Tim Reynolds is one hell of a guitar player. Last night he brought his band TR3 to the Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach. I have gone many shows at the Belly Up over the years and my main complaint is that the lighting system is HORRIBLE. For a venue that prides itself on being a great music venue they really should invest in a set of lights. So the question becomes, what can a musician do to make it even harder to shoot them. Well Tim came up with a great answer, leave all the lights off for the whole first song. He came out with a pair of glasses with two attached blue lights. So the two options were to push the ISO has high as possible or slow the shutter speed down.
As you can see, while both of these methods created some interesting images, neither showed the amazing music being played.
Luckily the blue light glasses were retired at the start of the second song and the lights were on full force for the rest of the show. Photographing at the Belly Up is never easy, the sight lines are pretty bad, there is no photo pit or photographers area, and the low lights all make it a challenge.
The saving grace was that TR3 amazing. I am not a huge fan of instrumental music, I like lyrics and stories, but Tim just plain rocks and with Mick Vaughn on bass and Dan Martier on drums, last nights show was one of the best I’ve seen in a while.
For the full gallery from the show, go HERE. TR3 is still out on tour, and if you can catch them, it is well worth your while. The standout for me was last nights version of the Crosby, Stills and Nash tune OHIO which stayed true to the original and at the same time had some soaring guitar work. You can find out more about Tim and his band HERE.
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