Dawes, Blitzen Trapper, a Broken Camera

Monday October 10th. I jump at the chance to go see Blitzen Trapper at the Crescent Ballroom in Phoenix. It's been sooo long since I've seen any band that I like, live. Way too long. I get excited about taking some pictures too since I've been wanting to photograph some bands and more music stuff but haven't really had a chance. After an hour of deciding which camera to bring I grab my Canon Elan 7n with an 80mm lens, my newly acquired Canonet QL 17, and a few rolls of Ilford Delta 3200.

In line at the venue I start to get a little nervous that they might not let me in with my cameras and I quickly think of how Jason Bourne would do it. No, I better not elbow anybody in the face or use my keys to gouge any eyes out. I'm next. I give the nice lady $20 and she stamps my hand. No questions about the camera bag I'm carrying? Cool. Inside there are some elevated seats in the back and since the music still hasn't started I figure I would sit down for a while and get my cameras ready. I load my film, meter the light and wait patiently.

First band comes on. I decide to just keep hanging out in the back and save my film for Blitzen Trapper. There are not that many people there so I think "Sweet, I'll be able to move around and take lots of awesome pictures."

Next band starts setting up and all of the sudden the place starts filling up. Crap. Oh well, I can still move around enough but I don't want to lose this fantastic seat just yet where I can see everything and still be kind of close. I should be able to get a couple of pretty good shots from here and then I'll head down to the floor.

So the band introduces themselves as Dawes and they start playing. Hey, these guys are pretty good. I take a couple pictures. Man, these guys are really good. I go to take another picture and when the shutter fires, everthing in the viewfinder goes wonky. Dammit. I take the lens off and see the mirror inside has come loose. I think I can put it back without touching it, but when I take another picture the same thing happens. After trying this a few times I realize I am just wasting time and not really appreciating the music. I give the camera a few more swears and stick it back in the bag. I'm pretty bummed by now, but Dawes is still putting on a rockin' show so I just sit back and watch for the rest of the night. Glad I did. It was good to sit and watch.




I did try to use the Canonet, but the 40mm lens wasn't going to do much good from the back of the room. And it was too dark to focus on this camera. I still ended up kind of liking this picture:

Waaay blurry and grainy but you still get a feel for the night.