Photographing concerts is a blast, if it wasn’t, I doubt I would still be doing it. But when you get a band that really enjoys performing, has a lot of fun on stage and allows you to shoot it all, well then you have a recipe for a great night. Steel Pulse is one of those bands.

On Thursday, 5/7/09, I photographed Steel Pulse at the San Diego House of Blues. The show had great highs and lows, the highs being the music, the performers, and the access I was granted, while the lows were the unruly crowd, the fights, and another photographer who managed to annoy the bands manager.

I shot the whole show using a D700. I set the ISO to 1600 and never looked back.

One of the really nice things about the shooting at the House of Blues is the angle from the balcony. It helps when shooting a keyboards. Even better is when you have the access to shoot from the side of the stage.

Now for the bad: Drunk folks fighting at reggae shows seems really stupid, and I saw at least two really really stupid people having to be forcibly ejected. Then there was the drink I am sure I saw being thrown at the stage. Did it stop the band? No, those guys are pros and they just went right on with the show.

The full gallery of images is HERE.