THE STRUTS TAKE THE WILTERN THEATER BY STORM
WORDS AND PHOTOS BY STEPHEN BROWNLESS
As I’m writing this report it’s been two days removed since I shot The Struts & I can't stop thinking about it. This show was a dream I did not expect to have. The UK-based band concluded their “Remember the Name…” tour in style at The Wiltern in Los Angeles, CA.
As the band appeared on stage ready to open up with “Dirty Sexy Money”, out last came a lead singer that left mesmerized like never before live in Luke Spiller. Lively, flamboyant, and sharp-dressed, Spiller is like a combination of Mick Jagger, David Bowie, and Freddie Mercury with a dash of Michael Jackson whom he first happened to discover music from at age 11. Mixing him in with his partners in crime (guitarist Adam Slack, bassist Jed Elliott, and drummer Gethin Davies) this is a band I hope to shoot many times more in the future.
Their glam-filled life of the party performance represents why I wanted to be a concert photographer in the first place and I should not be surprised because look at the bands they opened up for in the past. A personal wishlist of bands I’d love to shoot someday including Foo Fighters, The Rolling Stones, and The Who. It was a rare night too for photographers at The Wiltern. Unless you get an All-Access Pass, photographers are usually limited to shooting at the ADA ramp for the first three songs. That night we got upgraded to the main pit at the front of the stage. I wonder if it was at the request of the band. After all, my favorite song of the night was “In Love with a Camera”.
I can feel the love Luke gave to us photographers and I loved shooting him. He was so much fun and playful to shoot at. My two favorite shots (photos 14.1 and 14.2) of the whole night are of him preparing and blowing a kiss right in my frame. It was a tricky photo to edit as well. The original RAW copy came out very red and overexposed but I made it work by converting it to black and white and reducing the light levels in Lightroom. I worked on using color at first but my heart told me to give it my favorite B&W touch. I felt it had more charm to it.
Throughout the night I shot mainly in my starting levels (1/250, f2.8, ISO 3200) with both my 24-70mm and 70-200mm lenses but I think I should have reduced my ISO levels at times after reviewing my work. I captured two more shots of him looking right into my frame including one of a wide shot of him posing straight to the audience but looking right in the direction that gave me Ziggy Stardust-like feels (Photo #12).
The two specific photos I have mentioned would have to be the most challenging I had to edit out of the shoot because of the red light and exposure levels. Since joining GSM this is the second time I was overloaded with so much content that I had to make a tough decision of what stayed and what went. After two hours of giving their heart and soul to us, Luke only asked us to give him a promise in return. He asked us to promise to follow our dream, don't give up, don’t stop. Like everyone, they’ve had their strikes and gutters in their journey but their almost twelve-year journey so far, they’re still here and all that mattered was tonight! The name of their tour is very appropriate. I will never forget The Struts.
