SNOOPER PROVES HARD TIMES REQUIRE FURIOUS DANCING
WORDS AND PHOTOS BY RIK HOROKY
On the evening of the show, downtown was filled with protests, and that energy carried people straight into the venue. A lot of us, myself included, had come directly from the demonstrations, still dressed in black, signs folded under arms or leaned against the walls. The night did not feel like an escape from what had been happening outside. It felt like a continuation of it. The room was charged and restless, buzzing with people who needed somewhere for all that built up energy to go.
It was my first time seeing Snooper live, but I was already familiar with the kind of chaos they are known for. Even so, the intensity in the room felt heightened. When the music started, the crowd erupted immediately. Bodies moved all at once, fast and without hesitation. The phrase hard times require furious dancing suddenly felt literal. This was not a crowd easing into the show. It was a release.
Snooper has a way of making the stage feel like it belongs to everyone. There is no real separation between the band and the crowd, just a shared space that keeps pulling people in closer. By the end of the night, that sense of openness extended to a girl who could not have been older than ten. Wearing protective earmuffs and knee pads, she climbed onto the stage and dove straight into the crowd. Without missing a beat, the room caught her and carried her across the floor. It was loud and chaotic, but also careful in a way that felt instinctive.
The whole night felt like anger being turned into movement, frustration into joy. People were shouting lyrics, drenched in sweat, holding each other up. As a photographer, it was overwhelming in the best way. There were hardly any still moments, only motion and feeling, the kind that is hard to capture but impossible to forget.
All in all, it was easily the wildest show I have ever photographed. It felt necessary. A perfect night for the moment we were all living in. 10 out of 10.
