September 2011

Yesterday, under a gray sky and a rainstorm, the 15^th Annual Hideout Block Party was held. The brainchild of Tim and Katie Tuten, the owners of the Hideout, the coolest venue in America, it is a 10 hour party for 10,000 of their closest friends. Every year they hold a giant party to celebrate their venue’s anniversary, and bring back acts that have played their in the past- and some new ones. AND… they also give all the proceeds to education charities!!

So, magically, the rain stopped right at the opening of the event, and a beautiful sunny day appeared. The show kicked off with about 40 people playing guitar in the center of the field (you bring a guitar and an amp and you get in free.) The first act on stage were the brother-sister team White Mystery.

Francis and Alex White’s video had just debuted on MTV the day before, and they played a rollicking ½ hour set of great garage rock.

They were followed by a group of high school kids called Kids These Days and a punk reggae band called the Eternals. At this point there was a slight glitch in my day as the over zealous security guy in the pit kicked the photographers out of the pit, citing the fact that “That’s what everyone does.” A five minute discussion with Tim cleared that up and we were all good to go to shoot the whole show from that point on. Following the Eternals was the great Booker T. Jones, who was so well received that Tim kept pushing him out to do more encores (4) screwing up the schedule for the rest of the day! Isn’t that what music is supposed to be about??

Following Booker T was Jon Langford, who was seen wandering around in the crowd watching Booker T and drinking something that was not soda pop. Appropriately fueled for the event, Jon (singer of the Mekons and Waco Brothers and  about 10 other bands around Chicago) kicked off a 45 minute set, backed by a great band included fellow Mekon Sally Timms, resplendent in a horned Viking hat, and a 30 piece Welsh choir (who were mostly from Canada). Combining Welsh political and mining songs with Tom Jones covers, they rocked the house.

Following Jon was the incomparable Mavis Staples. Tim and Katie had manufactured her a giant golden throne, which stood majestically at stage right. Mavis kicked butt for an hour, combining some great gospel stuff with her classics and some of her newer material from her 2008 CD, appropriately called “Live at the Hideout.”

Andrew Bird closed the show with an hour of  violin playing and whistling, and some rocking! This was what music is supposed to be about- no contracts- no treating people like crap- just great music and a lot of smiles on a lot of faces.

Several people have emailed me asking me to write about the Foo Fighters contract, but I say F-CK the Foo Fighters. Go out and photograph someone who actually wants to be photographed!!

I was going to write about the Foo Fighters contract this week, but that is just another story about a screwed up situation. Next week for that! Sunday morning and I am sitting on a plane flying back home from New Orleans, home of the greatest food in America, and, this weekend, the Ponderosa Stomp, one of the greatest two day events in music that I have ever been to. It is the brainchild of an ex Chicago guy- a doctor and music lover named Ira who for ten years has put on a concert of music he loves to raise money for his charity- to help musicians who play music he loves. Two days of roots music and lots of people with smiles on their faces

Day one started with a bunch of Swamp Boogie people like Al “Carnival Time” Johnson, Classie Ballou and CP Love, among others. The centerpiece of the night was a set by the king of New Orleans- Allen Toussaint, one of the greatest songwriters, producers and piano players New Orleans has ever produced. His hour long set included many of his hits, some great piano playing, and a few guest stars. First Robert Parker joined the band, singing a few songs, including his hit song, “Barefootin.” Then the band was joined by Clarence “Frogman” Henry. Clarence has had some health problems lately, but he pushed aside his walker to do a spirited set, including his hit “I Ain’t Got No Home.”

Day 2 began at 11AM (after ending at 3AM the night before) when I walked over to the hotel across from the venue to photograph a collection of soul legends rehearsing in a conference room. Having grown up listening to Stax music, it waqs a thrill to be sitting in the middle of the horn section of a great soul band, listening to some amazing singers working out their songs. The band was the Bo-Keys, a mostly young Memphis band, which included Howard Grimes, who has backed Al Green, among others, and Skip Pitts, the original guitar player for the Bar-Kays, and the only member of the Bar-Kays that didn’t get on the fateful final plane ride with Otis Redding in the 1960’s. The singers were Eddie Floyd, Sir Mack Rice, Otis Clay and William Bell, who among them have had more hits than most of the so-called superstars of today. Their combined 90 minute set that night was a lesson in musicianship and showmanship that proved that age is just a number. I will take them over the Foo Fighters any day!!! A sleepless night was a small price to pay for some amazing music.

This week past was bookended with some amazing music. It started out on Labor Day with the 40^th Anniversary Tribute to Soul Train. What a day. I met up with Don Cornelius at about 1PM when he was in between 5 television interviews! Did a quick photo of him, and headed out to soundcheck. I watched from the side of the stage, occasionally running out to take pictures when something amazing was happening. The Chi-Lites, The Emotions, The Impressions and Jerry Butler, all backed by a large orchestra arranged and conducted by Tom Tom Washington, of Earth Wind and Fire fame.

It was a two hour love fest of music and good cheer, ending with Don proclaiming (as he did at the end of every Soul Train Show: LOVE, PEACE AND SOUL.

The end of the week brought more fabulous music to Chicago. Friday the reunited Alison Krauss and Union Station arrived in town to play a sold out show at the Chicago Theater. First off- the voice!!! Alison has one of the most beautiful voices in music. Along with Emmylou Harris, they are the premier singers in country music.

Then there is the unbelievable musicianship on stage. Five people, almost no amplification, just a bunch of microphones and acoustic instruments, played by some of the best musicians walking the planet:

Jerry Douglas- the best dobro player on the planet in any genre.

Dan Tyminski- Guitar player extrordinaire and an amazing singer (He was the singing voice of George Clooney in Oh Brother, Where a Art Thou)

Ron Block- Plays pretty much everything, mostly banjo and guitar

Barry Bales- plays an upright bass and holds is a one man rhythm section

Alison- adding some great fiddle runs in between her singing

They also added an occasional piano player and a drummer for a few songs.

3000 people sat there for two hours listening to some great music. Except for massive applause, you could hear a pin drop in the audience, especially for the encores, when the band gathered together center stage around one microphone and sang 5 breathtaking songs with just voice, bass and a few guitars. The only problem for me was that during parts of the show, I forgot to shoot. But only for a while!

In the 1980’s The Bangles burst on the scene with some catchy pop music and a lot of cuteness. I started photographing them when they first started touring to promote their first album. They were a lot of fun and really nice people. At one point, while we were sitting in a park on Chicago’s lakefront Susanna Hoffs asked me about my heritage. Seemed that she had relatives with the same last name as mine, and we figured that we might be related in some way. Turned out not to be, but it was a fun fantasy (maybe having holiday dinners together). Oh well.

In 1986, the band hit it big with the song “Walk Like an Egyptian” and started playing large venues. So, I capitalized on my relationship and asked for a photo shoot when the band came to town to play the 25,000 seat Poplar Creek Music Theater. Got to the venue early and set up a studio backstage (backdrop, light, etc.). At the appointed time, three of the four band members walked in and we made small talk while we waited for Susanna to arrive. Five minutes later, she walked in with a piece of paper in her hand. She told me that she had just gotten off the phone with their manager and he a=had dictated a contract for me to sign. CRAP!!! She handed me the hand written contract, and I read it over. It stated that I would have to get photo approval before using any of the photos. I would also have to tell them what magazines the photos would be submitted to. My heart sunk as I started to reread the text, getting ready to tell the band that this was all for nothing. And then…. I saw two fateful words in the first line that I had missed the first time I read it. Photographs taken in concert at the Poplar Creek Music Theater. Seeing as the photos I was about to take were not in concert, but instead a backstage portrait, I quickly signed the contract and had a great photo shoot!

After the shoot, I packed up all my stuff and left before the show even started (the part the contract was written for).

When I got the film processed, I sent images out to every major magazine I worked for at the time, and almost all of them published them. I also sent a letter to the bands manager, explaining why I wasn’t going to send him anything for photo approval, and also sent him a quick note every time a photo was published with the name of the publication and the page number of the image. Never heard from him again!!

I just read that the band has a new album and they are probably going to do a tour. I wonder what their photo policy is going to be in 2011.