West Beach Music Festival...

I'm pretty stoked to have just learned that I will be shooting the West Beach Music Festival right here in Santa Barbara this Fri, Sat & Sun. I will be representing the Santa Barbara Independent who were gracious enough to be one of the sponsors for the event.

This was a nice way to fill the void the of two canceled Beastie Boys shows that were scheduled to happen this weekend at the Santa Barbra Bowl...I'm excited to shoot Ben Harper and the Relentless 7, Steel Pulse and Bass Nectar to name a few. G-Love and Ozomatli are always a good time as well...

John Legend & India.Arie...

Here's a glimpse of last nights show at the SB Bowl...John Legend appeared in the middle of the audience for his opening tune...

All that Jazz...

I just returned from the Mid-West where I was the "Best Man" in my buddy's wedding. Standing in front of the crowd to give my toast was extremely nerve wracking and it gave me a new found respect for musicians who take the stage in front of a live audience to pour out their souls.

So, now that I am back and catching up on tasks, I'll go ahead and post these images from the Diana Krall show I photographed just before leaving town. It was great to see former SB resident, Nate Birkey, take the stage as the evening's opening act and deliver the goods locally once again...

The show must go on...

Depeche Mode is another one of those bands that had me wondering if... they've still got it? I can say that, yes... they do. Despite their recent cancellation of shows, Depeche Mode took the stage last night for a sell-out crowd at the SB Bowl and proved that they aren't too old to rock. From my vantage point, in the photo pit, it was easy to see that the band was getting into a groove and smiling all the while.

We photographers were allowed to shoot 4 songs last night, which is unheard of, and when I caught myself thinking that they were really starting to rock out... poof!... a loud pop stopped the show. Seems they were rocking too hard and blew all the power on the stage. Damn! it was only half way through the 3rd song. Since it took about 15 minutes to get things going again, the photographers were asked to just call it an evening. Bummer, but... there were plenty of shots to be had.

Here's are some including the opening band, Peter Bjorn & John, who delivered an equally as good set...

No Doubt...

Finally got the OK from No Doubt's publicist to post a few images from their recent show at the SB Bowl...