The night that I shot Vega was sort of a crazy one.  I ended up walking all over Austin and watched a bunch of famous rock musicians cover L.L. Cool J. but more on that later…

I ended up getting to the Fools Gold SXSW showcase later than I wanted to and when I got to Malverde I couldn’t get anywhere near the stage because it was completely packed.  I was actually going to leave but I decided to at least try to get a few shots of Vega playing.  I sort of got near enough to get off a few shots at an odd angle while being shoved from behind and shooting above another photographer.  I was too tired after days of not sleeping on couches to deal with it so I soon left.  I got a few okay shots and a few bad ones, but I figured I should put them up since we love the Fool’s Gold family, I just met the Vega guys at the IFC Food Party/ Dinner With The Band Party and they seem like good guys, plus they are also somehow Neon Indian  or something and people seem to care about that. I don’t know how all that works but I did google it and I found this Flavorwire explaining the whole thing so read that…

…and then click here to see the Vega photos at the Fools Gold SXSW Showcase at Malverde.

Also, good look with the Mishka sweater.

Sorry about the few days without updates. Not only was I out of town, but I was having problems with my photo galleries for the millionth time. I think in the next few weeks/months I am going to have to come up with a solution for that.

Anyway, back to SXSW pictures.  I should be done with these this week.

This is Midnight Masses. I saw them play at the Fader Fort.  I had to check them out because I see the lead singer from this band all the time in NYC but I had no idea he had a bad or anything. Once I was at Savalas and I told him how much I liked him in the Commodores because he looks a lot like Lionel Richie. On top of him looking like a music icon he is one hell of a front man and you have to appreciate that. Check them out and then click here to see the photos I took of them at the Fader Fort.

Normally I have been just posting my photo clippings to my Tumblr, but this one deserves a full post.  Besides, my internet is terrible again today so I might not have anything to post until pretty late tonight.

I have been working for The Village Voice for about two years now. They are my most consistant client and I love them.  They don’t pay me a ton per assignment, but they give me a lot of work, get me press passes to anything I want, and occasionaly pay some of my travel expenses. So, yeah, I love them.  The only problem is that it’s all for web.  Once or twice a month one of my pictures shows up on the page dedicated to VillageVoice.com, but I never have any editoral content in the paper… Until now.

It just happened that my web editor was writing an article on Courtney Love’s latest comeback and Hole’s new tour while we were both at South By Southwest.  We both happened to catch her show at the Perez Hilton party and so I sent her one of my better shots from Hole’s set and they ended up buying it.  I know it’s pretty dumb of me to care about it since I have worked for the company for two years, but it’s nice to finally have something in the actual paper. I mean, it’s a NYC institution….

So click here to read the article or just pick up a copy of the paper and turn to page 48 .  It’s free in Voice boxes all over the city until Wednesday…

First of all, I gotta apologize for missing Ninjasonik’s record release party. I hear it was epic. I was on the way to the show but I had to stop off at Ryan Keely’s apartment first.  When I got there I realized I didn’t have my wallet so I was going to have to go all the way back to Brooklyn, get my wallet, and then go to the Ninjasonik show.  I would have been really late and really frazzled. So instead I just hung out with Ryan while she was packing for a feature dancing tour.  Plus she fed me, and while it’s not every day the Ninjas release a record, it’s not every day that a Penthouse Pet feeds you tortillas.  So sorry guys..

Anyway, I only got to see Ninjasonik play once at SXSW even though I saw them pretty much every day. I have to think I picked a pretty good show. After Hollywood Holt killed shit right before they went on Beauty Bar’s security was flipping out a little bit, and probably for good reason.  They whole NYC crew was in there and people were all over the stage. A video camera almost got smashed and I thought the stage might cave in. Antwan and Holt and Roofeo were crowd surfing and the whole thing was off the chain.  Last time I was at Beauty Bar Austin to see Ninjasonik they cut them off mid set, this time the Ninjas were in control and with the help of Johnny Nelson they took that place apart.  It’s just too bad Bill Murray wasn’t there to see it.

Click here to see the pictures of Ninjasonik doing their thing at SXSW at the IHeartComix showcase.

You know if Bill Murray is there it has to be a good show.

Bill Murray showed up at Beauty Bar in Austin to catch the IHeartComix SXSW Showcase.  He was there for Hollywood Holt’s set but escaped quickly after Holt pointed him out to the crowd.  He instantly got surrounded by cameras and ran out the back.  I didn’t get a shot myself because I had photographed him the day before and he was getting hassled enough.  That being said, there is a pic of him in the way background of one of the last shots in this set. Play some Wheres Waldo and find him for yourself.

Almost more important than Bill Fucking Murray was the fact that Hollywood Holt played a fucking amazing set.  He was jumping into the crowd and going nuts, all with the support of Ninjasonik, Death Set and crew rocking out from the wings.  He repeatedly told the crowd that it was his best show ever and it would be hard not to believe him. It was a seriously amazing performance, and the crowd fucking loved it. As soon as he got off Ninjasonik went on and the party just kept going.  It was one of the best nights I had on my epic spring adventure.

Check out the pictures of Hollywood Holt bringing some Chicago to Austin. The Ninjasonik pics are coming next…

I saw Juiceboxxx a year ago at SXSW and he got into a fight mid set and ended up finishing half his set covered in blood.  I couldn’t wait to see him again.  This year he was a bit more sedate, but still put on a great show.  He got into the crowd, climbed on things, stood on chairs, sang with two mics at the same time and put on a hell of a performance.  That’s the type of shit I love. If your music is good, Ill buy your record, but I don’t give a shit about most bands unless they can kill it live, and Juiceboxxx does.  Really the whole IHeartComix crew does, which is why I was so looking forward to this party at Beauty Bar.

I have a bunch more to do to day, so I am just gonna keep it moving, but you should check out Juiceboxxx most recent mix tape (I have listened to it 10 times at least) and then you should click this link right here to see the shots of him playing the IHeartComix SXSW Showcase at Beauty Bar Austin.

I had other plans for today but I bought $600 of Ikea furniture yesterday so I am going to spend all day turning my kitchen into an office. It should be pretty intense.  That means today we are going to kick these two updates from the IHeartComix showcase at SXSW over to you with least resistance and explanation.

IHeartComix had their party at Beauty Bar.  I went over there before realizing I needed to be across Austin to see Hussle Club in less than an hour.  I checked out Juiceboxxx then I booked it over to Hussle Club and came back to catch Hollywood Holt and Ninjasonik.  It was all pretty epic, but while I was there I got several crowd shots that didn’t really have a home in any of the other galleries.

And since I love you guys so much, you get to see all the crowd shots from the IHeartComix SXSW showcase at Beauty Bar by clicking right here.

Hussle Club played their first (or maybe 2nd) show in NYC while I was at the airport headed to Austin for the first week of SXSW.  I was there for film, but most of my friends wouldn’t get into Austin until the next week for the music part of the conference. I was really mad I missed the first show, but knew I had to get to one of their SXSW shows.

Hussle Club, as you should know by now, is fronted by Prince Terrence.  Terry is one of my best friends in NYC and a hell of a musician.  He has always been in the background though, either drumming for artists like Young Love, Major Lazer and Santogold, or behind the DJ booth at some Lower East Side bar.  Terry finally gets his piece of the spot light and her earned it.  He put together and amazing band and is already one of the better frontmen in NYC.

I went to see them way off the beaten path at Club 1808.  It was in kinda a shitty part of Austin and I had so many people ask me for money or try to sell me something just standing outside of the club, but it was the Mishka showcase so I had to be there.  When they went on I didn’t exactly know what to expect.  Terry was wearing knee high goth boots and I had heard them described as “dark wave” which I really have no idea what that is.  To me they sounded like almost a poppier NIN.  Whatever it was, it was fucking awesome. Terry ran around pouring Mad Dog 20/20 all over himself and picking up monitors and smashing mic stands.  The rest of the band fucked shit up as well, save for Carol Sharks (who I just at breakfast at Juniors with a few hours ag0) who is the calming influence of the band. They just put on an amazing show and everyone in the crowd left impressed.  If that was their third show I cannot wait to see what they are going to be like after touring for a few months.  It should be epic.

The photos are fucking awesome, so click right here to see them all.

See you guys tomorrow with shots of Ninjasonik & Hollywood Holt… probably…

I spent a large chunk of my day today editing 1700 photos down to 350.  I was pretty excited because I was down to under 2000 photos from SXSW.  That’s when I realized I had forgotten about 900 photos.  Still, I am at least making a dent in my SXSW stuff, plus I have some naked girls to go up over the next few weeks, starting with Kylee Kross tomorrow.  That should be fun. Let’s see how much stuff I can get done before I go to DC for my high school anniversary. That should be fucking weird. Oh, I also need to turn my kitchen into an office this week.  That should be something too…

Anyway….

Today I bring you just a few photos from a band called My Gold Mask.  I got a chance to see them because they were playing the Mishka SXSW showcase at Club 1808 right before Hussle Club.  I missed the first half of their set, and I came for the Hussle, but they put on a pretty great show, especially for having just two members.  I left pretty impressed and ready to rock the fuck out.  And you should too, because tomorrow I bring you the Hussle Club shots which are probably the best photos I took on my whole tour.

But for now, click here to see a mini gallery of the awesome My Gold Mask at Club 1808 in Austin.