Two weeks ago on Saturday June 22nd, the DUSK event/concert took place at Noah's Ark Hotel just off Binghai Road. I was asked to do some photography for it from Sam, one of the organizers/promoters and founder of Silvertongue Creative. I got there around 5:30 pm (it started around 3) and the first band was just getting ready to play start playing. The bands that played that evening and night were R3, Duck Fight Goose, Skip Skip Ben Ben, Pairs, Doc Talk Shock and a few DJs. To be honest I photographed all of the bands and DJs but I'm not quite sure about who is who. Maybe someone who knows can kindly point that out to me.
Anyways, although it was raining when I arrived and it was drizzling for most of the evening, the party/gig rocked. It was better than I expected for sure. Everyone was friendly and having a good time, there was a good mixture of Chinese and foreigners, there were often big crowds watching the bands perform, the bands themselves were actually very original and good, the beer was flowing, Wayne and Brooklyn Bar were making some simple but delicious meals for people - it was a fantastic time. In fact, I might have to say that it was probably the best overall nighttime event that I have experienced in my three years in Dalian. Oh, and I got some pretty cool photos of all the things that were happening.
I'm going to divide the DUSK photos into three blog posts because I have sooo many photos and it's easier to break them down into sections. Today I'll post the concert photos and tomorrow the people shots (portraits and group shots, friends, acquaintances, strangers, etc). Interestingly, I actually met a professional photographer (a very pretty young woman) at the show who had the best of the best camera equipment and was also taking photos because she was asked to. We had a nice chat and she showed me some of the photos she had taken - and she was really good. She was shooting some of her shots in black and white, so I felt inspired to try that out myself to change my mindset and be more aware of tones and contrast. So when I edited my many, many shots, I converted a bunch using the creamtone setting in Lightroom. I just thought that this style really lent itself to the feeling and energy of the shows. So, finally, the photos will tell the rest of the story...btw, nearly all my shots were taken using my Canon EF 50 mm f/1.4 USM prime lens. In layman's terms that is a lens that only has one focal length, meaning you can't zoom it, you have to move around to get the desired distance and the shot. The small f/ number basically means the background can be extremely out of focus which works very nicely to get great bokeh (blur) and it works great in low light, perfect for an outdoor concert at night...
Anyways, although it was raining when I arrived and it was drizzling for most of the evening, the party/gig rocked. It was better than I expected for sure. Everyone was friendly and having a good time, there was a good mixture of Chinese and foreigners, there were often big crowds watching the bands perform, the bands themselves were actually very original and good, the beer was flowing, Wayne and Brooklyn Bar were making some simple but delicious meals for people - it was a fantastic time. In fact, I might have to say that it was probably the best overall nighttime event that I have experienced in my three years in Dalian. Oh, and I got some pretty cool photos of all the things that were happening.
I'm going to divide the DUSK photos into three blog posts because I have sooo many photos and it's easier to break them down into sections. Today I'll post the concert photos and tomorrow the people shots (portraits and group shots, friends, acquaintances, strangers, etc). Interestingly, I actually met a professional photographer (a very pretty young woman) at the show who had the best of the best camera equipment and was also taking photos because she was asked to. We had a nice chat and she showed me some of the photos she had taken - and she was really good. She was shooting some of her shots in black and white, so I felt inspired to try that out myself to change my mindset and be more aware of tones and contrast. So when I edited my many, many shots, I converted a bunch using the creamtone setting in Lightroom. I just thought that this style really lent itself to the feeling and energy of the shows. So, finally, the photos will tell the rest of the story...btw, nearly all my shots were taken using my Canon EF 50 mm f/1.4 USM prime lens. In layman's terms that is a lens that only has one focal length, meaning you can't zoom it, you have to move around to get the desired distance and the shot. The small f/ number basically means the background can be extremely out of focus which works very nicely to get great bokeh (blur) and it works great in low light, perfect for an outdoor concert at night...
Noah's Ark Hostel / The Scene
Pairs (Shanghai/Maybe Mars Records)
It was just the two of them, he would be singing/screaming mostly unintelligible lyrics in between and/or during furious bursts of heavy drumming, while she strummed away fairly simple but effective chord progressions. An interesting duo, I quite enjoyed them because it was pure emotion and he gave it all in his performance.
Doc Talk Shock (Dalian/Modern Sky Records)
Creamtone
Skip Skip Ben Ben (Taiwan Band) (Click to hear their songs)
I didn't know anything about these guys but when I got right up close and really listened and zoned into the music, I was thoroughly impressed. I can pretty easily say it was the most impressive band I've seen in China. To quote Beverly Bryan, a writer for mtviggy.com, Skip Skip Ben Ben sounds like "a bracing jaunt from noise rock to noise pop and then back again just for fun."