MY DARKEST DAYS FINAL SHOW WITH HINDER IN INDIANAPOLIS
February 22, 2011 Indianapolis, IN – The snow had melted in recent days, but the temperature had dropped back down to a brisk 25 degrees. It was nothing compared to the single digit temperatures we had been living in for much of the winter, so I wasn’t complaining.
I pulled into my pre-paid parking spot at the Old National Theatre and scoped out the scene. I did a quick check of my camera bag before stepping out of my car into the wind. I can never predict how the events will unfold once I set foot in a venue, so I always try to be prepared. Just a few months ago I had photographed Maroon 5 in the Murat Theater at this very venue. Tonight was Hinder, Saving Abel, My Darkest Days and Kopek in the ballroom-style Egyptian room upstairs, so it would likely be a completely different experience. I had no idea how true those words would ring.
Reid Henry, touring keyboardist for My Darkest Days, was outside the stage door. We saw each other at about the same time and I was greeted with my first welcoming hug of the evening. As we were talking, the very man I was seeking out, Hinder’s tour manager, walked up. He shook my hand and we all went into the venue where I was tagged with a wristband and set free into the hidden depths of the Old National.
I was greeted by bassist Brendan McMillan and guitarist Sal Coz Costa as I walked down the hallway, still tucked into my black wool coat and knit gloves. They pointed me in the direction of their dressing room, where I found drummer Doug Oliver, tour manager Joey and merchandise sales manager Jeff (aka Bill). I was unpacking my gear when singer Matt Walst came in from the bus. It was a bit of a tight squeeze once all of us were in the room, but in a cozy kind of way.
An under-the-weather Sal curled up on the comfy leather sofa with his Betty Boop pillow. Doug began making a fuss about how Betty Boop has an ugly head and an argument ensued about the attractiveness of this cartoon icon. I made the mistake of making the point that if you are going to have a crush on a cartoon hotty, it has to be Jessica Rabbit. At which point Doug launched into a tirade about how he was going to ask fans for Jessica Rabbit stuff and start his own empire. He posted this on his Facebook page and in seconds, I saw the screen blow up from fans responding, mostly in favor, some not. Whether or not this war will continue, time will tell.
We were all in the midst of our various preparation rituals when hunger demanded some attention. In a risky move on my part, I left my camera equipment under the occasionally watchful eye of Joey and went to Subway with Matt, Doug and Bill. It was a short walk and about 20 minutes later, sandwiches, soups and sodas in hand, we headed back to the venue. A group of fans was passing us in the opposite direction and I felt myself subconsciously shrink farther into my hoodie and my shoulders hunch up, as did my dinner mates. Getting out of the cold and eating dinner was the priority at that moment. Doug, who had trailed behind us, stopped to take pictures with the fans.
Back in the dressing room, the pre-show rituals continued at their normal pace, with a little bit of worry thrown in. This was My Darkest Days’ last night on the tour and they knew a prank was in store. The gossip of the evening was what Hinder would do to them on stage. Rumor had it that a $1000 budget had been set aside for the prank. A friend to the band, Brooke, mentioned that there was a Chippendale’s club down the street. So naturally one of the possible pranks was male strippers. While I was sitting on the couch with Sal, Joe “Blower” Garvey and Mike Rodden of Hinder stuck their heads in the room. They didn’t say anything. They just looked around with evil smirks and then left. This brought the level of prank trepidation to a new level.
My Darkest Days had become friends with opening band Kopek, an excellent rock band from Ireland. Much discussion took place over how they could prank Kopek, but in the end it came down to simply delivering shots of Jägermeister to them during their set. Guitar tech Murphy poured out the drinks up by the stage and we all trekked up the stairs to surprise the band, me with video camera in hand. Kopek’s response? “That’s the first time they’ve bought us a drink on the whole tour!”
As the band finished up their final preparations and I heard Kopek’s set end, I strapped myself into all of my gear and fielded some questions from Sal and Brendan about my camera lenses. Then I wished them luck and headed out to the Egyptian Room.
As usual, My Darkest Days put on a great show. They opened with Save Me and the older song Stutter. This was my eighth time shooting the band and as a result, we work well together. They play to my camera a bit. Brendan keeps an eye on me in the hopes that I can capture his epic jumps. I generally know what they are going to do, when they are going to do it and what they are going to look like. It’s a precious advantage that helps me create great images from their music.
I spent the first two songs shooting from the front of the stage. I had the option of doing some photography from the side of the stage, plus there was the promise of pranks to be caught. So at the start of the third song, Every Lie, I took off across the venue to get back around to the side of the stage before I could miss anything. I waited until the lights went down between songs and then ducked around the curtain over to the pocket of space that exists between guitar vaults.
I started recording video at the beginning of their new single Move Your Body, which opens live with Sal shredding out a solo. As soon as he started playing, Blower and Cody Hanson from Hinder came out, picked up one of the My Darkest Days scrims and held it in front of Sal while the crowd went nuts. Even when Sal tried to escape by backing up, they followed him with it and eventually left it blocking Doug on drums before leaving the stage. Meanwhile, Matt was delivering shots to his band mates.
I went back to standard photographing during their cover of Duran Duran’s Come Undone. Sal was convinced that the pranks weren’t over and kept nervously glancing over to where the guys from Hinder and their crew were gathered at the side of the stage. When they started Fucked Up Situation, I picked up my video camera again. Halfway through the song, Sal’s fears became reality as they were joined on stage by three male strippers wearing t-shirts that read “My Darkest Gays.” For the remainder of the song, the strippers danced up on the guys but removed no clothing.
At the end of the song, Sal commented on how that was indeed a fucked up situation and that he assumed the dancers would stay through their last song, the huge hit Porn Star Dancing. I continued recording and that is when the clothes started coming off. First the shirts hit the floor and eventually the pants joined suit, so what remained on stage were five scared rock stars and three men in boxer briefs. Matt occasionally ran across the stage to escape and even tried to hide with Doug, but was eventually joined by one of the well-built half-naked fellows. The highlight of the evening came when one of the dancers climbed up on to Hinder’s drum riser and proceeded to dance over Doug’s head with his bare ass hanging out, much to Doug’s horror.
The prank was a huge hit with everyone, except perhaps My Darkest Days, although they bore it with good humor. I was laughing so hard I could barely record it. At the end of the song, Matt sprinted off stage, eventually followed by the rest of the band and me with my camera still rolling. As we walked down the stairs, Brendan clapped a hand on Blower’s shoulder and pronounced, “Well, good job.” The final bit you can hear on my video is Matt saying, “You couldn’t have gotten us girl strippers, huh? No, of course not!”
Once back in the safety of their dressing room, they had a good laugh about it and then made their way out to the merch booth to meet fans. I started flipping through my photos and Santos, lighting designer, dumped his video footage onto his computer for immediate watching from his viewpoint at front of house.
As it was their last night on the tour, the band was headed back home to Ontario that night. They began packing up as we could hear Saving Abel start their set. I eventually gathered up my camera equipment again and said goodbye to all of these wonderful guys, since they would likely be gone by the time I finished photographing Hinder. They were generous with me in hugs and thank yous, happy with the assurance that I would be seeing them again soon, during my coverage of their upcoming spring tour with Three Days Grace.
And with that, I left them. I had an excellent time photographing Hinder. They are one of my favorite bands to shoot, as the images are always dynamic. I was able to photograph them from the photo pit and side of stage as well. After I felt that I had plenty of material to work with, I made my way back down to the nearly empty dressing room to collect my things. I had a nice chat with Joey, Murphy and Brooke about the general state of the music and touring business, specifically with respect to the rock genre and then made my way to my car.
Whenever I go to a shoot, I always have an idea in my head of how I would like things to go. In general, my main wish is just for everything to go smoothly with no problems. That night in Indianapolis at the Old National Theatre was above and beyond smooth, and I am very grateful to have been welcomed by the fantastic members and crew of My Darkest Days.
Category: Photo Updates, Reviews
