In 1974 I bought my first telephoto lens. It was a Vivitar 135mm lens and actually not very good so later in the year I bought a Nikon 200mm lens. It was good enough however to take this picture of The Grateful Dead at the Pittsburgh Civic Arena in 1973. You can see other concert images on my commercial site by clicking here.
Grateful Dead Pittsburgh 1974
I was listening to some Quicksilver Messenger Service the other day and thought of this picture. One of the first photojournalistic images I ever took. It was taken at Music Festival at Pitt Stadium in 1973 called the One World Festival of Music. Quicksilver was sitting in the stands listening to Billy Preston when I grabbed this picture of Dino Valenti stealing a kiss. You can buy a print of this image by clicking here or wait for my new book, “Just a Kiss”.
Caught in the Act
The third in a series revisiting my first posts leading up to my Blogaversery next week.
Jerry Garcia and Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead at Madison Square Garden in September 1993. This photo was taken the last time I saw the Grateful Dead and near the end of their historic run in rock and roll. I still enjoy listening to old Grateful Dead concerts occasionally but have no desire to ever see any of the cover bands. I saw the real thing and I don’t want to spoil that memory. You can buy a print of this one and see others by clicking here
Jerry Garcia and Grateful Dead Madison Square Garden 1993
Five hundred years from now when music historians study the music of the twentieth century they will probably compare Zappa to Bach and Mozart of previous centuries. He was a consummate guitarist but more importantly an excellent composer. He composed “songs” but what sets him apart was his ability to compose complex music in the tradition of the old masters. “The Big Swifty” is an example of this which he played at the Syria Masque decades ago. Buy a print or T-Shirt and see other images at my music gallery by clicking here.
Zappa Jams Pittsburgh
John Medeski and Chris Wood from a Medeski,Martin and Wood concert in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania at The Sherman Theatre. See others or buy a print of this one at my commercial gallery by clicking here.
Medeski and Wood
During the Medeski, Martin and Woods Acoustic concert at the Sherman Theater, Chris Woods played three different types of Bass instruments. Here he is playing his well traveled Fender Bass during the concert. You can buy a print of this image on my commercial gallery by clicking here.
Chris Wood plays a lot of instruments but outside of Paul McCarthy you don’t see too many professional bass guitar players playing the Hofner bass guitar which has its own unique sound. This photo was taken recently at the Medeski, Martin and Wood concert at the Sherman Theatre in Stroudsburg Pennsylvania. I have seen most of the great bass players in concert (Clarke,Woonton,etc)and Wood is a member of that class. You can purchase a print of this image by clicking here.
Chris Wood on the Hofner
I was looking through old concert images to see if I there were still some undiscovered gems and I came across this one. Not at all a good photo but as I looked at it I thought how different arena shows are today. This is at the Pittsburgh Civic Arena in 1973. Anybody could just walk up on stage and at this show and someone did during the set break. He went to the microphone and spoke real acid gibberish as security gently escorted him away. Today the stage would be much higher and barricaded and have a line of security people in front of the stage. This is why I like to go to small venues today and tend to avoid arena shows. You can see other images and my quality concert prints at my commercial site by clicking here.
Grateful Dead at Pittsburgh Civic Arena
John Medeski is best known for playing the keyboards and the Hammond B3 Organ. I was impressed in a recent concert to see how many different wind instruments he played. This one looks like it is made out of PVC. The funny thing is that normally after he plays a lead he kind of just waits until the next break. With this one though, he would kind of hold the instrument out and stare at it with a funny expression that seemed to say, I can’t believe I am playing this. You can see others and buy a print of this one by clicking here.
Billy Martin comes to concert with a big bag of tricks. In addition, to the drums, he plays a variety of instruments including plastic hangers. Yep, the same hangers you hang clothes on. He also played a bicycle wheel. Here he is playing the Xylophone during a recent concert at the Sherman Theatre in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. You can see other images and buy a print of this one by clicking here.
Billy Martin on the Xylophone
Imagery Photography 