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Southgate House: New Found Glory
This past Friday, New Found Glory was in Newport, KY at the Southgate House. I have a friend from the area so I decided to go, and was lucky enough to get a photo pass to shoot the show. Having never been to the Southgate House or seen New Found Glory or any of their opening bands live, I had no idea of what to expect, but knew it would be a great show. I got there early to get a nice spot on the floor in the middle of the crowd, which seemed like a good idea at the time. Before long, Suicide Pact took the stage, a local hardcore band that kick-started the crowd. Like the eye of a tornado, a mosh pit developed around me and I found myself not only challenged to get the shots I wanted, but to keep from falling over. Aside from some close calls and a targeted tackle, the shooting went pretty smoothly and I was able to get some shots I am pleased with. Below are some of the shots of Suicide Pact. To view them all, check out the set on my Flickr.
Following Suicide Pact was a Floridian alternative punk band, Fallen From the Sky. While their guitar riffs were heavy, and some hardcore influence could be heard in the vocals, they were quite the step down in intensity from the previous band. They seemed to have a much more polished sound. You could tell they felt comfortable on the stage, and that reflected in their music and attitude. They definitely have the makings of a good band, and are probably on the rise. Below are some of my photos of Fallen From the Sky. If you want to check them all out, you can view the set on my Flickr.
Leaning more toward punk and away from alternative, Title Fight took the stage next and got the crowd energized and involved. Since there was no barricade between the stage and the crowd, people were constantly climbing their way onto the stage before performing a stage dive back into the pulsing crowd below. Title Fight put on a great set and more than made up for any vocal shortcomings with some amazing guitar and bass skills. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t like the vocals were horrible, but more so that the music overshadowed them. Below are some of my shots of Title Fight I was able to snap in between stage divers overhead. To see the rest of the photos, visit the set on my Flickr.
Topping off the night was New Found Glory, who had just recently celebrated the 10 year anniversary of their first album, ‘Nothing Gold Can Stay.’ Their stage, much like their newest music video, was zombie themed. Blood splatter and chainsaw designs were scattered throughout to add accents to the stage. As they lit up the set with one great song after the next, the crowd began to pulse and ripple like waves, and it became clear that everyone there was either a big New Found Glory fan already, or becoming one. Although from a photography standpoint, their set was probably the most challenging due to all the crowd movement, it was unquestionably the highlight of the night and created the most energy from everyone. Below are some of the photos I captured during their set. To view them all, check out the New Found Glory set on my Flickr.
It was definitely an awesome night with four great bands I would highly recommend checking out. As hard as it was, I had a blast shooting the show, and if anything, the challenge made it that much more enjoyable. My thanks goes out to Brian and Chad Gilbert for hooking me up with a photo pass to the show, which I’m happy I was able to go to.
New Found Glory 10-30-09: http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulmhooper/collections/72157622606074403/
Paul M. Hooper is an internationally published photographer living in Lexington, Kentucky. He shoots shows at various venues in Kentucky and neighboring states, as well as traveling around the country shooting models portraits. Mostly though, he's just an average dude with a passion for music, art and clicking the shutter of his camera.
December 9th, 2009 at 12:14 pm
Besides about getting your camera destroyed and me having to borrow money from you (which reminds me I owe you that back), it was a really good concert. Like always, great photos Paul.
December 9th, 2009 at 7:23 pm
Yeah, it was pretty intense, but that sort of made it more fun.