* all photographs copyright Alex Myers 2004 *

The second night was just as interesting as the first, both in terms of the music and for experimenting with the Canon EOS 1D Mark II digital SLR. This time, I made two major adjustments to my style. The first was not even attaching a flash unit for the night. The second was setting the f-stop to 2.8 for most of the show. This allowed me to adjust the shutter speed, but I found that 1/30 of a second was an excellent setting. Adam Thorman provided encouragement and advice throughout the night. He is a ridiculously talented photographer (with works in the SF MOMA collection) and several shots in this collection were his idea. Thank you, Adam. But more importantly, thank you Murry and Grey for providing me with an all access pass and wonderful weekend.

I've raved before about the live show appeal of "Drag It Up". This time was no exception. Everyone had a great time. Halfway through the show, a girl arrived fresh from a wedding and began lobbing white roses onto the stage. Rhett looked pretty good with a few of them adorning his guitar and microphone stand. I have also included a 3.7 MB QuickTime clip of Rhett singing "Ziggy Stardust" (a David Bowie cover) during the break before the crazy encore. Christine Ross gets full credit for her camera skills. I merely flipped the resulting image 90 degrees.

http://alex.pecanbiz.com/ziggy/
 

I managed to take over 600 photographs on about 2 GB worth of Flash Cards. Here are some of my favorites.
 

Rhett Miller looked stunning in his red shirt and roses.
 

Okay. Yes, starting at the beginning. Grey DeLisle opened both nights and charmed us even more the second time around.

Kelly Hogan sang with Jon Rauhouse and his band.

After the two opening bands, Noah and Jeff (and others) quickly set up amplifiers and set lists.

Final adjustments.

With the set lists taped firmly in place (until someone grabs them all during the last second of "Timebomb") ... time to get started!

Ken Bethea easily leads the way.

Philip Peeples has a laugh at some of the new songs.

Rhett Miller and Murry are happy to tease Ken just a little.
 

Ken looked so good up on that stage.

I love how everyone is just playing full force, especially Philip.
 

Sometimes, Ken would stalk to the very end of the stage and play for the crowd in the wings.

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Maybe it was because he looked so lush in the red shirt and white roses against the dark backdrop, but I started to find myself taking more and more photos of Rhett at the end of the night.

Murry has a good stretch between songs.

Sometimes the lights would wash all white and flood the stage.

This is now contending for one of my favorite Ken photos.

Murry Hammond takes a lead vocal. This is the true power of a low f-stop. Look at that light and that background! I adore this photo so much.

"Question" takes on a delicious tone when the light floods through Rhett.

It also becomes quite sublime with a bass line. Do that more often!

Murry reminds us all of broken hearted times during "Valentine".

Meanwhile, during "Valentine", Rhett somehow managed to convey what the Strokes would look like with him as the lead singer.

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Sometimes I just watch Murry and hum along with the bass line.

The only thing in focus might be Rhett's fingers.

I miss the kick drum that said "OLD 97'S".

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This one might be blurred, but I love the feeling of knowing Rhett was about to run across the stage.

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You can barely see one the chandeliers. The Fillmore is a lush space, with a wooden floor, red velvet walls, and yes, chandeliers.

Murry makes his bass playing look so effortless that shots like this intrigue me.

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For the end of the show, everyone started playing furiously.

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Such gorgeous optics on that lens.

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Finishing off with "Timebomb" ...

Hell yes!

I love the look of Rhett's face at the very end of the night, screaming right along with the crowd.

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