I don’t get the chance to shoot many metal shows, so I was very excited to get in the pit for Lamb of God’s gig at the 9:30 Club. The band hails from Richmond, so even though it technically wasn’t a homecoming gig, the place was filled to the rafters with rabid fans.

This was a fun but tough shoot. There were waves upon waves of crowd surfers (including one guy in a chicken suit) so I couldn’t stand in one place for more than a few seconds because the security in the pit was moving all over the place trying to deal with the crowd. The vast array of monitors on the lip of the stage also made it tough to get a proper full length shot. Like I said, not the easiest conditions, but much more fun than the usual indie rock gig.

Full photo set below. As always, click on any photo to purchase prints.
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Lamb of God @ 930 Club – Images by Kyle Gustafson

Twin Sister is a chillwave band from Long Island generating a lot of buzz with their debut album In Heaven. It certainly doesn’t hurt that their lead singer is incredibly cute. I’m not sure if she has contacts in, but man, those eyes!

Honestly, I wasn’t a big fan of their music. They were a bit too twee for my tastes, but judging by the size of the crowd, I was in the minority.

Full photo set below. As always, click on any photo to purchase prints.
Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter  or like me on Facebook if you want to stay current with what I am shooting.
Please don’t reuse these photos without my permission.

Twin Sister @ Rock N Roll Hotel – Images by Kyle Gustafson

Real Estate has garnered a good bit of attention with their sophomore album, Days, so I was excited to finally catch them playing here in D.C. They seemingly come through town every few months but for some reason our schedules have never synced up and their headlining show at the Black cat was my live introduction to the band.

The band’s sound is very laid back, a perfect soundtrack for summer evenings on your front porch. I was struck by how tight the band is. Their lazy sound would seem to lend itself to a very loose live show but the band was very locked in and sounded great.

Full photo set below. As always, click on any photo to purchase prints.
Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter  or like me on Facebook if you want to stay current with what I am shooting.
Please don’t reuse these photos without my permission.

Real Estate @ Black Cat – Images by Kyle Gustafson

Blue cheese coleslaw tops a sandwich of pulled roasted chicken.

Cheesetique opened a few weeks ago in Shirlington, taking over the space formerly occupied by The Curious Grape. Seeing as I live in this neighborhood, I was excited to get a look at Shirlington’s newest restaurant.

Warm chèvre and tomato dip.

Flatbread with stracchino cheese, marinated shrimp, garlic, and arugula.

The champagne selection.

I am happy to report that I loved what I saw. Plenty of wine and beer if you need some to take home and the food coming out of the kitchen was wonderful. I can’t wait to get back and try a proper meal there.

The main dining area.

More interior and food photos in the gallery below.

Tuna Niçoise salad

Rabbit Salad & Grill in Clarendon bills itself as “Slow food fast.” The menu predominantly features a wide selection of salads, but there are also some grilled items on the menu and (most importantly) cupcakes! I’ve had the steak salad a few times and it’s delicious.

Caprese-watermelon salad

Grilled cheese

Cupcakes from Red Velvet

The dining area is plenty big and has a modern feel to it.

The dining area.

A few more food photos and interior shots in the gallery below.

Cockles and mussels

Nestled in an alley on the Alexandria waterfront, Virtue Feed & Grain is the latest restaurant in the Cathal Armstrong empire. And judging by the looks of this food, it will be just as successful as his other restaurants.

Sausage, egg, and chips.

Mac and cheese with smoked ham.

Corned-beef sandwich with a salad.

The space that houses the restaurant,a refurbished two-story 19th century feed house, is incredible and must be seen to be believed.

Casual dining upstairs.

The downstairs bar.

Check out the gallery below for more food and interior photos.

Shrimp/Buben's gfits/bent & twisted

Rogue 24, helmed by chef RJ Cooper, got off to a rough start when it opened last year, mostly due to the controversy surrounding its “dining contract.” Since then things have calmed down a bit and people are focusing more on the food, served in 16 and 24 course tasting menus.

Rabbit/carrot/horseradish/sorrel

Chef RJ Cooper.

Chef Cooper recently went under the knife for open-heart surgery and a number of chefs have pitched in to help keep Rogue 24 open during his recovery. I shot Top Chef’s Bryan Voltaggio during his week in charge of the kitchen and will have those photos up soon.

The open kitchen.

R.J. Cooper, center, with his team: (from left) pastry chef Chris Ford, sous chef Mikey Maksimowicz, and sous chef Ryan Moore.

More food and interior shots in the gallery below.

Hometown hip-hopper Wale treated local fans with a packed gig at the Fillmore Silver Spring on New Year’s Day hot on the heels of the November release of Ambition, his second full length album. The crowd was packed into the Fillmore and hanging on Wale’s every word.

Even though I’ve shot plenty of Wale shows, this was only the second club show I’ve shot him at since April 2010, which is hard to believe since I’ve seen him three or four times since then, including last month’s Wizards Fan Fest. It’s awesome to see a local artist get so much national attention.

Full photo set below. As always, click on any photo to purchase prints.
Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter  or like me on Facebook if you want to stay current with what I am shooting.
Please don’t reuse these photos without my permission.

Wale @ Fillmore Silver Spring – Images by Kyle Gustafson

1) Jay-Z @ Verizon Center – Not the most used of my Watch The Throne images (more on that in a sec), but this was the shot that I immediately gravitated to when I was editing the set. The lighting and background are spot on. Jay was having so much fun during this show and I can totally feel that in this shot, he’s completely lost in the performance. Swag.

2) Jim James of My Morning Jacket @ Merriweather – One of my favorite shots of the year was taken at the best show I saw all year. MMJ were so on at this show. They just started out on a tear and didn’t let up for 24 songs over 3 hours. Jim James is a head-banging fool and while I was clicking away I was thinking to myself, “please let me get one shot to portray the epic-ness happening at this show.” Done and done.

3) Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters @ Verizon Center - The stage at this show was 6 feet high, which made shooting incredibly difficult. Dave kept coming out onto this extended part of the stage and I could only get shots of his ass, but then he turned and I got a bit of his face just as the spotlight got a hold of him. I love that you can see all the sports banners in the ceiling.

4) Deadmau5 @ Virgin Mobile Freefest - Another borderline ridiculous shoot. We had to wait for a certain part of Deadmau5′s set to shoot him at the end of a very long day. We were perched on the soundboard and I decided rather than try and zoom in with my long lens, I would go wide and try and get the whole scene in the shot.

5) Kanye West & Jay-Z @ Verizon Center- This shot was used all over the world, including a two page spread in the Jan/Feb 2012 issue of SPIN.

6) Beady Eye @ TLA – I was walking on air after shooting this show in Philly. I was less than 2 feet from Liam Gallagher and he looked at me once or twice. Plus they brought their own lighting equipment. Bonus.

7) Tyler the Creator @ SXSW – This show was fucking scary. They were kicking the photogs in the pit and talking all sorts of shit to us. I was worried about my gear and my safety. Once I had this shot, I got the fuck out of there. But hey, what’s a 2011 Best Of without a shot of Odd Future, right?

8 ) My Morning Jacket @ Merriweather – 2011′s best show gets two photos in the Top 10. I generally don’t mess with the color of my photos, other than adjustments to the white balance to make everyone look like human beings, but the color on this shot was washed out because of the stage lighting, so a muted greyscale really did wonders for the exposure. I love that you can see 4 of the 5 band members in this shot. Plus, more epic hair action from Jim James.

9) Soundgarden @ Patriot Center – I was totally prepared to hate this show, but Chris Cornell & Co. really kicked ass at this show. It was a good reminder at how many great songs this band wrote in the 90′s.

10) Scott Avett @ DAR  - Can’t say I am a fan of the Avett Bros., but this is still one of the best photos I took all year. Chris Cornell is jealous of this Jesus Christ Pose (and that background!).

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Here’s a slideshow with the Top 30 images I took in 2011, featuring U2, Sugarland, Janelle Monae, Adele, BOB, Jack White, The Black Keys, Mumford & Sons and many more. Enjoy!

2011 Best Of – Images by Kyle Gustafson