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Photos of Alkaline Trio
So, Against Me! and Alkaline Trio are two of my favorite bands. I was very excited when I heard they were touring together and making a stop in Atlanta. I was less excited when I heard they were playing the Roxy. It is one of my least favorite concert venues in Atlanta, for a number of reasons (layout, location, etc.) But "Hey!" I thought. "It couldn't be that bad! Two of my favorite bands!" Little did I know...
I brought my camera along, as usual. Taking pictures at concerts is one of my favorite hobbies. When I went in the Roxy there was a sign on the door. It said "No Audio, No Video, No Weapons" etc. It didn't mention anything about cameras, so I figured I was in the clear. They had metal detectors as I went in and I was actually patted down and searched. I showed the guy I only had my keys, camera and cell phone and he waved me through.
Against Me! were great, as usual, and I'd managed to maneuver myself near the front row sometime around the end of their set. By the time Alkaline Trio went on stage I had firmly planted myself against the metal barricade, right in front of the stage.
Alkaline Trio was calling this their "Occult Roots" tour, meaning they planned to play all their old stuff. As a long time fan, I was very excited to hear a lot of the old songs they hadn't played in several years. It was easily one of the best shows I've ever seen, and definitely my favorite Alkaline Trio show. . .
That is, until about three songs before the end of the show. . .
That's when a bouncer came out of nowhere and yanked my camera away from me. I protested, but couldn't really do anything to stop him as I was wedged between the metal railing and a sweaty, sold out crowd. He told me what I was doing was "illegal" and he could have me arrested. He also said he would be deleting all my photos from my camera and I could pick it up after the concert.
As you can probably imagine, I was furious. I'd been taking pictures during the whole show, with three bouncers right in front of me. None of them had said a word. Apparently this guy was the only one who'd heard the no camera rule. I wasn't even using my flash!
After the show, I made my way to the side of the stage to get my camera back. He had, in fact, deleted all of the photos. I demanded to know why my camera had been taken. He said he was just doing his job. I told him I wasn't leaving until I had spoken with someone in charge. I wanted them to explain to me why there were no signs forbidding cameras, yet mine was confiscated. I was in the front row, in clear view of several bouncers. Why did he take my camera so close to the end of the show? I hadn't been trying to hide it.
Finally, a guy walks by and the bouncer says that's the guy I need to talk to. It's Alkaline Trio's tour manager (and sometimes back-up guitarist). THE BAND were the ones who didn't want photos taken. When I asked "Why?" he would only say "That's just our policy?"
"Why is it your policy?" I insisted.
"It just is" was all he would take the time to say before disappearing backstage.
I was at a loss for words. How could a band NOT WANT their fans to take pictures of them? Sure, I could understand if your eyes are sensitive and the flash bothers you, but I wasn't using a flash. And with the ammount of lasers and mechanical lights they were using, there's no way that's the reason. How could one of my favorite bands, a so-called "punk" band at that, not allow people to take pictures of them?
Well, I know a thing or two about computers and digital cameras. I know that just because you delete a photo from your memory card, that doesn't mean it's really deleted. Just like a file on your hard drive, deleted photos can be easily recovered if you have the right software. Software like PhotoRescue, for example.
Using PhotoRescue, I recovered all the photos I'd taken at the show (in addition to stuff I'd deleted more than a month ago!) You can find the best of them here. They are released under a Creative Commons license, as are all of my flickr photos.
I plan to try and contact Alkaline Trio and send them a link to both this blog entry and my photos. I hope that someone in the band will take the time to explain to me why they have such an asinine policy. When did they decide to adopt this policy? I have taken photos of them before.
I would really like to know, because as of right now, I'm no longer sure what to think about one of my favorite bands.
Comments
That's great you were able to recover your photos.
Recently I saw The Prodigy at The Nation in DC. I brought my digital camera and a big ol' memory stick to take a lot of photos and movies. At the metal detecter section a guy first asked if my camera was digital or regular. After I said it was digital, he was like "Well they're not alloud. You have to check it in over there (waved hand in very vague direction) and you can get it back when you leave the show." Since Prodigy is my all time favorite band I thought "Better to follow the rules and atleast see them instead of trying to be a hero and getting into trouble." So I walked over to the only person in the area where I was supposed to check it in, and said "Hey, they told me to check in my camera over here." The guy replied, "What are you talking about? I'm just waiting here for my friend." I shrugged, and walked into the concert with my camera still with me... thankful that I didn't just hand my camera over to some random dude.
Well, inside the show, EVERYBODY was taking pictures and movies with their Cell phones, and a few others had snuck in their camera-only devices. I had my camera out, flash and all, taking pics and even near-entire song length movies. Nobody said a word.
Now that it's all over, I am REALLY glad I got to bring it in. The movies I took are absolutely priceless to me. It was the best concert I have been to, and I would be terribly sad if I didn't have those movies to remember it by.
Why can't they just let us remember the moment in digital form? The best concerts are always over before you know it.
Mac,
Hell yeah kid. Don't let the man keep you down. I like Alkaline Trio too... but if you want me to sneak up and kick their manager in the balls next time their in town... well i can be very sneaky.