#nevertheless. shitty move on adobe's part

[imaginaryculturepress-blog]

TFTP: The Faux at the Garage

In which we photograph at a new venue, almost get attacked by an ibis, and visit JB HI-FI.

Hi, hello, and welcome!

My name is Skyler and I’m running out of intros. If I don’t come up with any witty or interesting ones I’m going to use minimalism quotes instead, and if you’re my friend you’ve probably heard enough of those. Anywho… I recently received the wonderful opportunity to shoot The Faux’s headliner at the Garage, and holy shit… t’was incredible. The Faux are arguably my favourite local band (alongside fifty or so others… I’m sorry, I’m indecisive and local artists are amazing), so being able to photograph their show was marvellous. December 16th came quicker than I anticipated, and I was far too enthusiastic – but that’s a good thing, right? But let’s take it back a step, back to the 13th. T’was my final day of school – for the year – and I couldn’t wait to leave. Technically speaking, the 14th was the final day… but nobody goes to that, right? So I came home, had a one-person party featuring the All-American Rejects on fancy blue vinyl, and messed around with my Olympus compact camera. The gadget was recently repaired by the lovely lads at JB HI-FI (we all saw this coming), however t’wasn’t the same. Apparently they’d repaired it but it was replaced but no it was only a battery issue but then agai--- essentially, nobody knew what the hell actually happened. Not JB’s fault, rather that of their repairers. I had the option of returning it back. I wanted to, since a renewed item with an unsure background concerned me, so I decided to take it back on Friday. Come Friday, I found myself in JB in the midst of the Christmas shopping season. The meagre idea of it gave me a migraine; did you know that approximately one in seven Americans would avoid gift exchanges if only they addressed the subject with their family and friends? The Australian statistic would likely be relatively similar. That’s a lot of wasted money and resources. Hey look, I’m turning this into a minimalism rant! Yay! Moving right along… After returning the item successfully, the manager asked me: Manager: Would you be interested in another camera? Me: Why, yes… You see, I’ve been considering purchasing a Nikon D750 for a while now… Manager: Let’s go have a look. Me to myself: YAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYY Me: Okay. Manager: So do you know how much it’ll cost you? Me: Oh, only an arm and a leg… Long story short, they’re willing to do a crazy discount and I feel spoilt. I’m picking it up this week and I cannot contain my excitement. JB HI-FI promo over. Back to Saturday: I’d never visited let alone shot at the Garage before, so I had no clue about what to expect. I knew the lighting setup wasn’t ideal, but I didn’t know the extent of its… horribleness. Not taking shady public transport was weird. I was far too used to trains that ran along the Joondalup line and hopes of “that one random pissed dude” not sitting next to me, all whilst wishing that someone cleaned up the puke that ran along the vehicle’s carpeted interior. So driving to a venue crept me out, and I’m sure it crept everyone else out, too; considering how my mother slowly pulled up, deliriously staring out the window and heavily judging everything in sight. Y’know what else was weird and creepy? The ibises. Do you know how many ibises flew overhead at that place? Too many. “But you’re overreacting, Sky, they’re just flying past. Honestly, your phobia is so irrational.” Just shut up, you fearless bastards… the bin chickens are out to get me. I feel as though there’s been too much complaining already… but then again, every TFTP is essentially a collection of rants. Can we just take a moment to consider the atmosphere of that venue? It’s so cool. If I were writing some random posh novel and had it as a setting, it’d probably be described like this: "The exterior mirrored its neighbours, a sickening shade of pale grey… or something of that nature; one failed to recount such nugatory information after being enthralled by the venue’s interior. Despite, its inhabitants participated in an abundance of ravishment and instilled nostalgia. And the aforementioned interior… oh, the intrigue: kindred furnishings lay upon the adamantine floors, accompanied by beguile characters pursuing carmine relations… and receiving little more than they desired. Candescent ornaments lined each wall surrounding the mezzanine, blinding and heating those standing below, and omitting photographers’ chances of exquisite shots… though that’d also fall blame on their expertise. Luminous bodies inside, celestial ones glittering beyond… what more could one desire?" …I realise how little sense that made… it only makes sense in my mind, and sometimes not even there. It’s probably worth noting I spent three hours writing another two pages worth of that random crap and spared you the time of reading it. So I suppose you’re welcome. (Side note: that is not how I usually write fiction, so please don't be deterred from reading my novels when they're released!!! Shameless self-promotion.) Serious question though, what style of writing do you guys prefer: blog or novel style? Not that one would be incorporated into the other, but I’m just curious. Time to get to the point… First up was Ashleigh Carr-White, an enthusiastic young singer and instrumentalist. Supported by her vast and talented band, she provided a smooth start to the night, and did incredibly well for a debut performance. Her skills are impeccable, though she seemed under-appreciated by the audience… that wasn’t her fault whatsoever; it was probably still early and everyone was still getting into the spirit. She’s also super humble and easy-going, so all the more reason to check her out! Intermission. Panic! at the Disco, The Killers, more of my faves played through the speakers. Failing not to dance around in my seat. Sheepish grinning whilst mouthing “CAUSE I’M MR. BRIGHTSIDEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE”. Up next was Those Who Dream. Now listen… Those Who Dream… Those Who freaken Dream… Smurf dudes… I owe a lot to those lads. They gave me my first ever photo pass back in April, and have always been super sweet and helpful in terms of scoring gigs. Not to mention that their sets are the most energetic and fun things to shoot. They truly give it their all onstage. You’ve got those bands that just stand there, that don’t jump off the stage and run through the entire venue, that don’t swap instruments and don’t invite members of The Faim to party with them. But Those Who Dream does. They go at it until they’re falling to the floor, and then give it some more. They go all out, no regrets, no drawbacks, both musically and in terms of their performance. Josh is the upbeat cyan dude who honestly cannot stay still, and Cooper is the innocent-smiling, hard-hitting drummer who keeps the duo going. Without one, ya can’t have the other. And they are the best Twenty Øne Piløts cover band – and an incredible original band – in Perth. Intermission. The Encounters. Sound familiar? Oh, they’re only those super cool dudes who play great music and have too many technical difficulties because technology hates us. Seriously though, these guys continue the evening’s trend of humbleness whilst providing some killer tunes. The band did a marvellous job with their short set – they were unfortunately cut short due to the excessive time spent dealing with technical issues, thus why I hate technology – and definitely left everyone begging for more. T’was during their set that I had the most trouble with lighting, particularly since I was shooting a lot from the right of the stage, where the lights were shining directly yet nowhere. It was really shitty lighting, man. Really shitty. That’s why I only managed to revive thirteen photos via Lightroom. That app’s tagline should be: “Lightroom: saving sanities and photography careers est. [whenever t’was released]”. (Sponsor me, Adobe.) Nevertheless, the guys did a fabulous job with the time – or lack thereof – that they had. Intermission. T’was time for the headliners, our folks in The Faux. From the first note, the crowd was chanting alongside Alex, swaying along to the aesthetic instrumentals, and having one hell of a good time. There were lyrics that were certainly crowd favourites, including the band’s trademark, “I can’t dance with you, but I can write you a love song.” Each and every audience member was part of a special collective, a group of fun-loving teens and young adults celebrating the year’s end and the band’s 2017 achievements. The band performed fantastically, quite the opposite of the lighting’s performance. Their style is so simplistic and elegant that it’s rather fascinating. Don’t get me wrong; they give it their all, they’re sweaty messes by the hour’s end, but they maintain a minimalistic stage quality that’s somewhat indescribable and is evidently making little sense. In short, they’re one hell of an incredible band. …And that was that. Up next: I don’t fucken know, I’m not even following the upload schedule.

MUSICAL SUMMARY: Ashleigh Carr-White: chill and groovy/5 Those Who Dream: Smurfs on acid + hi Stevie pls get me into the sws show ill do anything/5 The Encounters: tHEY DESERVED BETTER (butitsnobodysfaultokay)/5 The Faux: aesthetic eargasms/5

PHOTOGRAPHICAL SUMMARY: Lenses: Better than our government (and their citizenships are clear)/5 Camera: last time shooting with the D3400/5 Lighting: Kill me with a butter knife/5 Editing: life saving/5 My sanity: nope never heard of it/5 Check out all the amazing artists via the following links: Ashleigh Carr-White Those Who Dream The Encounters The Faux

Live long and headbang, xx-Skyler Slate