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I love music (pop, punk, prog rock, grunge, swing, blues, funk, folk and Beethoven) and I love live music (the only time I like jazz), but I prefer small venues and don't have many 'Concerts' under my belt. I don't understand the appeal of big concerts — the bad sound, the remote stage, the crush of people, the tribal vibe. Could've seen The Who, The Stones, Dylan. Didn't bother. Did see Talking Heads, Iggy Pop, Tori Amos, Motörhead, Jonathan Richman, Flipper, but again, at small and mid-size venues.

So, I've never taken concert pics... until Ween came to town at the height of my street photography. (I love Ween. They're a bunch of virtuosi who goof on every musical genre I listed above.)

I don't think this is a great concert photo. I'm not sure what makes a good concert photo. I haven't explored the subject enough. How do you capture a sonic performance on film? I think all of the photos I took at this concert capture the concentration and energy of these musicians doing their thing. (Click on the photo to see the complete gallery of my selects from this shoot.)

I chose this photo for display here because it shows Gene and Dean, the core members of the band. It shows their relationship as bandmates. And it characterizes that night's performance, a famous one where Gene got a little too high and had to lay down on the stage. In this pic, I think he looks pretty high.

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