Last Thursday, I went out to the Tractor Tavern to shoot for a new and still under construction Seattle music website/blog called BallardVox. On the bill for the evening was Faint Peter, SPG & the Vices and The Cloves. I have worked with Faint Peter and SPG previously when they were showcased in separate Sofar Sounds house concerts. I enjoyed working with both of them and listening to their music, so when I saw that they were both on the bill of a show that needed to be covered, I jumped on the opportunity. Ten minutes before the show, the place was empty, but the rumor was that food was coming out slow at one of the restaurants next door. Sure enough, at 8pm, there was a line out the door and the venue quickly filled up. First up was Faint Peter with their singer/songwriter and sometimes borderline country sound:
Next up was Stefan Paul George (SPG) and the Vices. The crowd was captured by their cover of "A Day in the Life" with SPG's voice dynamically gliding through the song. I found myself singing along to One Day(Parking Tickets), the song that I listed to many times while editing his Sofar performance video.
Last up, the Cloves, who I would describe as your standard indy band with a mellowing touch of cello. I was slightly distracted during the first part of the set by the sudden switch of lighting to solid red LEDs. Red LEDs are about the absolute worst lighting possible when trying to shoot a show with a DSLR. They are notorious for blowing out highlights while making the image look dark. After a few blown out faces, I toned it down a bit and was able to find a reasonable balance. The full photo set can be found HERE.