Preview: Kings of Leon

So a funny thing happened on the way to the forum...This weekend, I was fortunate enough to go out with a bang before my elbow surgery and shoot Kings of Leon at House of Blues with the aid of our clients from Manor and RiNo. Problem was that KOL had a severely imposing writ waiver that I had to sign declaring I can't post any pics without their written or verbal consent. I have never seen anything like this except for Nine Inch Nails who protect themselves from Wire services making any money off their said likenesses, etc. Then the real doozy came: We weren't allowed to move in the photo pit, nor shoot from any where else in the house afterward. Their production manager was an affable English chap, but he made clear that he meant me especially because he spotted me shooting the Whigs from our client's opera box backstage. I wrote "Non-wire, blah blah blah." on the form and took my spot on stage left. Usually this kind of restriction is reserved for crack heads like Amy Winehouse, who will lose their shit if anyone in front of her moves, resembling the fire ants that live in her vagina. But I was surprised that my favorite band this year were such divas. Until I remembered that Caleb's security had covered my lens backstage at Lollapalooza 2007 when I went to get a candid pic. Apparently his girlfriend is some famous model. (How very original.) The whole concert was for charity, but after the security guard came to the opera box for the third time threatening to take my camera away because I was shooting the girls in the box, I freaked out.

Maybe it was the pills, but from there the night got defeated. We waited for hours for the Kings to come to the official after party at Lucky Lady/Manor and no dice. It appears the brothers followill weren't so charitable after all. I really liked it when Caleb was attempting to talk about the cause and referred to the "University of Chicago Medical Center" as "Chicago Hospital." Way to get in character. Nonetheless, they fucking rocked. And all for a good cause. Either way, I still got a cooler shot of the Whigs than of the Kings.
Thanks to De'mar and Nicholas Scimeca for keeping me entertained. If I could remember most of what happened, I reckon it wouldn't be as funny as I think it is.