Conan and Weedeater at The Kings Arms
July 13, 2016 - The Kings Arms, Auckland, New Zealand.
When it comes to metal, the doom genre has long been one of my favorites - altho for the longest time I focused mostly on the classic doom styles of Candlemass, Solitude Aeturnus and the like - it's only in the past few years I've begun the explore further into Stoner Doom and related side genres of sludge, funeral doom and more.
Conan were one of those discoveries, heavy as *#&(*$#, full of (mostly) slow, thunderous, plodding melancholy - they were also one such band I never thought I'd have the pleasure of seeing live - and what's more - I get to photograph them alongside headliners Weedeater. Unfortunately for me, limited stage lighting ( at the bands behest ) meant for awesome mood lighting, but a daunting challenge for shooting photography - but who's going to run from a challenge? Not I!
Weedeater was a different story, after managing to convince the crew to throw up some additional lighting we were all up for some visual delights. I'd never seen any live photos, or read any live reviews of the band so wasn't sure what to expect - but whatever I thought, I did not expect the insane display of stick tricks from drummer Travis Owen - who, on more than one occasionally literally kicked his cymbals rather than use sticks.
Whilst guitarist Dave Shepherd was relatively restrained for the evening - the show was equally stolen between Travis Owen and Bassist/Vocalist Dave Collins - there's not much I can really say about the show - it really has to been seen to be believed, or felt - the one thing I can surely attest to were several moments of fear where I thought the amps were surely ready to explode - with feedback rising above the dirge of distortion and dripping fat and loose bass strings and hitting me right in the gut.
Here's hoping the photos below give you all a sense of the show - and check them out as they hit Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, and finally Perth.
