Charles The Osprey and Chance Jones played the first show at the newest Grand Rapids music venue, The Pyramid Scheme, last night. Charles really seemed to be having fun as the first band to play the new stage. They seemed to be pulling out all the stops including covering a Paucity tune, a RATM style rap song, had Josh Stacey of Ozenza/Apostles as a guest drummer and had Ghost Heart join them at the end of the set. Add to that a blown stage monitor amp (a good sign I think) and the venue couldn’t have had a better start.

(correction: I’m told by no less of an authority than Charles The Osprey guitarist Rafael Ohli that it was not actually a Paucity song, just a song they wrote to deliberately mislead me into thinking it was.) (correction: O.K., maybe I made up the deliberate part.)

Charles The Osprey (and friends):

Chance Jones:

Not that it’s perfect yet. It was a pretty good consensus from those I talked to that the very hard room could use some baffle material. And a better system for the door guy to tell who’s paid their cover would make his job easier I’m sure. A smoking area outdoors should be in the plans at some point as well. The crowd of smokers currently massing around the front door gets pretty thick to wade through to get in and out. But these are just a couple of small wrinkles that I’m sure will be ironed out pretty quickly. Overall, it’s looking like it’ll be a great venue and everyone I talked to was very impressed.

Thanks to Jeff and Tami Vandenburg for all their efforts to give this city a great music venue and congratulations.

Anthony Nowack is a live event and portrait photographer and Editor-In-Chief of Backstage All Access. He can be contacted at anthony@backstageallaccess.com.

I’ll have to admit I’m a little underwhelmed with the lineup. I thought they would pull out all the stops for the 20th anniversary of the festival. Instead what they released late last night was kinda…meh.

Eminem takes top billing this year and his appearance is really no surprise. Fitting that the week of Lolla 2010 Em was on the cover of Spin with his “comeback” album Recovery. This year, top billing. Don’t get me wrong. I’m sure the guy will put on a decent show. I just kinda tired of his shtick back in 2002.

Foo Fighters I don’t like to comment on until they change their policy on trying to claim other artists work for the “privilege” of  giving their shows free publicity. My stance on this is well known so I won’t expound on it here.

Coldplay/Muse: It’s been said before. Poor man’s Radiohead. Don’t get me wrong. They’re ok. I’d see them over Eminem or Foo Fighters if they played opposite them on the same night. Just not exciting enough to buy a $215 ticket over. If they actually got Radiohead, well…I’d knock over your grandmother in my rush to get a ticket.

Kinda surprised to see The Cars getting such high billing but their kitsch factor makes me wanna see them. Maybe more than anyone else on this list. Hey, I’m a child of the 80′s. But even for me, it just seems like the most random of random picks.

Cee Lo Green might prove to be entertaining. He seems to have a quite a sense of humor and if his performance is anything like when he was with Gnarls Barkley that’ll be fun. The man has a hit song called “Fuck You” for god’s sake. That’s just begging for a audience sing-along.

Most of the rest of the list seems like all indie rock all the time. Maybe I’m just too old but not much there really raised any flags. Maybe I’ll research some of these bands and discover some previously unknown gems. Or maybe the lack of any stand-out-blockbuster-must-see act will make it easier to do just what I planned. Take it easy and catch some bands I don’t know without feeling like I’m missing something at the other end of the park. There’s actually plenty of other things to do there that I’ve never really been able to enjoy in my capacity as journalist. It’s tempting. But is it $215 tempting?

Maybe lying in the sun painting myself for no good reason?

So, infrequent reader, do you have plans for Lolla 2010? Or is Pitchfork calling you instead?

Anthony Nowack is a live event and portrait photographer and Editor-In-Chief of Backstage ALl Access. You can reach him at anthony@backstageallaccess.com.

So let me rant a bit about this trend of control that publicists and bands are becoming more and more obsessed with. More and more artists are forcing media outlets and freelancers to sign “contracts” that either give away the journalists right or threaten then with legal penalities if they do something the artist doesn’t like. Don’t sign it? You won’t cover that artist. Complain and you won’t cover any artist that publicist handles. My belief is that if you don’t want me to give your band publicity I won’t do it. That goes for local bands as well as Foo Fighters and Bonnie Raitt. Not that I’ve gotten anything but appreciation and respect from local bands (with one or two minor exceptions) because they know the only way to stay in people’s minds and keep their attention is if you’re getting media coverage from a reputable and unbiased media source. Some of these national acts have lost sight of that. In the attempt to control an artist’s image, they are trampling on the rights of the press and creating bad publicity for themselves. The only way they get away with it is that they’ve got so many media outlets and journalists convinced that they need the access more than the band needs their publicity. And if as a media outlet or journalist we go along with it we perpetuate our own problem.

Do I sound bitter? I kind of am. If you put a contract in front of me that says you own my work and you’re going to sue me if I use it then you don’t appreciate all the work that I do to promote you. And I realize we’re not the biggest media outlet on the big ol’ internets but this is a problem that all media organizations are dealing with. So if you threaten me with $30,000 penalties for each unauthorized use of your image (as My Chemical Romance stated in their “contract”) then I don’t want your images in my library. I can’t afford that risk. Images of mine get used without my permission all the time. Then I’m liable for that? So having these images in my library is like a bomb waiting to go off. No, thank you. I don’t need to shoot your band. I’ve got plenty of other opportunities with people who appreciate what I do.

Anthony Nowack is photographer and editor-in-chief for Backstage All Access. His views don’t necessarily reflect those of  the contributors to Backstage All Access. You can contact him at anthony@backstageallaccess.com.

What you won’t see here? Photos of My Chemical Romance who came down for a “meet and greet” before their show last night at The Orbit Room. For what happened with that you’ll have to read my next article here.

Anthony Nowack is a live event and portrait photographer and editor-in-chief of Backstage All Access. He can be reached at anthony@backstageallaccess.com. Photos are property of the photographer. Do not steal them. We’re not even kidding.

The Total Blam Blams and Night Toucher:

grRoPoLis:

Alexis:

We reviewed both Alexis albums recently here: Album Review: Alexis “The Night” and “Goldstar”. We have a copy of grRoPoLis‘ new album “Boof” and should have a review up soon as well.

Anthony Nowack is a live event and portrait photographer from Grand Rapids, MI. You can see more of his work at anphoto.net. For information on buying photos or booking photo shoots contact Anthony at anthony@anphoto.net.

First “The Night”. “Need Your Love” is a Top 40 ready song just waiting for a spot on the soundtrack of teen summer movie. “What Do You Want From Me?” is equally catchy and like many of the tracks on both discs deals with themes of alienation and longing for a dysfunctional love. Forbush channels George Michael convincingly on “Under Surveillance” making it one of my favorite tracks. The production on “After Dark” is restrained and sparse befitting it’s subject matter.

The two releases could have been an epic single album, the tracks on the new 5 song “Goldstar” release pickup right where “The Night” left off: Listen to “Out Of My Head” with headphones and Forbush’s panning vocals will seem to actually be in your head. Nice touch guys. “Secret Side Of Me” is a serious dance floor magnet with it’s throbbing distorted synth line. The breathy vocals and slightly worbled melody on “Take You For A Ride” is a perfect fit for the subject matter, an imagined nighttime drive with a lover. It’s that mix of teenage creepy romantic that makes me think of Buffalo Bill’s tuck dance in Silence Of The Lambs.

The question is can Alexis break past the nostalgia label and find success in the two-thousand-teens with their admittedly 80′s uber metrosexual electropop? If it’s possible, the quality and high production of these two releases give them quite a good shot.

Alexis will release “Goldstar” at Founder’s Brewing company at a joint CD release show with GR band grrRoPoLis on April 7 at 9 P.M. with supporting acts The Total Blam Blams and Night Toucher. Details here. Their first album “The Night” is available on Amazon for download and CD copies will be available at the “Goldstar” release show as well.

Anthony Nowack is a live event and portrait photographer from Grand Rapids, MI and Editor-in-Chief of Backstage All Access. You can contact him at anthony@backstageallaccess.com.

For those who wanted a more polished edition to enjoy without buffering issues, U2 has released both DVD and Blu-Ray versions of the same performance. With over 4 hours of content including not only the concert but a behind the scenes documentary, the European and North American tour openings, 4 music videos, photo galleries, and much more, there’s plenty of added value here.

On the audio side, you’re given the choice between a 2 channel LPCM stereo track, and two 5.1 channel surround tracks, one Dolby Digital, and one DTS-HD Master Audio. The disc defaults to the 2 channel stereo track which seems a little odd since most people will want whatever surround format their receiver supports. The stereo track is a fine mix but seems a little dry. It seems to be mixed quite a bit more like a standard studio recording than the surround tracks which seem to be mixed with much more ambiance regardless of how many speakers you’re using. All the audio mixes are very good but if you have the option, the DTS Master Audio track is flawless. I can’t say enough about how good a well recorded and mixed Blu-Ray sounds. If you’re a music fan and have been contemplating a Blu-Ray player, the audio improvement over previous formats is at least as big as the video upgrade and shouldn’t be discounted.

Now for the bad news. The video on this disc is baffling to me. It’s so wildly inconsistent as to seem intentional, but if so it was lost on me. Some shots and sharp, clean, and well lit. Then suddenly they cut to an out of focus camera, or more often, a band member who’s barely lit at all. The color balance between cameras are completely different which is a bit disconcerting as well. Some shots are overexposed, destroying detail in the performers faces, then the next camera shooting the same scene will be underexposed. I have to think this all was a deliberate choice but I’m not a big fan. It’s especially disappointing given the visual spectacle that they were trying to document.

Overall, the concert is a must buy for U2 fans, and a great sounding disc if a little disappointing visually. But considering the great music contained within and with the wealth of supplemental material it’s definitely worth adding to your collection. I’ve added it to mine.

By buying through our links you help us keep this website going. Thanks for your support.

Anthony Nowack is a live event and portrait photographer and editor-in-chief for Backstage All Access. You can reach him at anthony@backstageallaccess.com.

On another note, Zach Vinson’s a monster. That guy’s got some chops on the piano and a rock and roll stage presence to match. Even when the pounding bass line from the bar next door gave him an unwelcomed accompaniment during his solo number.

The Little Village:

Zach Vinson:

Tokyo Morose:

Anthony Nowack is a portrait and live event photographer from Grand Rapids, MI. You can find more of his work at anphoto.net and Facebook. For information on purchasing photos or photographic services email anthony@anphoto.net.

On the day that was originally intended as a celebration of Ireland’s patron saint, we’ve instead decided to indulge in the most famous of Irish stereotypes: hedonistic drunkenness. And let’s all be thankful for that. It’s a damn sight better than sitting in church.

Here’s photos of The Krabs, The Real Bitters, Ten Second March and some of those drunken revelers from Jukes Bar last night.

Anthony Nowack is a live event and portrait photographer from Grand Rapids who’s only a wee bit Irish. You can see more of his work at anphoto.net or on Facebook.