Seems like I can never post about shows in a timely manner. Sorry. Anyway, in May I shot The Cave Singers at the Constellation Room and Matt Pond at the Roxy for The Owl. I couldn't get a photo pass for The Decemberists at the Crystal Ballroom in Portland though. Even though it was a really expensive trip, I'm glad I got to hear Castaways and Cutouts in full and meet Colin again and go to another show the Crystal Ballroom. Seriously, why don't more venues have bouncy floors?
In June and July I shot some more shows for the Owl: Rocky Votolato at the Satellite, Owl John (Scott Hutchison of Frightened Rabbit) at the Echo, and Wye Oak at the El Rey.
In August I was going to see Spoon at Hollywood Forever with Renee, but then Death Cab announced a show at the Independent in San Francisco on the same day. And I managed to score a ticket, so... yeah. I had an awesome trip to SFO, met Ben and John Vanderslice before the show. I was in the splash zone during the gig, but I was expecting that. However, I did not expect Ben to jump into the crowd during Sound of Settling! They also played For What Reason! But they didn't play Transatlanticism, which is a shame cos it's always a show highlight for me. I got a setlist though, so yea!
Later in August I went to Monterey to catch The National at First City Fest. Despite my not liking festivals in general, I wanted to see TN once more on the Trouble Will Find Me tour. And First City turned out to be pretty laid back and not too crowded at all. So I handled it well enough. The bands that played earlier in the day were all decent, especially Future Islands! So much fun, fantastic energy from the frontman. But The National! My last time seeing them for a long while, and although I wish it had been a multi-night stand at some rad theatre, it was a really good set for a festival, all the mainstays and Matt did his walkabouts. They even ended with the Vanderlyle singalong. And I got Matt's setlist after the show. Perfect.