Lancaster Photography | Walnut Creek Wedding and Event Photographer. San Francisco Bay Area.: shoreline

Monday, July 11, 2011

Rockstar Mayhem Festival - Mountain View (Shoreline)

Relatively last-minute, I was granted press access to the Rockstar Mayhem Festival at Shoreline in Mountain View, CA. Similarly to Warped Tour, I only really cared about one particular act: Megadeth.

If you've known me for a while, you know that I have a soft spot for some good, heavy, melodic metal. I learned to play guitar when I was 12, and a big part of my education came from sitting down and playing along with Megadeth's Countdown to Extinction in my bedroom for hours on end. We even jammed some of those tracks in our band rehearsals.

So, although I've largely moved on to different musical preferences, Megadeth has and will always hold a special place in my heart... and I was thrilled to finally get to snap photos of them.

Not only was I in the pit, staring at Dave Mustaine and Chris Broderick shred away on the guitar from 7 feet away, but I also had access to the press area backstage. I found myself sitting at a table by Megadeth guitarist Chris Broderick and his family, with bassist David Ellefson pacing back and forth next to me on the phone, Sully (from Godsmack) about 12 feet to my left doing an interview with radio station The Bone, the guys from Testament eating dinner, and David Draiman of the band Disturbed coming in and out of the area. It was interesting.

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To get my bearings and learn the press process (each venue is different in policy), I decided to shoot Machinehead as well. As always, here are some of my favorite shots:

Dave Mustaine of Megadeth performs at the Rockstar Mayhem Festival in Mountain View

Chris Broderick of Megadeth performs at the Rockstar Mayhem Festival in Mountain View

Dave Mustaine of Megadeth performs at the Rockstar Mayhem Festival in Mountain View

David Ellefson of Megadeth performs at the Rockstar Mayhem Festival in Mountain View

Dave Mustaine of Megadeth performs at the Rockstar Mayhem Festival in Mountain View

Machinehead performs at the Rockstar Mayhem Festival in Mountain View

Monday, July 4, 2011

Vans Warped Tour 2011 - Shoreline (Mountain View)

For the San Francisco area leg of Warped Tour this year, we at theFIVE10 Radio headed out to Shoreline in Mountain View to cover the event. I was joined by my SF Weekly lens-wielding pal Jen Cash as we jumped in and out of the pits all day long, leaving our host JC and web-ninja Long backstage to talk with the bands all day.

Was hot, but a lot of fun. I'd have to say my highlight was finally getting to hang with Fred Mascherino of the band Terrible Things (formerly of Taking Back Sunday), as we have similar friends and acquaintances.

Black Veil Brides sure put on an entertaining set, as did 3OH!3. JC managed to sit and interview a number of groups on our show, including: Simple Plan, hellogoodbye, Sharks, Passafire, MC Lars, and Less Than Jake.

Here are some photos from the day!