Cavalry is a new Chicago band who states that they pure rock and roll, and after seeing their show, I’m believing them. Their set was 30 minutes of black clothing, strong guitar riffs, tattoos, and pounding drums. I think there was even a little blood involved.
Despite being a new band, the members of Cavalry aren’t new to music, for example, Collin Patrick was in the band White Hot Knife and Dave Cottini is from Ike Reilly Assination – both established Chicago bands. The set at Cobra Lounge was only their second show, but an innocent bystander would have figured that it was at least their 100th because of their natural energy onstage. In fact, they’re so good that despite only being around for a few months, they’re already making their rounds: they’re a finalist in Metromix’s “Rock and Vote” contest.
If you’re in the Chicago area, Cavalry’s next show is on May 21st at the new LaSalle Power Co., so check them out.
Shooting Notes
Cobra Lounge is a small bar, with few lights. And, the few lights that there are, are gelled… and gelled many different colors, which make band members look like very colorful Easter eggs. Needless to say, it’s a hard place to shoot. However, the great thing about Cobra Lounge is that the stage is small, so it’s always guaranteed that you’re going to get some “in your face” shots.
Huge thanks go out to the sound/light tech at this show, who was very kind and accommodating by turning up the lights for me. While I still had to combat the colored lights, at least I didn’t have to worry about shooting in the dark AND fighting the colored light.
I shot this with a 5D Mark II, 24-70mm f/2.8 lens and the 16-35mm f/2.8 lens. The 135mm f/2 came out for a few minutes, but since the stage is so small, the wide angles were preferable.
And, on a side note: This also was the first set that I used Lightroom to edit. It’s quite nice. As I use it more, I’ll probably do a small feature on what I find to be its pros and cons.
