DULY NOTED

Hey everybody!

This week I want to talk about an issue in the pop punk community. Everyone knows that when you go to a small pop punk show, it’ll probably be in a club or someplace similar and the barricades for the stage are either tiny or completely nonexistent. Pop punk artists are also much more open to fan interaction during their shows. As a result of all of this, there is a lot of crowdsurfing and stage-diving going on. One of my favorite bands, Chunk! No, Captain Chunk!, even invites fans up onstage during their last song to take selfies.

Some bands, however, are not as open to fans being onstage, as recent events indicate. A video has surfaced within the past couple days starring one of my favorite bands, The Story So Far, and has since gone viral. In the video, a fan gets up onstage to take a selfie. The lead singer, Parker Cannon, has his back turned to her, but when he turns around and sees her, he kicks her off the stage. Later in the video, other fans jump onstage but none of them attempt to take a photo – they simply jump right back into the crowd.

This video has started a bit of an argument in the music community. On one hand, the girl had no right to be up there taking photos during the set and The Story So Far is notorious for pushing fans off the stage. It’s pretty obvious that you shouldn’t be onstage for more than a few seconds during the show and this girl was overstaying her welcome. On the other hand, the kick from Cannon was pretty violent and she clearly wasn’t expecting it. This could have caused serious injuries to her and to anyone else she may have fallen on.

There have been countless articles about the incident already. Check out the video here.

What do you think? Who was in the wrong here?

Update: The fan who was kicked off the stage has opened up about the incident in an article for Alternative Press. She says there are no hard feelings, she wasn’t injured and that she understood what she was getting into when she went to the show. Check out the article here.

Hey friends! This week I want to talk about one of my favorite up-and-coming bands: Neck Deep.

Neck Deep is a pop punk band from Wales and they have been all over the scene lately. They’ve played countless music festivals this year, had an almost sold out world tour, were featured as the cover artist for Alternative Press magazine and have even more festivals lined up for the coming months.

They also recently released a music video for their song “Serpents” off their newest album Life’s Not Out To Get You. This music video is what I want to focus on.

Neck Deep is no stranger to music videos. They’ve put out a good number of them, especially considering the fact that they’re a fairly new band. However, their music videos up till now have all looked very similar to one another. They all feature the band playing the music either onstage or in random places on the street and they don’t have much to do with the songs that accompanies them.

This new music video is a bit different, which I’m happy to see. It still features the band playing the song but this time they managed to incorporate some awesome motion graphics and other cool effects to tie in the message of the song. Here’s the link to the video so you can see for yourself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReXRXxbeZ_I.

What do you think? Do music videos always have to relate to the song?

I know it’s been a while since I posted since I was away on spring break, but I have some music news! On Sunday night, I shot photography at the X Ambassadors concert at Cat’s Cradle in Carrboro, NC, and it was the perfect end to a perfect spring break.

You may have heard X Ambassadors’ newest single “Renegades” all over the radio recently. I like the song, but it’s not representative of their best work, in my opinion. I was thoroughly surprised by the amount of energy X Ambassadors had on stage right off the bat. They were jumping all over the place, the lights were crazy, and they even brought out the fog machine. I hadn’t listened to much of their music before going to the show but the songs I had heard were fairly tame so I expected a fairly tame concert experience. They blew my expectations out of the water in the first 5 seconds.

Shooting them was so much fun. Both of their openers were good but they kind of stood around onstage and it was hard to get new shots of them. X Ambassadors, on the other hand, never stood still. Shooting them was a challenge and I was getting new material in each shot, which is so exciting to me.

The lead singer was constantly running to a different part of the stage, standing on speakers, connecting with the audience in a way that I’ve only seen a few people do before. He was standing on the barricades and engaging every single person in the songs. You could see his passion for the music he was playing and it was inspiring.

Hearing the music live has also convinced me to buy the album! I enjoyed the songs they were playing even though it was my first time hearing most of it. Their finale was amazing and they did a 3-song encore, including the song “Unconsolable” which is one of my favorites.

If you’re interested, check out my photo gallery here.

Until next time!

 

 

Let’s talk about one of my favorite bands: The 1975.

The group from Manchester, UK established a very unique and alternative image from the start. With their experimental songs, clever and well-written lyrics, and black and white aesthetic, they’ve attracted a loyal and passionate fanbase. Their first album, The 1975, did well with contemporary music critics and fans alike. I personally loved the album and their concert that I attended at the LC Pavilion in Columbus, OH, was one of the best live shows I’ve ever seen.

Their second album, I Like It When You Sleep For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware Of It, debuts tomorrow and I’m not sure how to feel about it. Obviously, I’m super curious and excited to hear their new material, but the release of some of their recent singles has made me nervous.

First off, the band has completely changed their aesthetic. They have abandoned the monochrome look and adopted a pink and white theme as of late. Over the summer, they posted a cryptic cartoon detailing the demise of “the old 1975” just before their Internet presence disappeared altogether. They came back exactly 24 hours later with a whole new look. This was the beginning of the change.

A few months later, they released the first single, “Love Me,” from their upcoming album. This catchy but very poppy tune had people writing comments like “The 1975? More like the 1985” on YouTube. I personally was slightly disappointed with this single. Their next single, “UGH!,” was better than “Love Me” but still not great. Then they released “The Sound,” which was the first single from the new album that I could say I enjoyed. “Somebody Else” was after that and it gives me a shred of hope for their new album. Reminiscent of the sound they had seemingly abandoned based on the first few singles they released, it came as a relief to me. They released the last teaser single, “Change of Heart,” earlier this week and it isn’t quite on par with “Somebody Else” but it’s not bad. Based on these songs, their new album will most likely be experimental, just in a different way than their first album.

Either way, The 1975 is currently on tour with The Japanese House, a new obsession of mine, so if you can catch the tour I would definitely recommend it.

I may be the only one with mixed feelings towards this new album, as the singles I mentioned above have gotten an overwhelmingly positive response from other fans around the world. If you have anything to say regarding this change and the anticipation of their new music, feel free to comment below!

 

 

Hey friends!

The Hawthorne Heights show last week was awesome! The crowd wasn’t very big, which I was surprised about, but the show was still so much fun. The band MEST has the most engaging stage presence I’ve ever seen. Also, I had never heard of the band Handguns before going to this show but they were one of the openers and they were awesome. If you’re into pop punk you should definitely check them out.

The tour is called the Three Headed Monstour because there were three headlining bands and two smaller openers. It was an interesting setup because the lead singer of MEST, Tony Lovato, started another band called London Falling. London Falling was the first opener, and they were pretty good, but it was literally all of the same people as MEST.

After London Falling, Handguns came on and absolutely killed it. I was not expecting a pop punk band to be there so it was a pleasant surprise. I came straight home to buy their music.

After that, Hawthorne Heights came on. This was who I was here to see. They were very good live. They didn’t have the strongest stage presence and their connection with the audience was lacking, but the music was good. Of course, everyone went crazy when they played “Ohio Is For Lovers” because that song is probably their most recognizable tune.

Then, MEST came on. Tony Lovato literally told the crowd that it was the same people as London Falling and that they just had different t-shirts on. A few songs into the set, he changed out of his t-shirt and into a bright yellow crop top that said “Beware of the tits” and told us all that he was just trying to prove he could wear a crop top better than Beyonce. When they took a pause and everything was quiet, one crazed fan screamed a song request at the top of his lungs. Lovato heard him and stopped the show and called him out. “Whoa man, relax,” he said, “if you can sit quietly on the stage, I will sing a song to you.” And he was completely serious. The fan (quite literally) clumsily threw himself over the barricade and climbed onto the stage. He proceeded to sit down criss-cross applesauce style and stare up at Lovato. Lovato then turned the mic to face the fan instead of the crowd, and serenaded him with one of the band’s famous ballads. From the way he acted, I’m fairly certain that was the best moment of that guy’s life.

After MEST, The Ataris came on. They were pretty good as well, but I ended up leaving the show early because it ran really late and I had a longer drive home than normal.

If you’re interested in checking out the photo gallery, it just went up on the Pop Deflators website here. Enjoy!

 

 

 

I’m really excited because tonight I’m going to the Hawthorne Heights concert in Winston-Salem! I’m going for the music website I work for to shoot official photography of the show. This will be my first time in the photo pit since November so it should be fun.

To be completely honest, I haven’t listened to too much Hawthorne Heights music, but I’m a fan of the few songs I have heard. I really only know of them because I’m from Ohio and “Ohio is For Lovers” is one of their most famous songs. Hardly anyone writes songs about Ohio so this is exciting.

I just got a new lens that’s supposed to be really good in low lighting so I’m pumped to try it out for the first time tonight. It’s a 35mm f1.8 which means I should walk out with some great photos.

When I talk about music photography, people always ask me how it works so I’ll put it in a nutshell here: my boss sends a request to both the tour manager/publicist and the venue asking for a ticket and a photo pass for me. Once my name is on the guest list, I show up on the day of the concert and obtain my credentials from will call. After that, I’m allowed to shoot the first 3 songs for each band from the photo pit (if the venue has a photo pit). It’s a lot of fun but can be very hectic, especially if people are crowdsurfing and security is trying to pull people into the pit so they get down without hurting themselves. Once my job is done, I get to hang out at the front and enjoy the rest of the show. I’m convinced that I have the best job in the world.

Once the full gallery from tonight is up, I’ll post a link on here.

Until next time!

 

My name is Brittany Muldoon and welcome to my music blog! I’ll be graduating from High Point University in May with a degree in Electronic Media Production. I’ve seen over 100 bands in concert and that number keeps growing, especially since I’m a photographer and reviewer for the music website Pop Deflators. My ultimate goal is to be on the road with tours and festivals as a music photographer and videographer and eventually become a music video producer.

Ever since I was little, music has been an important part of my life. It all started when my grandma made me cassette tapes of her favorite Elvis Presley songs. I used to take my boombox with me in the stroller when my mom went running so I could listen to them all the time. My tastes have evolved over the years but Elvis is still one of my favorites.  My favorite music today falls into the categories of alternative, rock, and pop punk, so that’s mostly what this blog will consist of.

I’m excited to share my passion for music with the internet world through this blog. I’ll be posting reviews, photos I’ve taken, news, and basically anything else related to music so I hope you enjoy it!

Until next time!