Crystal Castles @ Webster Hall, NYC, 10/23/08

Canadian electro-duo Crystal Castles (Alice Glass and Ethan Kath), named after the popular 80s role-playing game, was CMJ’s surprise superstar act in 2007. They made a return to the festival this year as the headliner for a sold-out show at Webster Hall and it was absolutely crazy, both to witness and to shoot. Shows at Webster Hall are always a challenge because there is rarely, if ever, a barricade set up for photographers, so we’re usually dodging the crowd the entire time we’re working. One advantage, though: even though they tell you it’s the standard first three songs, no one’s paying attention, so you can generally shoot the entire show. Tip: make friends with the security guards. If they like you, they’ll let you shoot from roped-off areas, etc. This also tends to work at Terminal 5, too.

I started out the show about three rows back, house stage right, but the moment Alice came out, the crowd went wild. There were photographers everywhere, the floor was thumping along with the beat, Alice is everywhere at once, and I was pressed so tightly against my neighbors that it was nearly impossible for me to shoot. My first two shots here were taken in the midst of the chaos before I retreated. I was worried about my equipment, so I backed off, noting that there were several photographers shooting from the stage itself. I checked for special credentials, which none of them had, and started to look for my in.

It wasn’t long before I was perched atop one of the massive speakers permanently settled on either side of the stage, where people usually set their bags for safekeeping. I shot the entire show this way, shocked that no one came to yell at me or shine a flashlight in my eyes to get me back on level with the rest of the crowd. This elevated me just enough that I could [mostly] get all of the cameras and waving arms out of my shots—unless I wanted them there. I also no longer ran the risk of damage to my equipment or, secondarily, my person via flying elbows and alcohol.

My set-up was, again, very basic: I had my Canon Digital Rebel XTi set on aperture priority (f/2.8) and I switched back and forth between my Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM lens and the Tamron AF 28-75mm f/2.8. A note on the Tamron: a nice third-party lens. The photos are pretty sharp, but the lens is slow—didn’t work so well for a show like this, where something crazy is happening every moment. If you’ve got the funds, go for the Canon L series equivalent (which costs about four times what the Tamron does). I almost always shoot manually, but this show was too crazy-go-nuts for that, and the aperture priority setting proved useful. The lights were synched with the music, which means one thing: way too much strobe. Occasionally, the tech would hit Alice with a nice blue wash, but not often. Then again, as I mentioned, she was everywhere—stage left, stage right, in the crowd. Who could keep up with her?

While it was a difficult show to shoot, it was a ton of fun. There were times when I had to stop shooting to dance with abandon. Even better, I’m pleased with my results. They’re always better when you really have to work for them.