Well, it’s been two weeks now since M3, but I thought I’d put in my two-cents anyway.  This year had a strange start.  I decided to get a pavilion ticket this year, in case I couldn’t photograph, because I just had a feeling.  About three weeks before the show, I started contacting the press office.  Two websites were interested in having some photos, besides my own, plus there was a possibility that a print magazine would use some.  I heard absolutely nothing from them.  A journalist friend of mine, coming from Australia for the show, was having the same problem.  Finally, about a week before the event, one of the bands put in a request for me, which usually is enough to get me in, so I emailed the press office for a confirmation.  Nothing, until the day before the show when I get an email asking what it was I was looking for - photo or media pass.  This blew me away, since I had emailed them four separate times prior to this.  When I responded that I was looking for a photo pass, I got a reply that it was pretty tight, but they would email me later that night.  Nothing, and nothing the next day, and no one could even be reached by phone.  Well, I had packed my camera, but hit the road expecting that I would be seeing this one as just a fan.

After arriving in MD on Friday afternoon, I met up with my friends, got settled in the room and had a bite to eat before the night’s show.  We walked over to the venue, (I left my camera back in the room).  Steve, the journalist, and I decided to check at the press booth before going in (he still hadn’t heard anything either) and to our surprise, they had our respective passes.  Easy enough for Steve, but now I had to walk back to the hotel to get my camera.  Thanks, Merriweather, for that profound lack of coordination.  But at least I got some good exercise out of it. 

I missed the first act, but made it in time for Jetboy.  They are a band that I don’t know well, but I enjoyed what I heard.  Next up was LA Guns.  Now, we had the typical three songs for each band this night, and there was just the one stage, so it was an easy night of shooting.  Sometimes, I get in such a zone when I’m shooting, that I’m barely aware of what song the band is doing.  That was true tonight, so I can’t talk about playlists and such, but one thing I did notice was the totally creepy coat that Phil Lewis was wearing.  It was a long leather coat, with a huge spider painted on the back, large plastic ants “crawling” up each side of the coat in the front, big plastic spiders on his shoulders, and rubber rats hanging off the back.  Kinda gave me the heebie jeebies!  Scott Griffin was back with the band, and his look kinda had an ’80’s pop feel.  He almost reminded me of Ben Orr of The Cars, which is really weird, since you can’t even compare The Cars to LA Guns.  Stacey Blades looked like his old self, and tore it up on guitar as always.  After my three songs, I headed up to the lawn to watch the rest.  Just didn’t want to have to pack up my camera, plus the fresh air felt good.  The rest of the set was fantastic.  The more I see LA Guns, the more I like them.  They are a solid live band. 

It was a humid evening, but cool, and the rain held off, thankfully.  Warrant was up next.  They were never one of my favorite bands growing up, but I do like some of the songs, and they put on a solid performance as well.  Robert Mason  is no Jani Lane, but I thought he fit in well and put on a great performance.  Kix was the headliner of the night, and I was glad to see that.  The hometown boys may not have been one of the biggest bands back in the day, but they are certainly one of the best live bands around.  Steve Whiteman is a superb frontman, and can tell a good story, too.  And I just love watching Ronnie Younkins play.  After the show, we walked back to Clyde’s for a snack and a drink.  The guys from LA Guns were there, hanging out with their fans, which earns them points in my book. 

Saturday morning came much too soon.  As I was waiting for my friends to get up and moving, I hung out in the lobby watching people.  Slaughter rolled in, and I went to say ‘Hi.”  The guys have always been very kind to me.  We spoke to an elderly lady who was there for the wedding of some relative.  Flashback to last year’s show and the tragic jello-shot incident with the Bride!  Fortunately, that didn’t happen again.

We headed over to the venue, and I knew this was going to be a long and painful day.  The bands on the two stages usually overlapped considerably, so there was really no time to enjoy much of the music.  In some cases, I had just enough time to shoot two songs and hike over to the other stage in time to catch the first two of that band.  Add to that the steadily increasing rain, and the day was rather uncomfortable.  Fortunately, the temperature stayed down, and that was a blessing.  Given the conditions, I was lucky that I only missed one band - Danger Danger.  So, I’ll try to comment on the bands I did see.

Modern Superstar sounded good, and I wish I had time to see more of them.  Korrupt was not really my style, but they played the Iron Maiden classic “Number of the Beast” which I thought was cool.  Firehouse is another solid band.  CJ still has the pipes to belt out their hits, and Bill Leverty is an awesome, if underrated guitarist.  Slaughter is always one of my favorites, but I’m biased.  Mark is still having issues with his voice, and that’s something I hope he addresses soon before he causes permanent damage.  If you have never seen Zoltan on the drums, you need to!  He is a madman and the most entertaining drummer I have ever seen.  Big Noize, Black ‘N Blue and Hurtsmile are all kind of a blur, since those sets were so closely packed.  I was looking forward to Pretty Boy Floyd, and they undoubtedly put on one of the best shows that day.  I was sorry to have to leave that one.  Faster Pussycat is another band that I enjoy, and they didn’t disappoint either.  Great White sounded wonderful with Terry Ilous on vocals.  We all miss Jack Russell and his amazing voice, but Terry is doing a good job filling in.  I don’t remember much about Mr. Big except thinking that Billy Sheehan is truly the best bass player on the planet.  And I have never seen anyone play guitar with a drill, as Paul Gilbert did.  Lita Ford decided to use all red lights, which made it  almost impossible to get a good photo of her.  One day, I’ll go thru those and see if I can edit them enough to be useable.  Sebastian Bach is another one that still has the pipes.  He sounded great, and I wish I could have seen more of that set.  He kept the photographers on their toes by occasionally swinging the mic over their heads.  Tesla is another band that I love live, and was sorry to miss most of.  Whitesnake - well, I was really looking forward to seeing them.  To me David Coverdale sounded pretty good given that he recently had surgery on the vocal chords, but some will disagree.  I considered heading to my seat after shooting, but the rain was getting harder, and I was exhausted and in pain.    My recent shoulder injury didn’t bother me as bad as I had feared after such a long day, but it wasn’t fun either. 

So, my final thought.... I still love these festivals - seeing so many bands in one place - but by overlapping their sets so much, they force the fans to choose who they want to see.  Personally, I paid to see all of them, so I want to see all of them.  If there isn’t  enough time for every set without overlap, then don’t have so many bands, or at least make it a longer festival.  It also makes it harder for the photographers and journalists, who may also have to choose between doing this shoot, or interviewing that artist and catching some of the show.  Then there is the issue of VIPs.  A lot of people paid a lot of money for VIP status.  Some did it just to get a better seat.  Others actually wanted the VIP experience - getting to meet some of their rock ‘n roll heros.  Not only were the VIPs forced to choose between seeing one band perform and meeting another, but those who chose the meet-and-greet had to wait in long lines with the chance that they would cut the session short before everyone in line had a chance.  VIP should mean something.

As for the photographic experience, things were actually being run very smoothly.  After the fiasco with the press office, this was a pleasant surprise and much appreciated.  But I have to comment on a couple of things that bugged me.  First, to the guy bragging that his point-and-shoot camera was just as good as any professional camera and that it has gotten him published many times - I don’t judge based on people’s cameras.  I’ve gotten good shots with a point-and-shoot, too.  But I do judge people based on their behavior and holding your camera above your head the entire time, blocking other’s shots, just isn’t professional.  To the girl dressed in the tight skirt and heels that she could barely walk in, dragging a huge, rolling camera case and carrying a briefcase and giant purse - really?  You were getting in everyone’s way with all that gear that you probably didn’t need, and you were slowing everyone down because you couldn’t walk.  Next time, you may want to bring only what you really need and wear something that will allow you to move a little more freely.  Just sayin’.

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