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A Muppet Wicker Man

SxSw Preview: The Green Label Sound Showcase

Sir Reeves is headed back to the state of Oil and Bush! In 3 weeks, he will be entrenched in the coolest music parties in the country. While we can't give all the details away, just take a look at some of last year's galleries to fuel your curiosity.

South by Southwest: Perez Hilton Party

South by Southwest: Fader Fort

South by Southwest: Green Label Sound Showcase 2009

South by Southwest St. Patrick's Day

Alkaline Trio - This Addiction (Photos by Darkroom Demons)

Leave it to one of our favorite bands on the planet to make us look cool. Usually, we like to say its the other way around- but it was the keen eye of Dan Andrianno who asked for us to shoot them for today's release, This Addicition. The results are in the lyric booklet, the album's back and insert (both the regular LP and special edition). We shot all of content on the first day during what we considered our own private concert at their Lincoln Park studio. You can see all the pics HERE. This was back in October so the wait had etched a huge bloody question mark into our curious brains if they would end up using any of the shit at all. To say that we were humbled and grossly excited today upon seeing the final album is an understatement. Thanks to Carlos, Blair, Matt, Dan, and Derek for giving us a shot at getting on shelves with them!

This Week Alkaline Trio plays with Cursive at the Metro on Saturday and Sunday. Both shows are sold out. Pics to follow!

Party of the Week: NYC edition

Nicky Digital, Igor and Sir Reeves walk into a bar and go up to the bartender and say: "Hey, we're here to take yer wimmen, your wine and your whiskey." Bartender raises an eyebrow and says "Okay, but only if you put your cameras down. Patrons are complaining of having epileptic seizures from all the strobes."

"Okay, how about just the whiskey then?"

Cheers to Jess and everyone else in NYC for taking care of the demon seed.

3 "5-Minute Portraits"

So last night I had a cool assignment here in Chicago courtesy of our buddy Dino G from SpyBar. There was a little soiree at Green Dolphin Street with 2 Londoners and one Turkish girl rocking out the house in the main room. Part of my gig was to do some portraits of the artists. I had only a few minutes with each and had to come up with different settings (easy to do in such a large room). The results are coming in the gallery but here's a sneak- All were shot with my protege Gerda holding the flash at various locations to create the dramatic light.Oh, and then there was this chick. Yowza.

Semi Precious Weapons - The #1 Music Video

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The Shame of Meeting Snooki

So despite my pleas to be an unbiased gossip reporter, our old friend Perez Hilton has opted not to run some juice on his new object d'affection Nicole "Snooki" Spazzatollimoscticholli. Playing favorites in journalism is a no-no unless its op-ed. His avoidance of the following information suggests that in fact he is hell-bent on keeping this anomaly famous as long as possible.

Let me apply orange paint to what went down when both myself and Manor's "It Girl" Gia introduced ourselves to Snooki. Mind you, I dressed for the occasion with a fake tan, awful half cocked hat and Coney Island shirt so I imagined it would be an easy sell. Also, I had already spent time talking to her obviously embarrassed mother and wasted 40 minutes blocking amateur paparazzi children at Manor from getting a nasty crotch shot of her. So I figured my good deeds would have created a warm feeling by the time I got to RiNo and all the hubbub was over. Boy, do I have an unnatural sense of joy and optimism when dealing with these things...

The following conversation occurred twice: Once, 30 minutes earlier at Manor when Gia was to be introduced. The second time was when I arrived at RiNo and sat next to her and her mom...

Us: Hi Nicole! Nice to meet you! I'm so and so...

Nicole aka Snooki turns her back, rolls eyes, ignores us.

Lauren: She only answers to "Snooki"

Gia: Are you fucking kidding me? Bwahahhahaha...

Me: (to Snooki's Mom who has just given me a embarrassed shrug) I garner she just can't hear me. Must be the hair. Have a good night ya fucking mooks. (Cries in disbelief that this is what the world has come to)

Well, there you have it. Our obsession with celebrity has given meteoric rise to a Melanoma rich, foul mouthed, Oompa Loompa zombie who now won't even answer to her Christian name. Not that I'm surprised but if this is any indication of what Americans consider talent we only have ourselves to blame. (Have you seen the Red Carpet interviews at the Grammys?)

Whereas Jwoww was a real person and has her head on straight, this fucking child clown deserves nothing more than a pat on the back and kick out the door. Good for MTv for lowering the bar so low that Heidi Montag now looks like Princess fucking Di.

Though it could be possible that she wasn't amused at my costume change but I doubt she can see past her pursed lips. Still, I ran home and scrubbed my fake make-up based tan off while crying in the shower. Despite my callous exterior, I'm really quite sensitive to these things...

Gia: Bwahahahahahaha!!

(Snooki's mortified but pleasant mother Helen is to the left...)

Thanks again to the folks at Manor for putting us in the coolest places ever...

Dinner with Jwoww

I woke up today at an ungodly hour after a massive hangover/recuperation from this weekend's frantic schedule/binge realizing a few things: One- I have completely abandoned this blog to the ennui of winter and need to regroup with people that want to read the occasional literary romp that shed light on Chicago's self-indulgent party scene as well as look at our pretty pictures. There's certain perks to our job and its only fair we share the wicked fun shit with everyone we experience. I am guilty of being an introverted 16 year old for the last six months, alone in a love lost with puppy dog drug filled eyes wonderin what happens next. Item number two- After Conan O'Brien's farewell speech, which reinforced how I feel about being cynical, I am determined to take these old bones and cover them in a fresh new sinewy attitude of optimism and hope whilst our world spins periously out of control. This year's first victim of my reinvigorated joie de vivre was Jenni Woww from MTV's mega-smash "Jersey Shore".
There had been a lot of speculation around the appearance of Jersey Shore's Jwoww and Snooki after they canceled to remain in LA the week before from their appearances at Manor and Rino.. Though I have never seen the show, you can't surf the web or see a magazine without some reference to the mega-sensation that is the Jersey Shore. To me, Jersey Shore is an evil place where a teenage boy told me in 1981 the day after I saw the Empire Strikes Back that indeed Darth Vader was Luke's Father. While Snooki opted to attend P-diddy's 16 year old's Sweet-Ass "Got my Maybach" Sixteen, Jwoww and her boyfriend Tom from her hometown came to the a suprisingly balmy Chicago and joined the LGN group's Lauren D. and myself for dinner at the Viagra Triangle's own Tavern on Rush. Despite the hemmoraging crowds in NY that resulted in a few arrests for disorderly behavior the night before, we were more than surprised to hear that just the two of them would be our guests that evening. Usually these things can spiral out of control before reservations are confirmed with agents, hanger ons, douchebags and managers. Instead, it would be an intimate dinner of four strangers, two of whom had never even watched the main attraction's show.
One of the biggest problem's going into a situation like this is the initial awkwardness. Jwoww had just been on a whirlwind tour of LA and NYC with guys like Leo DiCaprio coming up to her and taking pics and citing the lingo of their reality/sitcom. So imagine the surprise behind their calm eyes of coming out of their hotel suite to find two yahoos from the MidWest waiting with a taxi cab, one of whom is wearing eyeliner and sparkling sapphire shoes and neither who had any knowledge of the show's antics. Ok, Lauren was wearing eyeliner too. Moving on...

Lauren and I are no strangers to celebrity in our fair city but we were more than excited about Jwoww because of the debauchery displayed by the fans who showed up the week before. I personally was horrified at the blatant displays of fist pumping, pussy grinding and vodka breath that permeated the room at Manor when Snooki didn't show. It was a blight on my swollen spine and aching elbow, fighting these little fucking monsters for two hours as they demanded to be immortalized on the internet. The choice demographic proved that they didn't care about my old age...they would party harder than anyone in honor of the MTV superstars, despite the void of the show's stars.

So when the phone call came earlier that Saturday to attend dinner with Jwoww I knew I was in for something. I had to do a little homework and found a website of an ambitious girl who resembled my slightly accented, tough talking, and down to earth friends from Bridgeport or Harlem Ave . And at dinner, it was all confirmed: There was no pretension, no judgment- Only laughter, commonality and heartfelt friendship. She's like a character out of a Bruce Springsteen or Billy Joel song- just making a living, doing the best she can do and not stepping on anyone in the way. For once, dinner was not filled with people twittering or texting. We all ate and listened to each other like new found friends and I believe we all surprised each other with the ease of our time together. The subject matter of conversation is something left always to be left at the dinner table unless you're a gossip columnist, but the impression is what matters the most. And this is what I've told people for two days: Jwoww rocks and deserves anything she wants.

However, I can say that the stick of Porterhouses and Fillets had a convincing measure of making us want naps, oral sex or more drinks. That being said, the kids from NY went to the hotel for a lay down and I joined Tiger Woods mistress #3 Jaimee Grubbs for some much needed....drinks. Thought I was gonna say oral sex, didn't ya?

More to come on the dinner series...
Thank you to the LGN Group for having the continued belief that I can bring something to their increasingly amazing company and to David, Tom, Morgan, Aaron Collins, Lauren, Irene, Jaimee and of course my new favorite MTV girl, Jenni Woww.

(Yes, That's Jaimee with a Tiger Woods GatorAde!)

Remembering Gaga and SPW before they ruled the world...

This weekend, Lady Gaga invades Chicago much differently than 18 months ago, let alone last summer. Her show was so oversold they originally moved the Chicago Theatre shows to the United Center but protests from ticket holders resulted in a compromise at the Rosemont theatre. Sir Reeves is the only photographer invited to shoot anything at the show and Gaga is off limits. We have to thank our friends at Semi Precious Weapons for making it all happen and hope that the Fame Monster doesn't eat everyone alive! In an effort to fuel the hype, here are some pics of Gaga and SPW from not so long ago, when large nightclubs and small venues were just the beginning of the greatest music revolution this century.

Click Here for Lady Gaga's first Chicago appearance...

Make love to this underline for more vintage Gaga.

Click Here to see SPW performing at SXSW 2009!

And more pics of SPW here at the Metro