Beastie Boys – August 2, 1998 in Vancouver

Remember I told you that a parking space changed my life? To refresh your memory, Dave introduced me to Mark who introduced me to Fredo who was about to introduce me to Mix Master Mike.

Fredo was now the percussionist for Beastie Boys, and when they came to Vancouver on the Hello Nasty Tour he invited me and my friend Mike Lowe.

They weren't handing out many photo passes on this tour and even if you got one you had to stand at the back of the 100 level of the arena because the stage was in the round. I didn't know any of this at the time.

I was standing by the stage entrance when Beastie Boys walked by on their way to start the show, and Mix Master Mike spotted me: “Yo, you’re Fredo's friend! I want you to take my picture tonight.” I told him to meet me after the show and he was like “No, I mean right now on stage!” He looked over and got the nod from their tour manager and off we went.

The colour photo might be the only one I've ever taken where I can tell you exactly what line of a song it was when it happened. Ad Rock is passin' the mic to Mike D, so “C'mon and get some!”

Later on an annual visit to New York to see family, I called the Rolling Stone photo department to show them my portfolio. In the past I'd dropped off my book and picked it up the next day. This time they invited me up. (the last slide is what I was used to finding in my portfolio when I picked it up).

They flipped through pretty quickly until they got to the Beastie Boys photos. “How did you get these??” asked one of the editors. “We weren't even able to get this kind of access on that tour.”

That's when I realized how lucky I really was to have met Mix Master Mike on the way to the stage.

Shortly after that I got a call from Rolling Stone telling me that the Sr Editor, David Fricke was working on a Greatest Concerts of the 90s issue, and he said my photo was the only one that he wanted to accompany his piece on Beastie Boys!

Then a year later Adam Yauch selected one of my photos to be in the Beastie Boys Anthology: The Sounds Of Science.

Thanks Yauch, Mike, Mark, Fredo and rockstar parking!

Radiohead – June, 1998 in Washington DC

The day after the Tibetan Freedom Concert in Washington, DC was the National Day Of Action For Tibet on the Capitol Lawn.

The first photo is Thom Yorke who came out and played a few Radiohead songs solo with his acoustic guitar. I was sitting on the steps just a few feet in front of him and it felt like he was playing in my living room. Unforgettable.

I shot a bunch but want to feature this one where the Capitol Building dome is in focus with Thom blurry in the foreground. You can read into it what you want, but I just like the composition.

Next is the poster for the event, by Steve Marcus and signed by Beastie Boys. 3 & 4 are Radiohead on stage at the Tibetan Freedom Concert at RFK Stadium, and Jonny & Colin Greenwood being interviewed by MuchMusic. I used the Diana plastic camera for both of the multiple exposures.

Mighty Mighty BossToneS – March 16, 1998 in Victoria, BC.

My first portrait session with a band, and I had to choose an immature 8 pieces ska punk band from Boston!

Incredible live band and fun bunch of super sweet dudes but for some reason as soon as I picked up my camera half of them turned into 8 year old boys. Looking back at the film there were very few frames where singer Dicky Barett wasn't flipping me off. Which is why at the end of the shoot I thought I'd give the bird its closeup.

The last photo is the Bosstones at the Tibetan Freedom Concert in New York the previous summer.