As in past years, this is a photo journal from San Diego Comic Con 2015, showcasing photographs of the exhibit hall, around the convention center and the Gaslamp District, and some of the popular cosplay participants. Images are from Wednesday (Preview Night), Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. [Read more…]
Louis E. Johnson, known as Louis “Thunder Thumbs” Johnson and half of The Brothers Johnson with brother George “Lightnin’ Licks” Johnson, passed away on May 21st at age 60. Louis Johnson was a legendary bass player and one of the principal figures in Funk music, and also is famous for laying down that incredible bassline on Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” as well as playing on his hit, “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough”. The Brothers Johnson collaborated with Quincy Jones, and are best known for their 1977 cover of Shuggie Otis’ “Strawberry Letter 23”, their 1976 hit “I’ll Be Good to You”, and the 1980’s hit “Stomp!”. I was lucky enough to see what I think might have been the last live concert performance by The Brothers Johnson” in September 2013 as part of WorldOne Presents and their “Funk Fest” event at Thunder Valley in Lincoln, California, and did extensive photography at the show. You can see my full review and photos in my original article, but I thought I would pull out some of the Louis Johnson ones here as a tribute to the great man. [Read more…]
Music legend B.B. King passes away at age 89 today. The “King of Blues” was born in Mississippi, and not only was witness to nearly nine decades of history, but was a key participant in it as well. [Read more…]
I am featured in the History Channel’s popular cable reality series, Pawn Stars, in the latest episode debuting this week, “Rick’s Roulette” (Season 2015, Episode 27). I served as the Hollywood memorabilia expert and authenticator for one of the segments of this episode, as a result of my work on the Original Prop Blog. In the episode, I take a look at a prop model attributed to the Flash Gordon serials of the 1930s. [Read more…]
I am humbled to be the cover feature of the latest issue of the Monterey County Weekly. I gave them an interview in conjunction with my concert photography exhibition at The Press Club in Monterey this month. The exhibition opening and grand opening of The Press Club will be held Friday, January 16th, and also feature a live performance from Down and Outlaws, who recently performed with Reignwolf. [Read more…]
As with my 2012 and 2013 Year in Review features, it’s always a challenge to reflect back on a year of music and summarize the highlights. Honestly, I don’t know if I will have have a year that beats 2013, which was an incredible one for me with a lot of travel as well. This year, I ended up attending 60-something shows, most with two or more artists, so hundreds of different sets of incredible talent and music. As such, I feel it is important to highlight the best of the best of the best, in an attempt to celebrate the year that was. You can also check out my Top 100 Concert Photos of 2014 in that separate article.
This is the first of my 2014 “Year In Review” articles. As with my articles in 2013 and 2012, I reviewed a sampling of my concert photos from 2014 and compiled some of my favorites and stopped when I hit 100 photos in total. Please also check out my companion 2014 Year in Review article, which covers my Top 10 Albums, Top 10 Songs, Top 10 Concerts and more. [Read more…]
As readers may or may not know, I own and operate the sister site to the Rock Subculture Journal, the Original Prop Blog. Founded and launched in 2007, my Original Prop Blog site is all about film and television and important pop culture artifacts – finding them, authenticating them, preserving them, and everything that goes on in that specialized art market. Today I have published a world exclusive feature that shares my video interviews with Colin Cantwell, who worked on many important movies and TV shows like Star Wars: A New Hope, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, WarGames, Battlestar Galactica, and Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. He is well known as the creator of the key ships and vehicles from Star Wars (like the X-Wing Fighter, the Y-Wing Fighter, the Tie Fighter, the Star Destroyer, the Death Star, the Landspeeder, the Sandcrawler, the Millennium Falcon, and the T-16 Skyhopper) by way of the prototype models he created for George Lucas back in 1974/1975. But no one has really talked with him about his work since, so he has until now remained somewhat of a mystery to fans. As it ends up, prior to doing those prototype models, he created concept art that has been lost to the “public record” for the film series until now… [Read more…]
Today, Alice Glass announced her departure from – and thus the break-up of – Crystal Castles with Ethan Kath. She made a short statement on social media, including her personal Facebook page (with her first post since July): “I am leaving Crystal Castles. My art and my self-expression in any form has always been an attempt towards sincerity, honesty, and empathy for others. For a multitude of reasons both professional and personal I no longer feel that this is possible within CC. Although this is the end of the band, I hope my fans will embrace me as a solo artist in the same way they have embraced Crystal Castles.” Crystal Castles, who I had a chance to cover and photograph at two shows (one in Seattle in 2012 and the other in Oakland in 2013), and they were as unique in live form as they were in studio recordings. I thought I’d bid farewell to the band with a pictorial showcase of photos I shot at those two concerts, some of which have never been published previously. [Read more…]
As I have been covering San Diego Comic-Con on my sister site, The Original Prop Blog, since 2007, I am sharing some of the photos of the people and sights in and around the exhibit hall and the Gaslamp Quarter for this year’s event. This feature focuses on photos of people in costumes. [Read more…]