[RH Photos] Marsha Ambrosius at the Friends & Lovers Tour in Chicago (3/28/14)
Photos by AngieStar Photography
With the recent release of her latest EPFVCK&LOVE, and with the anticipation of her upcoming sophomore album titled Friends & Lovers, it’s no surprise that British songstress Marsha Ambrosius had a sold out show at the The Shrine in Chicago. Brought to you by notable event coordinators Kristian Eliz and Jacob Thomas Entertainment, Marsha brought good energy, entertained with sultry and sassy talking bits in between songs, and with a wide range of vocals, the singer confirmed her undeniable classic talent.
The show was hosted by budding local talent Lili K, fluidly keeping the night going. After Philly-bred, Motown signed R&B group MPrynt performed and while talented Chicago based singer Kiara Lanier got the crowd warmed up, we were able to get a brief exclusive interview with Marsha. Inside her brightly lit, art adorned tour bus, she sat down right in front of a big screen tv that was playing March Madness clips, confirming her love for basketball. We were briefly able to talk about her music inspiration, her experience as a solo artist since Floetry, and of course, her thoughts on Chicago.
Shortly after the interview, we all scurried back into the venue to get the show started. Gracing the stage with a laced and tasseled, black and nude robe, Ambrosius seduced old fans and enticed new ones with an intro of her latest hit, Stronger than Pride. She then proceeded to sing some of her various hits, including old Floetry favorites like Getting Late and Say Yes. After leaving the audience wanting more, we were then treated by a DJ set from the infamous MC Lyte. The set was so good, Marsha even stood until close, jamming to Hip Hop hits and dance inducing tracks.
Marsha, who would you say is an inspiration for your music?
(Smiles) I'd be lying if I didn't say Michael Jackson, I've always been a huge fan.
Are you enjoying being a solo artist moreso than being in a group?
I've actually always been a solo artist, even with Floetry, I was a solo artist.
Interesting. And now just one last question, what do you like about Chicago?
It's kind of unfair to ask what I like about Chicago, because what I LOVE about Chicago is the people. Like no matter where I am in the world, I can always spot Chicago people. I always connect, it's crazy, I have a crazy connection here. It's always what I dreamed about, like I'm IN Chicago! (laughs)
Check some of our favorite moments and check out even more photos here.
[Through My Lens] La Catrina de Primavera
Photos by AngieStar Photography
According to Mexican Folklore, “La Catrina” is also known as death that can show herself in many different ways. This distinct and perennial character is a paradox to the joy of life in the face of the imminence and inevitability of death. As we only live once, La Catrina pleads with us to seize the moment and to perhaps find life’s meaning.
As we enter Spring after a long Winter, I grew inspired with the new growth of nature along with the anomaly of death in La Catrina. Collaborating with styling ideas of event promoter and producer Alejandra Camarillo, formally known as Ms. Chicago, we created our own unique version titled "La Catrina de Primavera" (translated as Spring Dame of Death). Using the backdrop of Pilsen, a predominant Mexican neighborhood on the south side of Chicago, we produced a truly unique photo set, and I couldn't be happier with the outcome.
Check out some of the following photos and find more here.
[SXSW Photos] Music Festival 2014
Photography by Kristen Wrzesniewski
Now that most of us have recovered from the madness that is South by Southwest. We sent our good pal Kristen Wrzesniewski out with her Lumix GX7 and a music wristband to cover the music festival portion of the festivities. Check out some of her shots and below.
[SXSW] Film Festival 2014
[Ruby Hornet will be covering SXSW from March 7th to March 16th. Follow along as we bring you exclusive film reviews, photos, daily features, and interviews with filmmakers, actors, and musicians!]
SXSW may be mostly known for its Music portion of the festival, but the Film half of the events have been building in notoriety over the past few years. While SXSW Film and SXSW Music are two entirely different beasts, they both have their own quirks and charm that keep the SXSW spirit alive throughout the entirety of the festival's duration. Whereas SXSW Music is full of craziness, crowds, and chaos, SXSW Film is more controlled and tempered in terms of its craziness, crowds, and chaos, albeit at a different level. Both Virgil and I (Ge0ff) were out and about last week, taking in as much as Austin and SXSW as we could before the Music crowds came in. Check out some of the photos below that captured some of our downtime in between screenings, some photos from the various film Q&As we attended, and even behind-the-scenes shots of some of the interviews we have lined up for next week. Enjoy!
[SXSW] From Dusk till Dawn: The Series After Party
[Ruby Hornet will be covering SXSW from March 7th to March 16th. Follow along as we bring you exclusive film reviews, photos, daily features, and interviews with filmmakers, actors, and musicians!]
After hitting up the Neighbors premiere Saturday night, Geoff and I went to the From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series after party at Red 7. As we walked through the raining streets of downtown Austin, we contemplated not going (later on, we were really happy we made the decision to go anyways). As we walked into a packed house, we made it through the crowd and to the back patio of Red 7 where Robert Rodriguez's mariachi rock band Chingon were jamming out to "Cancion del Mariachi" featured in Desperado. Further in the back of the venue were people lining up for free Kahuna Burgers and fries. After grabbing a quick burger, I pushed my way through the front to get some photos of the band. Robert had lots of surprises for the crowd, like bringing out snake dancers to accompany the music. After going through a few known songs from his movies, Robert brought out Eiza Gonzalez, who stars in the new TV series based on the film of the same name on the El Rey Network. Eiza came out and played a few Mexican mariachi classics backed by Chingon. Even Machete himself, Danny Trejo, stopped by to show support. Check out some of the photos from that night below.
[SXSW Photos] Robert Rodriguez Museum
Photos by Virgil Solis
Friday, I was lucky enough to be invited to the press opening of the Robert Rodriguez Museum here in Austin during SXSW 2014. The pop-up museum was exhibiting art from acclaimed fantasy/science fiction artist Frank Frazetta, a Sin City masterpiece by Frank Miller, original art by Drew Struzan, new pop artist Sebastian Krüger, and bronzed art sculptures by Clete Shields. In addition, the museum had Sin City character portraits that Mr. Rodriguez worked on with the actors and his mentor artist George Yepes during the filming of Sin City 2. This was definitely one of my highlights of SXSW 2014. On top of the really awesome art that was at the museum, I was going to be able to meet on of my idols.
Robert Rodriguez has been someone who I've looked up to for a very long time and someone who inspired me to chasing a creative career. Growing up in America, we didn't have a lot of creative and cool Latinos to look up to. Robert Rodriguez showed a younger generation of Latinos that we can chase creative jobs, even if you have to donate your body to medicine to fund your first movie. After watching El Mariachi and reading his book Rebel Without a Crew, my brother and I were Rodriguez fans for life. With all these thoughts running through my head, I was hoping I didn't fan out too much and kept some level of professionalism when I met him at the museum. As soon as I walked into the museum, Robert was there talking to other media people about the artwork and other art he was excited for. You can tell that Rodriguez still is a boy at heart as he talked about some of his heroes in art and the awesome work being exhibited.
As the majority of everyone there was a media person from different outlets, everyone wanted a piece of Rodriguez, so I waited patiently for an opportunity to talk to him for one minute to just thank him for his influence and art. When I finally mustard the courage to walk up to him, the media vultures were waiting for him to pounce and get their turn. In the quick second I was given, I asked him if I could take a photo next to the life-size Marv statues. He said sure, and I shot the image, and as fast I hit the shutter button, Robert was being pulled in a different direction to speak to another media person. I barely said thank you, and just like that, my opportunity was over. I stuck around and talked to some great people from his team about the limited edition posters for sale and took in the art a little bit longer before I decided that I was happy with the photo and just the chance to be in the same room as Robert Rodriguez. By the way he treated everyone, he is one of the nicest guys, and I'm sure another opportunity will arise where I will be able to have an actual conversation with Mr. Rodriguez. Until then, enjoy some great art from the museum.
[RH Photos] Michelle by Bobby Reys
Photos by Bobby Reys
Recently, I've been taking a lot of landscape shots, and every so often, shooting some architecture that really captures my eye. While I love getting to shot outside in nature, I have always enjoyed shooting portraits, and it has been a couple months since I've done so. A few days ago I hit up Michelle to see if she wanted to shoot and see what we could come up with. With the weather in Chicago still being a little chilly, we decided that we would hit up the Lincoln Park Conservatory and take advantage of the great plant/flower life and use it as a back drop. It was fun getting back to shooting portraits, and I can't wait to continue to do more of them. These are some of the shots that we took that day, and you can see more of them on my blog here.
[Via Bobby Reys]
BTS Photos of Chance The Rapper's Social Experiment Tour
If you haven't heard by now, Chance The Rapper had a pretty good year last year. The Chicago kid dropped Acid Rap in May and went on to essentially take the music scene by storm. After getting practice opening for Childish Gambino and Mac Miller on their tours, Chance decided to end 2013 right, by piling as many fellow artists and friends as he could fit into a pair of buses and traveling the country for two and a half months, selling out nearly every show along the way. One of those on the bus was talented photographer Allen Daniels whose Polaroid shots were used as a background for Chance's Riviera shows. He was a fly on the wall for the extent of the Social Experiment Tour and yesterday the tour documented through his lens hit the Internet on Chanceraps.com. Check out the shots of Pat The Manager, Peter CottonTale, Donnie Trumpet, Greg Landfair, Nate Fox and the gang in the gallery below.
[Photos via Allen Daniels]
