Sunday night at Ballpark Village it felt like I time traveled back to senior year of high school through my sophomore year of college. Summerland Tour was created by Everclear’s Art Alexakis and Sugar Ray’s Mark McGrath. The tour is made up of bands from the 90’s. This year’s lineup consisted of Sponge, Lit, Everlear, and Sugar Ray. Even the music played between bands screamed 90’s, everything from Marilyn Manson to Elliott Smith was being played. Looking at the crowd you could tell that a majority of them were in their mid to late 30’s who grew up in the 90’s.
Sponge was the first to go on. The Detroit, Michigan band’s 1994 debut album Rotting Piñata had heavy rotation in my CD player while in high school. With the stage facing west the lighting was great as the sun gave great natural lighting. I was able to shoot between 200-400 ISO for the whole set and keep it at f4.5-5.6 for the set. I was finally able to cheek them off bands that I listened to in high school that are still around.
The sun was fading even more by the time Lit came out so I had to kick up the ISO to 800 and kept it around f4. I was never a big fan of theirs but I can say they do put on a good show and will not disappoint a true fan. The band seemed tight and were very laid back.
The very last bit of sun was by the time Everclear took the stage. The lighting was still good enough to keep shooting at ISO 800 and f4. Front man Art Alexakis joked with fans about how he is from L.A. and that they took the Rams back from us but that eventually they would just move back to Cleveland in the long run. The band played a good mix of old fan favorites and some newer songs.
By the time Sugar Ray came out the sun was gone and I had to go up to ISO 3200 and f2.8. A few shots I had to save by turning them into black and white dew to harsh pink lighting. A fan caught lead singer Mark McGrath’s attention with a sign saying he would get a Sugar Ray tattoo if McGrath and Rodney Sheppard signed his copy of their debut album Lemonade and Brownies. McGrath told him they would sign it but not to get the tattoo unless he really wanted it.
Overall the night was fun and reminiscent of the days when I had little responsibility and would drive around with friends aimlessly and listen to music.
Camera Used:
Canon 5D Mark III
Lens Used:
Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM
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