Tegan & Sara / Steel Train

I was lucky enough to shoot my first show since moving to the west coast at the beautiful Keller Auditorium in my new home of Portland, OR this evening. The new, unfamiliar territory had me dancing in anticipation. The hall is giant and spacious and was filled with Zelda-inspired haircuts tonight for tonight’s show. I wasn’t prepared enough for tonight’s challenges, so please excuse the lack of photos from show opener Holly Miranda. She put on a great set, which included a gorgeous Etta James cover. I’d suggest looking her up.

Steel Train were in direct support tonight. Their unfortunately short set was made up in stage presence and energy. It’s been a few years since I last saw them live. They’ve made large strides from a borderline jam meets pop band to a seemingly small scale arena rock show. Their now songs are polished to a bright shine and have all the hooks you could ever ask for.

The Keller Auditorium security made sure the photographers couldn’t crouch within 3-5 feet of the stage. Add in the band’s distance from the edge of the stage and tonight’s show was a tough shoot. Equipped with only my 17-70 f/ 2.8, I zoomed as far as I could and shot at low shutter speeds. The house lighting in effect was bright and very pretty – it was the distance from the performance that I was up against.

Set changes were very quick and before I was prepared, Tegan & Sara hit the stage. Their set was washed in bright, nearly bliding LED lighting from the stage. They also utilized the house lighting for atmosphere. There were no problems in capturing shots for their set. The only obstacle in the way was the house enforcement of having to remain back from the stage.

Thank yous go out to Marc A. for the photo pass. He says he’ll eat a dumpling in my honor tomorrow. But that sounds entirely selfish if you ask me. ;D

Click here to check out the rest of the photos from the show.

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