Photos of the Hanzel und Gretyl / Hate Dept / Voodou show are up. Angela's out of town, so you get to put up with my blurry photography again. I'm really starting to hate my camera: pressing the button and waiting three seconds before it actually takes the pictures is really getting old. This show seemed like it was comparatively well lit, too, and still my pictures came out as dark as always. Though there were a few times when I managed to get a good shot by counting in time with the lightshow strobes, and shooting at just the right time.
Anyway, it was a fantastic show. I really like Voodou (they opened for Thrill Kill Kult in October), and I've been waiting a long time to see Hate Dept again. In fact, I think the last time they played in SF might have been here at DNA, a couple years before we took over... They've been huge favorites since the first time I saw them at House of Usher in... 1994? Ah, nostalgia. Seibold's shtick always used to be to insult the audience as much as possible, and the best line this time was "I see you people are still wearing all black, just like the last time we were here. Anyone watch The Crow lately?" One of my friends commented on the reduced level of hostility by saying "they're more like Friendly Disdain Dept."
Hanzel und Gretyl were great too. I saw them the last time they toured (at the late, lamented Trocadero in 1997), but for some reason I can hardly remember it. They've got this sci-fi Nazi shtick going on now, which was really funny (though I've got to wonder how many people out there are just totally failing to get the joke.) Their show was super-melodramatic: it seemed like any time they changed position, it was from one album-cover pose to another. It was just great.
So, it's a good thing that I enjoyed this show so much, because it was one of those "sliding scale" shows: you know, the kind where it's a $15 ticket, unless your name is "Jamie Zawinski", in which case that ticket costs more like $2000. We expected a lot more people to show up than did, so we lost a bundle on this one.
I told you it was going to be a good show, didn't I, didn't I? Why don't you turkeys ever listen to me.
In sadder news, Georgia's calling it quits: Dulcinea, the restaurant next door, is for sale. She bought it just about a year ago, and opened in October. We're all pretty bummed about that; the food was great, and they got good reviews, but, well, money.
19 Responses:
"Photos of the Hanzel und Gretyl...
This show seemed like it was comparatively well lit, too, and still my pictures came out as dark as always. ... and shooting at just the right time."
Your venue has the typical (and not unheard of) habit of keeping the lights to a relative minimum for mst of the opening bands. I actually took past in a conversation about this today.
"Anyway, it was a fantastic show. I really like Voodou (they opened for Thrill Kill Kult in October), and I've been waiting a long time to see Hate Dept again. In fact, I think the last time they played in SF might have been here at DNA, a couple years before we took over... They've been huge favorites since the first time I saw them at House of Usher in... 1994? Ah, nostalgia. Seibold's shtick always used to be to insult the audience as much as possible, and the best line this time was "I see you people are still wearing all black, just like the last time we were here. Anyone watch The Crow lately?" One of my friends commented on the reduced level of hostility by saying "they're more like Friendly Disdain Dept."
Yep, a lackluster opening for Hate Dept., but their last four songs were great. Being relatively unaware of Hate Dept. until a few months ago I thought they were entertaining in the same way that I see a lot of older bands.
"Hanzel und Gretyl were great too."
Yes. BRILLIANT.
"I saw them the last time they toured (at the late, lamented Trocadero in 1997), but for some reason I can hardly remember it. They've got this sci-fi Nazi shtick going on now, which was really funny (though I've got to wonder how many people out there are just totally failing to get the joke.) Their show was super-melodramatic: it seemed like any time they changed position, it was from one album-cover pose to another. It was just great."
Simply brilliant. HuG is widely unappreciated because of their link to other more mainstream bands, but they're really great live. I bought both CDs at the table.
"In sadder news, Georgia's calling it quits: Dulcinea, the restaurant next door, is for sale. She bought it just about a year ago, and opened in October. We're all pretty bummed about that; the food was great, and they got good reviews, but, well, money."
plus the loss of http://www.unspun.com!
You're right, man, we're just trying to keep the little guy down.
Sigh. Why do I even bother responding to your bullshit?
That actually was not my point.
Most touring bands have their own lighting people. If you're the headlining act, you save the best for last.
Then there's bands who specify terrible lighting like say (ahem) Neurosis.
Voodou's lighting last night was b.a.d. Not in any way up to the caliber of the last time. (AND I think they pretty much suck, see my review at <lj comm="atakra_shows">)...
and while Hate Dept.'s lighting was a bit better... The real lighting was obviously tailored to Hanzel Und Gretyl. And as I look on my archive of DNA photos (13 actual photographed shows and another seven where a camera wasn't allowed by the tour manager of that specific tour)...
Really, this is just the obvious standard for your venue.
i don't know that i would say the HuG lighting was *better* per se, but it does appear that it was more condusive to photos.
two things:
1. i'm pretty sure hate dept opened for ohgr. i think that was two years ago.
2. i didn't even get to have a goodbye meal at Dulcinea. heck, i don't think her episode of food fight has played yet.
the weird thing, is that in this shot I don't recognize a single face in the crowd. If there is a next time for HuG, I wonder if it wouldn't be worth sending a flyer monkey around to assorted metal-ish shows...
I was thinking the same thing!
same guitar and all. it's kinda hard to see in your picture. very apparent here
does yer cam have an exposure or aperture setting? some of the nicer ones have the ability to adjust that for darker shots.
I took all of those pictures with manual shutter speed, usually 1/15 or 1/30, because any slower and it was a blurry mess (especially during HD: Seibold never stops moving.) So they came out almost black, and I had to edit them to crank up the levels, which made them grainy. The fact that bands always insist on red lights sure doesn't help, either.
But really, the insane delay between pressing the button and getting the shot is the most annoying part.
Which camera do you use?
Nikon CoolPix 990.
There's a semi-good workaround to shutter lag. Set the camera in continuous shooting mode. When you want to shoot something press the shutter release and leave it pressed about 1/2 second before the moment you actually want to capture. You can later pick the good frame out of the small sequence it took.
Also, set the camera to manual-everything (manual focus, manual exposure, manual ISO sensitivity, manual white balance). I have the same camera, and it is especially auto white balance that kills responsiveness.
especially during HD: Seibold never stops moving.
Yeah, that's how this happened. Siebold in strobe.
I'm starting to suspect that when you referenced Angela's page, you did not mean this.
But then again, maybe you did. In which case Angela is a very neat friend to have. :)
AITP
She let her domain lapse for like a week, and a porn site grabbed it. She even mailed them offering to buy it back, and they didn't reply.
Isn't this the sort of thing that registrars should protect their customers from? Or am I expecting too much?
you know, the kind where it's a $15 ticket, unless your name is "Jamie Zawinski", in which case that ticket costs more like $2000.
Ha. My sympathies. I've had several of those types of shows myself although, thankfully, never in the 2k range.