Manchester Orchestra at The Greek Theatre - more photos... photo by jeff barringer - staff photographer

Pulling onto I-10 headed west, I immediately encountered... what else? Traffic. I called Scott at Amazon Reptile, and he suggested an alternate route. Soon I was headed into L.A., skirting most of the nightmarish traffic headed out of town. It wasn't until I pulled onto 5 to head south to the park that I caught the bumper to bumper traffic. Luckily my exit was only a mile away.

Drivers in Southern California apparently only have two speeds that they drive, 5 miles an hour or 80 miles an hour -- either all, or nothing. At that moment it was nothing, as it took me a full 15 minutes to work my way to the exit, but once on it, people just flew by me. Eventually I got to the park road, and it was 6:45 pm when I began to drive up the hill between all the orange safety cones.

It being my first time at the venue, not knowing anyone or anything other than a photo pass was waiting for me, I accepted the direction of the security staff and parked in the street at their direction after paying my $15.00 parking fee. I was kind of freaked out by the nose to tail parking, and the lot attendants told me I was there for the whole performance.

Manchester Orchestra at The Greek Theatre - more photos... photo by jeff barringer - staff photographer

Grabbing my camera bag and humping it up the hill to the venue, I got to the gate and was met by the press escort who quickly got me checked in and badged up. Asked if I had found the VIP parking alright, I could only mumble "Doh!" and slap my forehead in a very Homeric way.

I asked if I could pop my head in the theatre before we got started just to look around and I was stunned. Absolutely one of the most gorgeous venues I have ever seen. Nestled into a bowl and surrounded by huge trees right in the heat of downtown L.A., the whole place has a natural aura, a warmth that I hadn't really felt anywhere else in that big metropolis.

I headed back to the holding area, and by that time a couple other photographers had shown up. I felt kind of like a fifth wheel as they were all locals. We sat around comparing lenses and swapping lies until our escort arrived to walk us down. Manchester Orchestra were already onstage by the time we got down to the pit, and it was a tight pit. The crowd was sparse so early so I chose to shoot from outside the barrier. It's too bad that most of the audience hadn't arrived because the band was fantastic. The only problem I had was that the lighting left the keyboard player and the guitarist on the edges of the stage in the dark, and they couldn't or wouldn't come out of the shadows. Aside from that, the three songs I shot sounded great and as we got escorted back to the bull pen, I made a mental note to catch them again when they hit Austin's clubs.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club at The Greek - more photos... photo by jeff barringer - staff photographer

Outside of the venue, people continued to stream in, as did other photographers. There were probably eight of us by the time came to shoot BRMC. Our escort arrived and took us down, and we all tried to squeeze into the pit. I took a strategic location, and while waiting for the band, dialed in my equipment by shooting the stage backdrop. The lights dimmed, the band came onstage and -- the lights stayed dimmed. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club must have done the whole first song almost completely in the dark. All the photographers just looked at each other and lowered our cameras.

The second song, done in almost all red light or with a single spot wasn't much better. It wasn't until the third song before we got some lighting, and even then it was very spotty. The lights would strobe, and then stay on just long enough to get the camera focused and then strobe again. There was no way to set a shot, and it really didn't matter as we were all just spraying and praying, hoping the shutter and the focus and the strobe all synced just right. Unfortunately very few of my BRMC shots came out, and by the end of the third song I was frustrated. The tap on the shoulder came and the mass of photographers began to shuffle back up to our perch, mumbling and grumbling about the lights.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club at The Greek - more photos... photo by jeff barringer - staff photographer

Still, I stopped at the merch booth and bought a BRMC shirt so I would have a souvenir. Although I was disappointed with the lighting, I tried not to let it color my review, but honestly I think they had a better set in Austin. It could be because they were an opener and played a short set. Maybe they got into the swing of things after I left. It's tough to tell when you only get three songs. I will see them headline again in Austin soon, I'm sure.

Back in the bullpen, BRMC playing the background music, I got to talk with some of the other photographers, and ended up becoming engrossed in conversation with the photographer for NME. We talked for so long about her favorite L.A. venues and the Austin music scene that we almost missed the walk down to the pit. Catching up with the mob of photographers, we tried to squeeze through the crowd. By this time the venue was stuffed and there would be no way to shoot from anywhere but the pit, and once there, not enough room to shift positions much. We wedged ouselves past the crowds and security and into the pit.

The band comes on, the lighting perfect, and I hadn't taken ten pictures with the D200 when the battery ran out! My best camera with my best lense, out of juice and out of action. Falling back to my D70s, I tried to play catch up. I was out of position for most of the band. I took some wide shots and swore under my breath while trying to get the big zoom attached to the D200 back in action during the song break. It wasn't until the third song had started that I felt the coupling ring of the lense lock into place on the D70. I brought the camera up and shot as fast as I could, but before I knew it the the song was over. The dreaded tap came, we were escorted up and out of the venue. Hiking down the hill to my car, a couple of the other photographers waved as they drove off. I ambled off to wait at my car for the show to end, Kings of Leon music filling the air. The Kings of Leon had a great set, the crowd full of fans. It was definitely their night. Me... I ended up at Disneyland, but that's another story.

Kings of Leon at The Greek Theatre- more photos... photo by jeff barringer - staff photographer