wire is currently touring the US in support of their 17th album, Mind Hive. The tour brought the English band to Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn, NY for two shows on Wednesday, March 11th and Thursday, March 12th. Both nights featured support by a rotating Wire member DJing for the audience at 8PM. On Wednesday night, we were lucky to have Robert Grey (Wire’s drummer) play a music set that I truly wasn’t expecting or experienced before. An early song in his set featured a harpsichord, another featured foghorns (“Song For Our Ancestors” by Steve Miller Band), and another was the familiar “Unaccompanied Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major” by Yo-Yo Ma, and we also heard Jimi Hendrix in conversation with Dick Cavett after Hendrix’s performance of the National Anthem.
After he was done DJing, Wire took the stage promptly at 9:15PM with bassist Graham Lewis addressing the crowd with “Thanks for turning out,” and vocalist/guitarist Colin Newman remarking “What strange circumstances we find ourselves in,” alluding to the pandemic of COVID-19 (a.k.a. Coronavirus). There were many people in attendance of their first night in Brooklyn but Coronavirus was on all of our minds and may have explained why it wasn’t a sold out show for the long-running band.
Beginning their set with a song from 1989, “The Offer,” Wire transitioned to “Be Like Them,” the first track on 2020’s Mind Hive. The quartet of Newman, Lewis, Grey, and guitarist Matthew Simms presented songs both old and new, fervently and loudly to an enthusiastic audience. I was absolutely elated when they performed “I Should Have Known Better” the first song from their third record, 154, that features Graham Lewis on vocals, another favorite, “French Film Blurred,” off their second record Chairs Missing, and people near me were very jubilant when “Ex-Lion Tamer” from their debut Pink Flag was performed, dancing and singing along with the band.
Before the show on Wednesday night, Wire announced that they are releasing a vinyl only album for Record Store Day called 10:20 and will tour the US west coast in October. As Coronavirus dominates the news and impacts our lives more and more each day, it felt wonderful to briefly escape it all with such a momentous band and their music for two hours while I washed my hands thoroughly in between sets.
Dermot Kennedy @ The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
Photos courtesy of Carolyn Lederach | February 29 2020
Begonia with Dana Lee @ West End Cultural Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Photos and review courtesy of Jenny Ramone Photo | February 27 2020
For most people February 27th 2020 was just an average Thursday, but for the 300 plus people who packed Winnipeg’s West End Cultural Centre the day will live on as something more. It was shortly after 9pm when Winnipeg’s Begonia took to the dimly lit, glitter fringe draped stage and the buzzing crowd fell silent, not wanting to miss a second of a show to which tickets had been purchased in late 2019. Tickets to the first 3 of 5 shows at the intimate venue had sold in hours, 2 more shows were later added and sold equally as fast, to say these were the hottest tickets in town would be a massive understatement.
Begonia, the solo project of Chic Gamine’s Alexa Dirks, has been on the rise since her EP “Lady in Mind” dropped in 2017. Hot off a tour in support of “Fear”, her first full length album, Dirks was visibly happy to be home celebrating the album’s release and all of Winnipeg welcomed the band with open arms. Dirks took to the stage in a light purple ballerina style dress which was almost as dramatic as the light on stage and began singing Otherside acapella, joined mid-song by backup singers Heather Thomas and Kenzie Jane. Later in the evening Alexa spoke about trying to find a balance between being emotionally vulnerable and strong as hell, something she achieved with the flow of the night’s setlist. Intimate, quiet moments, a stripped down version of fan favorite Hot Dog Stand and a haunting duo performance of Dead Flowers in the encore, flowed into all out bangers The Light, Out Of My Head and Fear, tracks on which the power of Alexa’s voice really shines.
With a set designed by Winnipeg artist Seth Woodyard and band outfits designed by local designer Tony Chestnut, the city of Winnipeg’s best and brightest creative minds came together to create a live experience that doesn’t happen often. An evening full of emotion, drama, and beauty with sprinkles of humour and goofiness.
Alexa Dirks has found her voice with Begonia. Her lyrics are deeply personal and she leaves it all on the stage with her commanding live presence. She is a force to be reckoned with and it won't be long before Begonia is a household name in Canada and beyond.
Winnipeg singer songwriter Dana Lee played a lower key opening set. Lee's sweet, sultry voice was a perfect juxtaposition to Alexa's powerful vocals and the band's groovy pop sound eased the crowd onto the main event.
Grayscale @ Chameleon Club, Lancaster, PA
Photos and review courtesy of Bridget Craig | February 27 2020
On Thursday, February 27th, Grayscale closed their Nella Vita Part Two tour. Fans, crowded into a packed, hot venue, exploded when they opened with their hit “Just Right.” The show was in Lancaster, PA - just an hour and a half outside of their hometown - and the hype throughout the set was equivalent to what you would see in Philadelphia.
The band encouraged the crowd to dance to “Baby Blue” and had high energy, matching their audience’s, for the entire set. During their encore, the screens said “Part 2 is Over” and the members of the opening acts stage dove into the crowd as an end of tour prank.
Catch Grayscale on their next tours, starting with the It Is What It Is tour with Mayday Parade in the spring, followed by Sad Summer Festival in the summer.
Refused with Racetraitor and Youth Code @ Brooklyn Steel, Brooklyn, NY
Photos and review courtesy of Stephanie Augello | February 22 2020
On Saturday, February 22nd, Swedish hardcore punk legends Refused stopped off at New York’s Brooklyn Steel to give fans a hard-hitting performance of both classic and new songs. Frontman Dennis Lyxzen danced around the stage throughout the whole set, conjuring the spirit of forefathers Mick Jagger and James Brown. Rather Be Dead, Deadly Rhythm, New Noise, and Coup d’etat comprised the list of older songs that many crowd goers had grown up listening to, while songs such as Blood Red and Malfire gave everyone a taste of the shape of the band to come.
Opening that night were Racetraitor and Youth Code. Formed in Chicago in 1998, Racetraitor includes Fallout Boy Drummer Andy Hurley. They reformed in 2016, and remain a well-loved political force on the scene.
Industrial duo Youth Code followed up, generating electricity through the crowd as vocalist Sarah Taylor screamed, snarled, and flipped hair to the bands angsty beats. The Brooklyn stop was only the second night of tour. Refused will be on the road in both North America and Europe through August.
Jungle Giants @ Johnny Brenda's, Philadelphia, PA
Photos courtesy of Carolyn Lederach | February 9 2020
