First things first: I love Chrisette Michele’s sound. She has such a great voice, and tonight’s show was simply amazing. Of the 8 or 9 times that I’ve seen her in concert, this performance was one of the best. Her confidence was on 1,000. I mean, she was really showing off on that stage.

Chrisette makes the absolute best singing faces for a photographer to capture – with hand gestures to compliment them.

Her drummer was a beast too, and is only 17 years old.

Up and coming girl group, signed to Mary J. Blige’s Matriarch Entertainment label, Just’Us opened the show with a few covers, and some original music. They were a little nervous, and it was apparent, but they have really good voices, and with more stage shows they’ll progress nicely. Plus, they’re really young, so they have time.

I actually met Just’Us when they supported my 101 Women of Hope event earlier this year.

Randomly, I discovered that Anthony Hamilton was doing a show for the US ARMY which totally slipped by my radar. I’m a huge fan of Anthony’s music and live shows. Attending and photographing was a no-brainer. Coincidentally, the Robin Thicke show that was scheduled for the 28th had benn cancelled, so I was free.

I hopped in the car, and headed on out to Baltimore, and I arrived just as the opening band started their set. I soon found my way to the dressing room area where Anthony and his band was situated, which was a long walk from the stage, ugh! While with the band and staff, we laughed and joked a bit, I snapped a few candids with my new Canon 5D Mark III, and I prayed a few times. Anthony’s band and staff are a bunch of cool dudes!

Closer to showtime, we all headed over to the backstage area to get in place for showtime! Well, for me that’s in front of the stage, but I had to make it seem a little more dramatic.

Anthony’s set kicked off with the uptempo tune – “Sucka for You”, and he went through about a 10-12 song set.

After the show, we all went back to the dressing room area for some salty pizza and more laughs. Fun times with the homies!

Whenever Kindred is in town, or any nearby town for that matter, I try to attend and photograph their shows. They put on a great show each and every time, but there was something about this night that stood out to me. This was my absolute favorite show of theirs, after seeing them nearly a dozen times before.

I couldn’t wait to put my new Canon 5D Mark III to use too! Since I started shooting concerts, I never really loved my photos from any show at Birchmere, because the lighting was usually lower than I prefered. I’m completely satisfied with these images captured with the new 5D though.

Fatin and Aja’s chemistry shows while on stage. I love it – proof that love can last through all things.

Fans really appreciated and enjoyed their Chuck Brown tribute piece.

This was my first time seeing Musiq Soulchild in concert in a couple of years, and the first time ever for Avery Sunshine. I had seen several YouTube clips of her performances, so I already knew she was the real deal. Her set was very good, and I enjoyed her sense of humor.

Musiq’s set was dope, and I consider it one of the best shows to hit Howard Theatre since it reopened on April of this year. He performed for a long time, and even did a 3 song encore. Dude had the crowd rockin’ the entire night.

He even went out into the lobby to take pictures with everyone, and sign CDs and stuff.

The next day, he gathered up all of the images that his fans posted, and reposted them on his instagram timeline, and credited everyone.

Back in May, when I photographed Anthony Hamilton down in Richmond, VA, I met a woman who was handling Anthony’s wardrobe. She was supporting his regular stylist who happened to be on the road with Jill Scott at that moment. I asked her for his contact info, and I immediately emailed him about shooting Jill for his portfolio. He replied, and was able to arrange it.

Although I wanted all access to shoot, I was content with just being able to shoot anything. I’ve had to toughest time getting access to Jill Scott’s shows, so I’m at least making progress. Lol.

Down to the very last minute, I was torn between shooting the show and actually going to the box office to purchase a ticket. I love Jill’s live performance. Since I wasnt able to see much beyond the first 3 songs, I dont have much to blog about. Doug E Fresh did an excellent job hosting.

If you’ve ever been a passenger in my personal vehicle, you know that I drive like an old man, because I own an old man’s car. ***kanye shrug.

So, with driving something far more sporty it took me a few minutes to get situated. However, it wasn’t long before my bro’ @ianeyecan said, “Van, the club will be closed by the time we get there. Pull over, you’re driving too damn slow.”

I was doing about 5-7 over the speed limit. Sue me. Sheesh. Lol.

I arrived at MetLife Stadium to collect my credentials and parking pass, get my assignment, and begin the walk-thru of the stadium. My assignment: “On-stage. Backstage.” I was loving that. Before I knew it, it was time to invade the photographer pit at the small “Festival Stage”. A couple of acts that I wasn’t familiar with started the show. When they blow up, I’ll regret not posting their images. Lol.

Fred the Godson, who I had heard of, but never listened to, was pretty good. Right after his set, I raced inside to dump some images from my memory card. I wish I didn’t because I returned to the festival lot and I could hear “It’s the return of forever hoe!” blasting in the speakers, signaling that Big K.R.I.T. was on stage. I love Krit’s stage show, by the way, and I was pissed that I missed the beginning. I managed to still shoot a few songs.

Make sure you pick up Big Krit’s new “Live From the Underground” project on iTunes. It bumps! I’m actually listening to it right now, while I type this post on the subway train. “I Got This!”

Next to hit the stage was another of my hip-hop favorites – Kendrick Lamar. I’m a huge Kendrick Lamar fan, and I’ve seen him in concert before, but never photographed him. He walked out to the edge of the stage with 3 fingers up – Hiii Power! After KL, Schoolboy Q performed a set. I honestly don’t know his music, other than songs that he’s featured on by other artists. I have to do better.

To close out the festival stage show, was that pretty muthafucka’ (you have to be hip to understand that one) ASAP Rocky and the ASAP Mob. ASAP’s energy is always crazy! I saw him in concert twice, about a month or two ago. I knew a good amount of his music so I was singing along. I was surprised he didn’t dive off of the stage into the crowd. Toward the end of his set, it started pouring down raining and Hot 97 stopped the festival stage show before he could perform “Purple Swag”.

Once the festival show ended, I headed into the stadium to charge my iPhone and get ready for a long night covering the main stage. Maino opened the main stage show, and I missed most of his set. Slaughterhouse followed Maino, but I don’t know any of their music. Thanks to the miscommunication between the security at the venue, I missed most of Tyga’s set too. Imagine approaching an entrance, dressed in a Hot 97 STAFF t-shirt, a media lanyard, a media wristband, a festival stage wristband, and an ALL ACCESS wristband…and being told, “You can’t enter through here.” Okay, what the hell are all of these credentials for? I said, “Well, where do I enter?”.

The guy points and says, “Down at that door.” I immediately thought of that episode of Martin when he was at the DMV. “From scratch…”.

Anyway, I sprinted down to the “other door”, and guess what they told me when I arrived. You got it. “You can’t enter through here, you have to use that door down there.”, while pointing to where I had just sprinted from. I was pissed. When I finally got into the stadium, I decided to stay, to play it safe.

After I got a few shots of Tyga, Waka Flocka hit the stage waving his dreads all wild and crazy, and he brought out Maino, and later Wale to perform “No Hands”. Wale and I had previously discussed a particular crowd shot that I wanted to achieve. That required me to be on the stage, which was cool because it was being live-streamed on Hot 97′s website. I had my little 15 minutes of fame. During Wale’s set, he brought out Miguel to perform “Lotus Flower Bomb”. Here’s the photo, what do you think of it? Shoot me a message.

Following Wale, J.Cole performed his set from Drake’s Club Paradise tour, which I saw last week here in DC. I liked J.Cole’s set, and the Nike Air Yeezy 2 kicks that he was wearing had most of my attention. During J.Cole’s set, he brought out Trey Songz for a song or 2. I thought Trey was going to stay on stage much longer to perform some of his more uptempo hits. Next, Young Jeezy performed a nice set of his hits, bringing out 2 Chainz for “Super Freak”, Ne-yo for “Leave You Alone”, and T.I. to perform the remix to “Up!”.

Big Sean followed up Young Jeezy’s performance with a dope set. He even brought out his Mom to introduce her to everyone. After that, he put on his Finally Famous bathrobe and performed “Marvin Gaye and Chardonnay”. During his set, he brought out Pusha T and 2 Chainz to perform “Mercy”. Everyone knew Kanye West was out of the country for the Watch The Throme tour, so he wouldnt be hitting the stage. THAT, would have been epic.

Angie Martinez walked out to the center of the stage to introduce a “New York Legend”, and the beat dropped. “Braaave Hearrrt…”. Out comes Nas, yes – Nas, and the crowd goes bananas! Nas performed several songs that he’s known for. Then, out of nowhere, the beat to The Fugees’ “Ready or Not” drops. Nas yells, in his best “Angry Man” voice “We came to bring that real in this muthafucka!”. It’s Summer Jam, the show known for surprises. My heart started beating all wild and crazy, and out comes Ms. Lauryn Hill.  This made my day.

To close out the main stage show was the Untouchable Maybach Music Group. French Montana kicked it off, followed by Meek Mill and Wale, and of course the energy built up before the boss Rick Ross hit the stage. Mixed into the MMG set, Meek Mill brought Big Sean back out to perform “Burn”. The set was composed of all of the club bangers that MMG is known for. French Montana made a reference to it being New York City show, and it ony being right to bring it back to NYC. Out comes Mase to perform the remix to Wale’s “Slight Work”! At the very end, Rick Ross brought out Method Man and Raekwon The Chef to perform the classic Wu-Tang hit “C.r.e.a.m.”. At that point, I look up, and Fat Joe is standing there on the stage, in front of me rapping the lyrics.

Summer Jam 2012 was a great experience for me. I look forward to Summer Jam 2013.

I hopped in my car, headed to Richmond – hoping to beat afternoon traffic. Talk about an epic failure, lol. Anyways, I arrived at the venue just in time for sound check. I took a few photos at sound check, then I went to hunt for food.

After discovering this amazing place called “Chipotle”, I returned to the theatre to rest up backstage, since I would be shooting all night, and driving back to DC, right after the show.

The show started, and the adrenaline was real. Anthony hit the stage with his uptempo tune “Sucka for You”, and continued on with a number of tracks from his recent “Back to Love” album – which is his second best project, in my opinion. If you haven’t already, purchase Back to Love now.

At a point in the show, Anthony left the stage and went out to engage his fans. I can’t recall which song it was though.

Sidenote: during the show, I was walking in the hallway, headed to the bathroom, and a woman said, “Excuse me Mr. Photographer…”. I quickly said, “Give me one second, I have to run to the restroom.”. She replied, “Oh no he didnt.” At a distance, I could hear her say, “Dont think I wont follow you into that bathroom.”

Pause. What? Yeah, she said that. I said to myself, “Mm hm. Right.”

I’m at the urinal, which was around a corner inside the mensroom, and I swear to you, I hear “Mr. Photographer, I told you I would come in here.”. Basically, all she wanted was for me to take her picture, because she had on this blue prom dress looking dress. I walked out of the bathroom to continue shooting the show. At a distance, I could hear her say, “Oh no he didn’t.” I guess that’s her phrase.

After the show, I hung out for a little while backstage with Anthony, band, and staff. They’re a bunch of cool cats. Before it got too late, I was on 95 North back to southeast DC.

What an awesome day…

Howard Theatre : Washington, DC : 04 09 2012 :

For the grand [ re ] opening of the historic Howard Theatre, Wale, backed by his Dj and members of the legendary UCB band put on an amazing show. The energy level in that place was turned up to 10,000. Having the band was certainly an added plus.

Wale, as usual, sported some of Nike’s newness. This time, the Nike Air Penny 5 [ New Green/Safety Orange ] set to release later this year. I’m a big fan of the Nike Air Penny line, so I can’t wait.

Wale’s mini-speech about not listening to pple’s negativity and following your dreams got the crowd pretty excited – oh, and not to mention when Wale jumped off the stage to perform “Tats on my Arms” in the crowd with the fans surrounding him.

Bringing down the house lights for an emotional and genuine performance of “Ambition” made for another memorable moment. “They gon’ love me for my ambition…easy to dream a dream, though it’s harder to live it.”

The live version of “Slight Work” is crazy. Work, work, work, work. Slight work. Even though the “B-word” isn’t included in my vocabulary, I love Wale’s “Illest B*tch Alive” song.

Much love to the talented homie Demont Peekaso for the live-art piece, featuring Wale and Chuck Brown.

Tabi Bonney, another internationally-known artists, from the DC area, opened the show with a handful of his hits. Tabi’s performance is always consistent. Very energetic; and he gets the crowd going. He even brought about 8-10 Ladies up on the stage to dance to one of his songs.

One thing is for sure, I was hot as all hell sporting that Everyday Pple “Redskins Edition” sweatshirt last night. [ Yes, I plugged my own clothing company in the post. So? ] Lol.

I think most would agree that last night was a heck of a way to reintroduce the Howard Theatre to the pple.

Check out more Wale concert photos:

Wale on New Years Day

MMG Takeover in NYC

For my second time shooting at Hammerstein, since Trey Songz back in November, I was there to shoot what turned out to be one of the livest hip-hop shows I’d been to in a while. Wale kicked off the night with some tracks from Maybach Music Group’s Self Made album, his Ambition album (go buy it if you haven’t already), and he even took us back in time a little with “Pretty Girls” and “Nike Boots”. He also performed his Rack City remix, Make it Rain remix, and No Hands.

Meek took the stage and performed a number of tracks from his Dreamchasers mixtape, as well as some stuff from the Self Made album. I was excited when I thought he was going to perform “Tony’s Song”, as he recited a snippet of the lyrics, just to see who in the audience had heard the mixtape.

As Meek Mill closed out his set, he performed “Ima Boss”, which was the segway to bringing out the Boss, Rick Ross. Ross entered at stage left and the place went crazy! You hear me? Simply bananas! (see pic)

Rick Ross performed a nice list of his hits from Self Made, throwbacks like “Hustlin”, and a lot of songs from his recent Rich Forever mixtape. He brought out special guest Dj Khaled to hit the stage for a song or two. Shortly after that, another special guest grabbed the mic – Swizz Beatz. After Swizz, Stalley, and after Stalley – French Montana joined Ross for “Stay Schemin’. Frenchie also performed “Shot Caller”.

There were so many special guests in the backstage area, that I decided to retreat to the dressing room to avoid the end-of-show madness.

Busta Rhymes, Maino, some folks from Bad Boy, Swizz Beatz, Sway, French Montana, Dj Khaled, Omarion, and Rihanna were some that I recall.

To make a long story short, this was a hell of a show! I’m so glad I took the trip up to NYC from DC.

***Shoutout to Ebro at Hot 97 for giving me the green light to shoot.

***Shoutout to Rich Kleiman as well as the Board Administration for the ALL ACCESS.