Alan Snodgrass Photography

I’ve often professed my love of 80′s music … call it a borderline guilty pleasure.  So when “nerd” wave band Devo passed through San Francisco I wasn’t going to miss the opportunity (again) to check them out.  The Fillmore is a great venue, but you never know if there’s going to be a photo pit until you get there.   I’m sure that most people would not be surprised that shooting from the crowd has a few disadvantages, especially in a packed house where mobility is limited and you’re shooting around heads/arms.  Throw in a mosh pit and stage divers and/or a healthy number of inebriated crowd members and you find yourself working that much harder for the shot.

For some reason, the crowd for bands like Devo (you know, the middle-aged and up) tend to have an inordinate amount of drunk fools relative to other shows I shoot.  I chalk it up to them not getting out much and maybe letting loose a little too much … it’s all good, I can relate.  Well, last night’s show lived up to that characterization in spades and, for whatever reason, I ended up being the drunk magnet.  The night started with me keeping a close eye on the wasted 300 lb dude from Oregon that was jovial but clearly teetering on the edge of a dark place when he realized he didn’t have enough money to pay for his next drink (which had a greater probability of being sloshed all over me than making it down his gullet), to quickly be surrounded by a half-dozen old-timers ready to throw punches over who-knows-what. Even the local radio guy who had earlier become indignant at the box office when he wasn’t recognized (hello, it’s RADIO) stumbled his way to my vicinity. I took that as my queue to take up a different position.

Whining aside, some of my favorite live photos of all time have been taken from the crowd.  Standing in a photo pit, it’s rare that the circumstances all align for a great shot with crowd interaction and thankfully Devo took advantage of the close quarters, especially during Jocko Homo.

What about the show?  LED backdrop, good lighting, costume changes, on-stage hi-jinks … you really could not ask for more.  Check out the review and photos here!

P.S.  Does any one else think that Mark Mothersbaugh looks like Ed Begley Jr.?