2011: I met a lot of interesting people and made a lot of amazing friends along the way.

I’ve been waiting to post this entry for several weeks now. I wanted to have it up during the final weeks of 2011, however a hectic holiday weekend and an extended trip to Japan meant that it was on hold until now. I may be a few weeks late, but since we are still in the phase trying to gracefully scribble a 2 over the 1, it may mean that I’m right on time.

Where can I start? 2011 seemingly breezed by. Going through all of my images from the past year, work, personal and otherwise, I noticed a definite trend. 2011 was the year of the music. Whether that is an isolated anomaly or the beginnings of a journey, who knows? I’m hoping for the latter and I think I may be right.

When I wasn’t hard at work with my own musical endeavors, I seemed to find myself photographing indie bands (i.e.: local hero’s Wild Moccasins and Buxton), hip-hop groups and rap artists (i.e.: Trae Tha Truth, Lupe Fiasco, Mystikal, Z-Ro, The Niceguys, et al). I also found myself branching out more with my editing style. I am experimenting more and it feels good. Since my passion was in design before I even picked up a camera, the occasional creative departure was a welcomed reprieve from the usual and the work I did in 2011 lent itself to that.

2011: I pushed the boundaries of my creativity a bit further and did things my own way.

I met so many amazing and interesting people in 2011. I’m excited to continue my friendships and working relationships with many of them into 2012 and beyond.

This post should really be titled “Favorite Images of 2011″ since my 100 compiled images from the past year are not necessarily my “best” photographs, but rather 100 of my favorites. As always there are several polaroids and a nice chunk of medium format film images, from an on-going personal project on hip-hop.

2011: I discovered that the 6x6 format was made for my style. Look for more of this in 2012. Rest in Peace, Clip.

I have provided two ways to browse my favorite images from last year. Traditionally the first method is an automatic slideshow set to a musical track. This year I chose Trae’s “I’m On” single featuring Lupe Fiasco, Wiz Khalifa, Wale, MDMA, and Big Boi. The song samples “Return of the Mack” by Marc Morrison, which was a favorite jam of mine from the 90′s. The track (which may or may not contain a few objectionable lyrics) is also special to me because I worked on the official video with friend and all-star music video director, “Philly Fly Boy”. I got the opportunity to work with Philly several times this year and had a blast. The video for “I’m On”, featuring my own footage, debuted a few weeks ago while I was in Japan and is currently in regular rotation on MTV. It was the MTV Jam of the Week and was played twice an hour for a week straight, which helped me kick off 2012 with a huge grin across my face.

The second method is the usual Photoshelter slideshow. So whether you want to just hit play and jam out to my favorites or silently click-through at your own leisure, the choice is there. Remember, it’s always a better experience when you click the “full-size” control to the bottom right of each module. As always the images appear in chronological order. If you have an extra minute or two check out my “Best Of” posts from 2009 and 2010.

If you wan’t to check out the video for “I’m On” click here: Trae Tha Truth – “I’m On” FT Wiz Khalifa, Lupe Fiasco, Big Boi, Wale & MDMA

Here’s to an amazing 2012!

Stay tuned for a post with TONS of images from my Japan trip, coming soon.

BEST OF 2011 – Images by Todd Spoth

Movement of Kingz Entertainment recording artist, C-Sharp.

About a month ago I had the pleasure of working with a fun group of artists from the Movement of Kingz Entertainment group. Movement of Kingz is a fairly new outfit of R&B and hip-hop artists based out of Houston. Their main goal was to create a set of interesting portraits of 4 of their members for promotional use on their upcoming website as well as other promotional pieces.

Since I have been shooting a lot of portraits of hip-hop and rap artists lately, I decided to turn to my favorite source of inspiration for this type of work, RESPECT magazine. I was fortunate to pick up the premiere issue of RESPECT, the quarterly “photo journal of hip-hop culture”, about 2 years ago and have been glued to its pages ever since. The premiere issue itself, which features the works of photographers like Ben Watts, Barron Claiborne, and Clay Patrick McBride, is something that is constantly pulled out prior to shoots like these. You don’t even have to listen, like, or shoot music or musicians to appreciate the work within its pages. Check it out here: http://respect-mag.com

Snapshot of my desk featuring 2 issues of RESPECT magazine taken with the new iPhone 4s.

The shoot was booked at Houston Skyline Studio in the warehouse district of Houston. It’s a decently sized and moderately priced rental studio with a small cyc corner and a few other setups available for use. There was plenty of cold A/C, a sound system for playing music (a definite plus for working with portrait subjects) and a nice ramp that allowed us to pull the car right into the studio to unload.

The client wanted basic portraits on white of each member in a few different looks. After that, he gave me the artistic license to be creative and go from there. We started with the basic setup on white, and although the cyc corner was a bit small, we made it work and knocked out several looks for each artist.

After those were out of the way, we switched up the lighting and went for a more harsh look with one simple gridded light that created some deep shadows. With two looks accomplished, we were done with the white cyc corner and moved on to the black background. We were able to knock out several different looks on the simple black background including one where we utilized simply the modeling lights of the flash systems to be able to maintain a shallow depth of field. One of my favorite of the artists, C-Sharp, decided to smoke several times during the shoot which added another layer of interest and complexity to the images.

For the final setups we took advantage of two different textures that the studio space provided, the first being a corrugated steal wall and the second being the bare wood of the structure of the studio itself.

One of the biggest challenges when it comes to studio photography is space and the lack thereof in most cases. Having a space large enough to accompany several different backgrounds and/or sets that are all accessible without breaking down one to get to the other saves tons of time for the photographer and the client. In this case the entire team was fortunate to be working in a space that provided a multitude of different sets without having to do much work, which resulted in me being able to provide the client with the images they were expecting and then some within a limited amount of studio time.

I am very fortunate to be working with clients that hire me because they trust my creative vision and ultimately give me a lot of creative license to do what I feel represents the artists best. With that in mind, after I provided the simple looks on white that the client originally had in mind, I allowed myself to be a little more creative in the editing process of the remaining images and I am pleased with the results.

On the day of the shoot, my good (and very talented) friend, Anthony Oyedeji, of Vicious Films, was on hand producing a behind the scenes spot for the Movement of Kingz camp. The result of his efforts is below. Check it out to see me and the rest of the Movement of Kingz crew in action! Be sure to scroll to the bottom of the page to check out a few edited selects from the shoot.

And now the edited selects from the shoot.

MOVEMENT OF KINGZ (SEPT 2011) – Images by Todd Spoth

Rapper, Lil B, performs live at the Fader Fort during SXSW 2011.

As I mentioned in my post last week, the past month or so has been crazy. A lot of actual shooting has given way to a lot of time editing and while I still have a ways to go to catch up (do we ever really catch up?) I wanted to pause for a second to reflect on one of my favorite events of the year, the annual South by Southwest festival.

SXSW, held in Austin, Texas, is a now-massive multi-week festival held in early to mid March every year that covers everything from interactive design to film and music. There are tons of amazing things that happen throughout the entire festival, but the majority of the time I focus my efforts on the music portion. I really want to check out the interactive and film portions, but oftentimes scheduling prevents it. Even if just for the music, I have attended the festival for years and will continue to as long as I am able. Every year I have an absolute blast, whether I am attending as a fan or photographing musicians or live shows for a client. For those new to my blog, I have written a SXSW follow up post for the back three years, check those out if you’d like. Each year I walk away with the feeling that I really didn’t photograph much, or at least as much as I had hoped, and every year I surprise myself with a few good frames from the trip.

SXSW 2008
SXSW 2009
SXSW 2010

Every year brings a new twist to the usual flavor, but I have to say, this year stood out more than the previous. Several friends and colleagues in the newspaper photojournalism world made their first trips to the festival, including Gerry McCarthy of the Dallas Morning News and Christian Murdock of the Colorado Springs Gazette. Since schedules were hectic and since the festival (unlike any other festival) spreads itself across all of the City of Austin, I sadly did not get to meet up with either of these guys, but click on their names above to check out their respective works from the festival.

I should also note that good friends and colleagues Ariel Zambelich and Zoneil Maharaj, both from the Bay Area, who I conquered the festival with during the past two years, were MIA this year. Hopefully they will both make it back out next year. They were missed.

The biggest difference this year was the fact that I would be participating (for the first time) as a musician. Usually my routine, weeks prior to the festival, includes securing credentials, researching official and unofficial showcases, scheduling and doing a good bit of research, however the week’s leading up to this year’s festival were packed with rehearsals and playing shows with my band, Square and Compass. We played several shows prior to leaving for SXSW, so by the time I arrived in Austin, I had barely even looked at the lineup for this year.

Three images taken with the iPhone4 and processed with the Instagram app during SXSW 2011. Notice the theme?

My thought driving into Austin was that since I was not officially credentialed (this doesn’t mean much as you can still have a GREAT time without a media credential or a general admittance badge) nor was I on assignment, that I would simply go with the flow, have no expectations and have a good time…off the clock. I think as photographers, especially freelance photographers such as myself, we  (or at least I) find it hard to put down the camera and just enjoy the moment. I believe this is both a gift and a curse. On one had I would love to not have to lug heavy gear around all the time and be free to just watch and enjoy, however on the other hand, this is what I do, and work or no work, making images is my passion, so as long as I have two arms and two eyes I will have a camera up to my face, making these images, which is why, even in years where I am not on assignment to photograph the festival, there are still images made. Even if my intention was to not shoot, there are still pictures. When I get home, weeks later, and go through the images, reliving the moments that unfolded in front of me, I am happy that I took my camera out and this year was no exception.

Although this year’s SXSW excursion was somewhat truncated, I still managed to see and photograph a handful of acts.

When we arrived in Austin during the day, Friday, March 18th, we immediately made a B-line to the annual Flatstock poster art convention that is held in conjunction with SXSW. I am constantly inspired by poster art and make it a point, every year, to stop by the convention center to browse, be inspired and spend money on posters. The rest of the day and night Friday were spent just walking around the area and hanging out. Usually I am running around like a madman, shooting, running to the next venue, shooting, breathing, running, etc, but this go-round I had no expectations. That is, until I saw that the Australian electro-pop group, Miami Horror was playing a showcase that night. Miami Horror, French Horn Rebellion and a deluge of awesome electro acts were playing a showcase at ND Studios. I have been a fan of Miami Horror for a few years now and sadly missed them during SXSW 2009, so when I saw the show was a possibility, I went for it and was glad I did.

There were several things that I was interested in catching on Saturday during the day, however, since my own band’s showcase started in the late afternoon/early evening, I didn’t have time to see anything prior to our show. This only meant that we got to sleep in, leisurely lunch on the amazing food Austin has to offer and relax until we performed. Our showcase went off without a hitch. There was a good crowd and we had a great time playing. Austin is the live music capitol of the world, so it’s not surprising to say that our best shows (in my opinion) have been in Austin.

After our showcase I changed, and headed straight for the Fader Fort for the Saturday night showcase. Last year I did the same thing and was able to enjoy and photograph both Bone Thugs N Harmony and Sleigh Bells, so this year had a lot to live up to. Thanks to acquiring the proper wristbands the day before, I was able to avoid any lines, and headed straight into the tent right before rapper Lil B was set to take the stage. I made my way to the front of the stage and in a similar fashion to year’s prior, was smashed up against a ton of other “photographers” trying to photograph one person. I was armed only with my trusty 35mm 1.4L lens and a limited amount of memory cards, but I made it happen. I had never heard Lil B prior to his set. I must say it takes some getting used to, but at least he was interesting to photograph. I love photographing live music and it makes it that much easier when the venue, stage, and lighting are top-notch as they were here. There is only so much you can do when you are photographing one person with one lens and cannot move, but I think despite the setbacks I made a few interesting frames. Lil B was very animated throughout the set, but for most of the set was wearing a ball cap and sunglasses, so the frames of him without the accessories, especially the few playful ones of him smiling and being lighthearted, I thought were special. There is even a frame of him standing next to me, with a bra in mid-flight, next to his head. He doesn’t seem to notice.

After Lil B’s lengthy set, something happened that was only a mere rumor prior to the show. Sean “P-Diddy” Combs, of Bad Boy fame, hip-hop and entertainment mogul, came on stage much to the audience’s surprise and performed a few of his hits including “Mo Money, Mo Problems” and “All About Tha Benjamins”. As a fan of 90′s rap and RNB, it was definitely exciting to witness and photograph the moment. As photographers, especially for live music, we are there as working photographers, not fans, but it seemed like all of that was thrown out the window during Diddy’s set. It was the last few songs of SXSW at the Fader Fort and it seemed like the photographers, security and other personnel were all actively having a good time. So if you can’t beat em, join em. I then started singing along to the songs while photographing Diddy. Apparently he realized that I was the only one who actually knew the entire verses to the songs so before I could react he was reaching down to shake my hand during one of the songs.

Not soon after Diddy wow’d the crowd with his surprise performance did the entire Odd Future crew take over the stage. These guys again, are a new/different breed of hip-hop that Diddy called, “the next generation of hip-hop”. They are definitely different and interesting to photograph with a lot of characters. I wish I had the chance to photograph their full set the day prior, but I fancied what little I saw and photographed.

After the excitement of the Fader Fort we called it a night, slept in the next morning and headed back home Sunday afternoon.

The Fader Fort website has videos of all of the sets previously mentioned on their website. Check out THIS ONE of P-Diddy and snoop around for the rest.

So like every year, SXSW was a blast and I can’t wait for next year. I might note that this was the first year I didn’t photograph ANY indie, punk, rock or hardcore acts. Everything I photographed and pretty much everything I saw was either of the electro, rap, or hip-hop variety. This year was also a total success in that I performed as a musician and not only did that go swimmingly, but I got props from P-Diddy less than an hour or two later.

Until next year, South By…

For now check out the images from this year, compare them to the images from the years prior and tell me which set you prefer. Also check out the videos at the bottom of this page if for some reason you are wondering what Miami Horror, Odd Future or Lil B sound like. NOTE: For those of you that work for “The Man”, the latter two videos might not be safe for work. If you don’t know what “Mo Money, Mo Problems” sounds like, then shame on you!

SXSW MUSIC FESTIVAL 2011 – Images by Todd Spoth

Miami Horror – “Sometimes”

Odd Future – “Yonkers”

Lil B – “Wonton Soup”

Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips performs during the 2010 Free Press Houston Summerfest in Houston, Texas.

Last weekend I photographed the 2010 Free Press Houston Summerfest at Eleanor Tinsley Park here in downtown Houston, Texas. Last year was the festival’s inaugural year and I remember feeling really excited and proud of my city for finally hosting a legit music festival as I watched Broken Social Scene, Of Montreal, Explosions in the Sky and others take the stage in the park just blocks from my place. I have been involved in the live music scene for years, whether playing or photographing and for most of that time our neighbors to the west in Austin have held the torch for the best live music scene, and even though that is still the case, the Free Press Houston Summerfest is a testament to just how much Houston can give Austin a run for its money.

This year’s festival was even bigger and better with a larger main stage, more sponsors, and bigger headliners. The festival (both this year’s and last) creatively blends a wide-range of musical genres from hip-hop and metal to indie and jazz. The main draws this year were Girl Talk, Slim Thug and Bun-B, and The Flaming Lips. For the punk/hardcore audience, Cro-Mags and Municipal Waste graced the side stage. In total there were over 70 bands, national and local.

Temperatures were sweltering on day 1, Saturday. I was able to walk to the venue with a small backpack to carry the camera essentials. There was a lot more activities and vendors compared to last year, but after a trip or two around the grounds I settled at the main stage to photograph RaRaRiot. For most of the first day I remained near the main stage photographing the handful of bands that would take the stage throughout the afternoon.

A crowd dances on stage during Girl Talk.

Popular mash-up artist Gregg Gillis aka Girl Talk headlined day 1. I had never seen him perform live, but was introduced to him and his jams back when I worked in Baltimore in 2008. I always knew his live shows were a party, but I was not ready for the craziness that ensued. Balloons, toilet paper, dirty dancing, and everything else seemed to be happening on and off stage during the lengthy set. Towards the finale of the set, Gregg leaped up onto the on-stage desk that held his only instruments; a laptop, a mouse and a mouse-pad, (complete with puppy dogs) held his hands in the air and in almost perfect synchronization, an elaborate fireworks display went off in the background. It was a perfect ending to the first of two long days of live music.

It wasn’t until I had already started walking through the gates of the festival when I looked up and saw some threatening clouds. As I leisurely made my way down the natural embankment to the main stage, raindrops started to fall on my head. Within a few minutes of my arrival, several other photographers, a few crew members and I were huddled underneath a tent backstage, watching as a torrential downpour threw a meteorological wrench into the plans of hundreds of fellow music lovers. Last year severe thunderstorms made a muddy mess of the festival grounds, but were thoughtful enough to cease just prior to the opening of the gates. This year mother nature had waited until the fans were settled into their hillside spots and onto their colorful blankets before she showed her teeth.

Festival-goers slide down a muddy hillside, during a rainy day 2.

I have to admit it. From under the (relative) safety of my tent, I had to give it to my fellow Houstonians. There was no mass exodus as the rains continued to come down. Of course there were several groups of spectators that called it a day or at least decided to wait it out elsewhere, but the majority of fans took it in stride. They held their spots on the muddy hillside and continued to enjoy the music. Some even decided dive in head first (literally) into a new event that had spawned as a result of the rains, sliding down the muddy hillside into a puddle of muddy rainwater that had gathered below. After watching a few minutes of this intriguing event from underneath my tent, I too decided to throw caution to the wind and not join them, but photograph them. In the process I think a few of my lenses and cameras paid the price, but some interesting images were made.

After a while the rain cleared and the show went on as planned. The rest of the day’s acts went off without a hitch, but like day 1, I was not prepared for the headliner.

The Flaming Lips were set to finish off the weekend of music. I had never seen them live, and although I knew a bit about their live performances, I admit I did not quite expect the sheer craziness that ensued. In a similar fashion to Girl Talk’s set the night before, there were streamers, balloons, confetti, costumed dancers, elaborate lighting, elaborate set design and of course frontman, Wayne Coyne’s signature bubble.

We were only given access to photograph the first song of the set, but after that song I moved back and enjoyed the rest of the set from the rear. As I watched the final songs of this year’s Summerfest I realized how many more people were in attendance compared to last year. I only hope that this festival sticks around, continues to grow (in the best way possible) and draws even larger crowds in years to come.

Check out the slideshow of images below and if you like what you see, please retweet!

SUMMERFEST (JUNE 2010) – Images by Todd Spoth

It’s almost been a week since I departed Houston for Austin and the live music mecca that is South by Southwest, yet it still feels like I’m recovering. It’s mostly the severe seasonal allergies, but the journey wore me out, like it does every year, but like every year, I had a blast and saw some awesome live music. A few days prior were spent in back in Houston with good friend and fellow photographer, Ariel Zambelich from the Bay Area. She took off for Austin Wednesday and I came up with some friends Thursday afternoon.

After getting our bearings upon arrival Thursday, we headed downtown and prepared to attend the Pure Volume House party that night which featured music from Travis McCoy of Gym Class Heroes fame, Rival Schools and Andrew WK. The show was free via RSVP and even though several members of our crew weren’t on the list, we had no trouble getting passes and getting in. In addition to the live music, Taco Bell was on site handing out endless free tacos and burritos and there was an open bar as well. The stage collapsed halfway during Travis McCoy’s DJ set which forced the show to move onto the floor, DIY-style. Rival Schools were amazing and Andrew WK was amazing as well. The show ended around 5:30am and was a great end to night 1.

Day 2 began with an impromptu portrait session with Ariel and her OhDangMag crew. Afterwards, we caught some jams from The Watson Twins at the Relix Magazine party and then headed over to the annual Shirts For a Cure day show at Red 7. Every year the foundation hosts a handful of awesome bands and this year was no different with sets from, The Riverboat Gamblers, Strike Anywhere, Rival Schools, Fucked Up, Recover, Circa Survive and 7 Seconds. It was great getting to see the guys in Strike Anywhere again. We shared several dates on a tour with those guys about 10 years ago and they are still going strong. Good Stuff. After the Shirts For a Cure showcase, Ariel and I headed to a nearby church where Matt Pryor of Get Up Kids fame was set to open an official showcase featuring Jakob Dylan. When the doors of the sanctuary opened about 30 or so people filed into the small, yet beautiful place filing only the first several rows of pews. Most of the early crowd was there to see Jakob Dylan, and hear his solo stuff (which I might add is no where near as awesome as The Wallflowers stuff!) It was hands down one of the coolest Matt Pryor solo shows ever. After that showcase we really didn’t have too much of a plan. We wandered the streets a bit, and finished the night up by checking out a late set by Minus The Bear.

I started day 3 by spending a good bit of time browsing the annual Flatstock show at the Austin Convention Center. Every year the best poster artists from around the country gather to display their latest work. I am a huge fan of poster art, silk screens and amazing design, so naturally this place is like heaven for me. I make it a point every year to visit and pick up a few things that inspire me. After Flatstock I headed to Ace’s Lounge for a day showcase featuring Hey Champ, Bad Rabbits, et al. Both bands were amazing live and I ended up catching a few others that were pretty impressive as well. After that showcase I headed over the Levis Fader Fort and hung out there for a bit. I saw Adrian Grenier of Entourage fame and caught an exciting performance by Sleigh Bells before the headliner, Bone Thugs In Harmony finished up the night. I wasnt too fond of the music of Sleigh Bells, but frontwoman, Alexis Krauss was a fun performer and helped me make some decent photos (see photo above). As a long time fan of the Cleveland rappers, I am a bit biased, but Bone Thugs really performed well. They managed to knock out all of their hits without playing even 1 song off their forthcoming album. This may be because they were missing 2 of their members, but even so, the set was solid. Click here to see all 5 parts of the Bone Thugs In Harmony set at the Levis Fader Fort.

The rumors of Jay-Z, MIA, and others secretly performing after Bone Thugs were squashed when the loudspeaker announced that the Fort was officially closed, but our night was not over yet. We headed to the annex at Emo’s and walked right into the Fat Wreck showcase. We were in time to see Dead to Me play, but were really there to witness what took place afterwards. The bill listed “Cokie The Clown” which everyone knew was Fat Mike of NOFX fame. Additional rumors were that NOFX (the full band) would play during this slot, however NOFX did not play. In their place was Fat Mike, dressed as a clown, performing a handful of acoustic songs and telling some of the most disturbing and awkward stories that anyone could tell. It would take me too long to explain what happened next, but click here to see the epic ending to the set. Hint: It involves Fat Mike tricking the audience into drinking his urine.

An early visit for some of the best breakfast tacos at Juan In A Million opened up our Sunday followed by a tired drive back to Houston. Another amazing SXSW in the books. I remember sweating like crazy in a t-shirt and shorts during last year’s SXSW journey, this year was a bit different with temperatures in the 20′s on Saturday night and everyone struggling to bundle up and stay warm. Regardless, each year there is a new twist, new epic sets, and new artists to discover. Each year, I set out to really photograph a ton and make a huge body of work, but each year ends the same in that I spend the majority of my time hanging out with friends and appreciating the good jams, and I wouldnt have it any other way. I did manage to make some decent photos though. Check them out below.

As we wrap up the first week of the new year I can’t help but reflect on the past year. There were struggles as there are with anything, but I’d be remised if I didn’t sit back and be thankful for the good things. I met a lot of great people, made a few new clients, learned a ton of great things and made a few decent images along the way.

2009 was the year I was blown away by being accepted as a participant into the Eddie Adams Workshop.
2009 was the year my first major documentary project premiere to a sold out audience of over 250 people.
2009 was the year that documentary project won not 1, but 4 awards including a Gold Remi.
2009 was the year that I owned the copyright for 100% of the images I captured.
2009 was the year that I got to visit 5/7 continents in the span of 4 months.
2009 was a good year.

Here’s to 2010 being even better. The short piece above showcases about 65 of my personal favorites from 2009. They may not have run, they may not have been the best pictures, but they are my special to me in one way or another, so sit back and enjoy.

This is my second installment of my 2 part favorites post highlighting my favorite images taken during Houston Chronicle assignments. This post contains images from roughly mid-May 2009 through this past weekend taken from my Houston Chronicle assignments only. I am a regular contributor to my hometown newspaper and get to shoot all kinds of things. A few months ago I posted my January through mid-May favorites and I thought now was a good time to post some selects since then. Some may have made it into the paper, some may have not. They were all taken from images sent to the paper from my various assignments.

*Note: I have consolidated my favorite images from all of 2009 into one nice and neat Photoshelter gallery. View the slideshow of 57 images below!

Yes, this is one of these posts. The ones where I preface my blog entry by apologizing for my absence and saying that it won’t happen again, but it’s bound to. At least I have a good excuse. For the past month now Ive been in Brasil with a 10-day visit to Africa. There are thousands of images that I have to mull through yet and I still have a week here in lovely Rio de Janeiro so hopefully I’ll get some more good images in. Once I get back stateside look forward to loads of updates and even more images from my month away.

Before I left on July 7th, I covered Warped Tour 2009 in Houston on the 3rd. It was probably the single worst Warped Tour experience out of all of the dozens Ive been to, but the few stand out performances made up for the day as a whole.