This Providence, a pop-punk band from Seattle, Washington was the second opener on the Uncle Fest Tour (which also featured the previously blogged about Relient K).
I thought This Providence was fun. They were peppy (albeit slightly generic), despite being in what I feel is the worst slot of the show. They didn’t let their guard down for a minute, always working the front of the stage to rev the crowd up and keep them excited. And the crowd was excited, as evidenced by the reverberating floor.
Yet, despite their high energy set, they surprisingly played an acoustic song, Sand In Your Shoes, midway through the set. It was a bold move for an opener to stall the energy that they had been building up for the first few songs, but I, for one, liked the song. Besides, they had no problem transitioning right back to their upbeat songs.
They closed their set with A Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing, a song off of their 2006 self-titled Fueled By Ramen CD. As homage to the end of the tour, Relient K’s Matt Thiessen made a guest appearance during the song and sang backing vocals.
Shooting Notes
This Providence was a blast to shoot. Not only were they energetic, but they favored the front of the stage. Singer Dan Young twirled the mic stand around and reached out to high five some fans in the front row. Between his photogenic hat and his energy, I found myself spending most of the three songs focusing on Young. However, Gavin Phillips (guitar) favored using the monitors as a foot rest, and David Blaise (bass) liked to lean toward the audience, both of which also allowed for some great wide-angle photo ops.
As far as lighting, I think This Providence had the best lighting on the show. I was still shooting at 3200ISO the majority of the time, but they had some front white light, which always aids in clarity and auto-focusing. The background lights were also purples, reds, and blues, so the white light helped the performers “pop” from the background.
The 16-35mm on the 5D saw the most use for this set, with only a few shots taken with the 24-70mm on the 1D. Like I said, the band played to the front of the stage, which, for me, is when the wide-angle needs to come out!
