[RH Photos] Kendrick Lamar's "Kunta's Groove Sessions"
Photography by Virgil Solis
Kendrick Lamar brought the first annual "Kunta's Groove Sessions" to the Riviera Theater (Chicago) last thursday (11/5/15). TDE affiliate Jay Rock opened up the show before Kendrick and his backing band the Wesley Theory hit that stage. Check out our photos coverage above.
via Chicago Music
[Through My Lens] Fun Weekend
In this edition of Through My Lens, I take on a Fun Weekend during Fun Fun Fun Fest 2014 in Austin, TX.
After years of shooting concerts and festivals with two DSLRs, three lenses, multiple batteries, and other accessories, I was looking forward to trying out a mirrorless system. I've been researching different mirrorless systems (Panasonic and Fuji, among others) for about a year now, but have yet to make the jump. After watching a video of photographer Jason Lanier talking about his 10 reasons why he left his Nikon system for a Sony mirrorless system and boasting about how great these smaller cameras were, I wanted to try it out for myself.
For Fun Fun Fun Fest, I rented a Sony a6000 from Borrow Lenses with a 16mm f/2.8 and a 10-18mm f/4 wide angle lens. For insurance's sake, I took my Canon 7D with a Sigma 24-70mm 2.8 lens to the Fest. I pretty much kept the a6000 around my neck the whole weekend. I only really brought my 7D out when shooting artists live, but even then, the a6000 was great to shoot with. After shooting with the Sony a6000 all weekend, I can safely say I love this little camera. It gave me the freedom I was looking for to shoot street photography that my mobile doesn't give me. The WiFi technology made it seamless to take a shot, send it to my phone, edit, and post on social media.
Below are a bunch of photos I shot from the whole weekend, mostly from the Sony a6000 and a few with my Canon 7D.
[RH Photos] X Games Austin 2014 Recap
Photos by Virgil Solis Last week, the X Games kicked off their Summer competition in their new home of Austin, Texas. The event started Thursday evening with a skate demo right in the middle of downtown Austin with the Capitol Building as the backdrop with Friday representing the full day of X Games action. Lizzy B and I headed out to the Circuit of The Americas (COTA) late afternoon on Friday while the Texas heat was already at 90 degrees to collect our press badges and get our bearings at the festival-like camp grounds. As we walked through the massive track and amphitheater, we headed to the Moto X WHIP competition. Tom Parons, who eventually takes the gold, lets the crowd and X Games fans know that he had a broken leg and, up until a few days prior, wasn't going to compete. After a short break of walking the ground, we made our way over to the Skate Big Air competition. The massive drop/ramp dwarfed everything around it. Legendary skater Bob Burnquist was one of the competitors alongside Rony Gomes, Edgard Pereira, 13-year-old Trey Wood, and 14-year-old Tom Schaar. Placing in second, Burnquist celebrated with Tom Schaar as he took the gold that evening. Events started earlier on Saturday, and the heat felt like 100 degrees all day. We hit the Skate Park finals as Pedro Barros, Grant Taylor, and Aaron Homoki won the medals for that competition. We took a break from the heat and hydrated before we headed over to the Moto X Speed & Style final. After watching some high flying Moto X skills, Lizzy B and I took another break from the unbearable heat and sun. Only other photographers can sympathize with how it feels to carry gear in brutal, 95 degree Texas heat all day. As Lizzy B and I separated to make a food run, things took a sudden turn. Apparently, after some security breach and demands from the music headliner Kanye West, many of the areas press and others had access to were closed, pretty much creating chaos and confusion in many parts of the park. At this point, as I tried to make it back to Lizzy, I wasn't able to do so as security told me I was no longer allowed in an area where I had been a few minutes prior. After a few hours of confusion and many people at the stadium not knowing what was really going on, things began to clear up. By this point, music acts Mac Miller and Kanye West were gearing up to come on. Both Mac and Kanye rocked the stage, playing good sets that made the Games crowd happy. After an exhausting day, we called it in halfway through Kanye's set as getting some rest for Sunday became a priority. Sunday was a whole different tune compared to Saturday. The day was overcast with a breeze as we headed straight to the BMX Park final competition. With great runs from Daniel Sandoval and Drew Bezanson, local Austinite Chase Hawk took the gold with a great run on the course. One of the events many people were excited for was the new Stadium SUPER Trucks Finals. 19-year-old Apdaly Lopez from Mexico took the gold as he held the lead the majority of this race. With a few crashes and one that stopped the race for more than 20 minutes, the Stadium SUPER Trucks quickly became a fan favorite. Due to some strong winds, a couple Moto X competitions and demos were canceled; instead the COTA crowd made their way to the Street Skate finals. With a huge crowd looking on, Nyjah Huston, Luan Oliveira, Alec Majerus, Ryan Sheckler, Chaz Ortiz, and more skated for the gold. Huston ended up being triumphant, taking the gold in the last competition of the Games. Looking back on the weekend, X Games Austin was great. Despite a few bumps in the road, it was an amazing experience, and I was happy to be able to shoot some photos of some amazing athletes. Check out the full results of all the competitions here and a ton of my photos below. Also, check out the RH Instagram for videos and more photo coverage from the weekend.
[RH Photos] Deltron 3030 at Emo's in Austin, TX (3/27/14)
Photography by Virgil Solis
Last Thursday, super hip hop group Deltron 3030 hit a packed Emo's in Austin. Kid Koala fit in as the opening act along with playing with the group, also playing during a small intermission. I was somewhat familiar with some of Kid Koala's work (mostly the Deltron 3030 stuff), but I was really impressed by his work ethic that night. The guy pretty much played the whole show. As with any Deltron 3030, show the crowd was packed with fans who knew every song from their catalog. I hadn't seen Del perform in over five years, and he did not disappoint. Del is what I would consider a real rap professional. Dude has been putting out music and performing for over 20 years. The super cool Dan The Automator also did not miss a step with playing a few instruments and beat pads. Dan kept his cool the first half of the show, walking back and forth on stage until he finally cracked a smile and showed his excitement, returning the energy back to the crowd. If you haven't seen Deltron perform, I suggest you do so next time they are in you town. Until then, check out some of my photos from the show 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.
[RH Photos] Disclosure and Vic Mensa in Austin (1/31/14)
Last Friday, the UK producer/DJ duo Disclosure took over Stubbs' outside venue to a a sold-out crowd. You couldn't ask for a better night for an outside concert. As soon as I walked in, Samo Sound Boy was already halfway trough his set, getting the crowd ready for SaveMoney's Vic Mensa. The rapper joined Disclosure on a handful of tour dates, with Austin being his last stop of the tour. Producer/DJ Stefan Ponce kept the crowd going before Vic stormed the stage, performing a set filled with songs from his latest project, INNANETAPE. Fans in the front row sang back lyrics to Vic as he moved around the whole stage. A short break to get things ready for Disclosure to hit the stage. ONce they did the crowd went wild. The duo went through many of their more popular songs from their last critically-acclaimed project, Settle. Austin loved Disclosure and did not want them to stop playing. Below are some shots I took of the show.
[RH Interview] ShowYouSuck is ready for all of the (neon-colored) lights
Photography by Virgil Solis
Following an endorsement from Red Bull Sound Select, a spot on the Sound Select's SXSW show, his mixtape trilogy coming to an end, and Dude Bro's release this week, the best way to summarize 2013 for the artist formerly known as the One Man Pizza Party is that he simply leveled up. With all of the pizza eaten and the boxes thrown out, ShowYouSuck is ready to put the slice back in the box and step into the neon-colored light.
Dude Bro isn't just another EP, it isn't just "the first official release following One Man Pizza Party," Dude Bro isn't even just a new beginning for ShowYouSuck. In fact, it's all of this, and more - a full frontal assault that doesn't just embody ShowYouSuck's music, but his entire existence. There was never really a boundary that separated "Clinton Sandifer" from "ShowYouSuck." Dude Bro, however, is the first step towards the delineation between the two. How and in what ways this will transpire is just as interesting as the new musical direction ShowYouSuck is following.
Read on as ShowYouSuck and I talk about the making of Dude Bro, what the EP represents for the rapper's future, and how specific clothing will define him. Make sure you also purchase Dude Bro on iTunes!