A 'Burgh LIfe - September 2013

As the summer came to a close (for my video documenting purposes) that first week of September & Elphie returned to Chicago, I spent a lot of time following the first winning season in 21 years by the Pirates! They clinched the winning season with a victory over Texas on September . I went to see them the first game back in Pittsburgh as a "winning" team. They went on to clinch a spot in the playoffs a week later playing in Chicago. The last home games of the season were 3 against the Reds over the third weekend in September which included a fireworks night & I worked it out to be able to attend all 3 games somehow (my work schedule has me working on Sundays so that was a pleasant surprise). A friend came to visit from Cincinnati. Jeremy Taylor was traveling through and I was able to offer hospitality at our house. We hiked the Greenway then ventured downtown where we saw "The Duck."


http://youtu.be/d3SJfHnjeA8

The night after I went to the Pirates game against Chicago at home as a winning team, at a point when my bank account was pretty much empty, I found out about a Rancid show in Pittsburgh…I checked my account and had thankfully been paid so I bought a ticket to see the sold out show.


http://youtu.be/Tw0Ag1vlUWM


http://youtu.be/QIKDGRNx42M


http://youtu.be/_s24vUKkX7U

At the end of the month, as Pittsburgh prepared for its first playoff game in 21 years, I was able to see Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. My cousin, Taylor, turned me on to this band and I have loved their sound ever since. This was my second chance to see them.


http://youtu.be/ZO5kH_yu-bI


http://youtu.be/MsbG1IsH1JY

All footage filmed & edited by Joel A. Swanson

Summer Music Festival Footage Part 9: A TigerRAWk N Roll Summer Playlist

This playlist includes the footage the comprises a project titled A TigerRAWk N Roll Summer. Starting in late June through the first week in September 2013, Elphie & I attended five music festivals (as well as a couple of other concerts) & traveled to 10 states doing other random things enjoying life together. The footage shows a lot of that as well as clips from most of the bands we saw during the adventure. Each clip in the playlist has explanations of what is shown so I won't bother with that here as I often do.  That would be redundant and I will assume you can handle reading it on your own if you care enough about what's going on in the clips.

You may notice abrupt audio cuts and the "TigerRAWk" tag isn't shown until the last piece. The clips are cut up for youtube into what I decided to be the "chapters" for the DVD version of this project. There are points where the music overlaps chapters so at some points there will be no fade ins/outs.

Anyway, here is the playlist embedded below:



http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh9ZwEF2QQpN2_L-rkpGP0FA9FWoJEyzR

Filmed using an iPhone 4, Sony HD Bloggie &; JVC HDD Everio by Joel A. Swanson. Filmed using a Kodak Z1275 by Elphie. Edited using Final Cut Pro on a Mac Mini by Joel A. Swanson.

Summer Festival Footage Part 8 - UltraSound Fest 2013

UltraSound Fest occurred in Auburn, Indiana outside of Fort Wayne on Saturday August 31st, 2013. It was the last festival of the summer and the first trip I took after starting a new job. That happened with an unnecessary amount of hassle. I was working overnights doing in home care (which allowed for some of the late night posting in the previous months) but did not want to do that anymore so I took on work as a driver. I was told at hiring that I'd likely have to work a weekend day during the 5 day work week and agreed to that. I was trained during a weekday schedule and asked what my schedule would look like but never could get a clear answer. On Thursday before this festival, I asked the person responsible for scheduling and was told I'd have a Monday - Friday schedule so I made plans & arrangements to attend UltraSound. So I work on Friday with a certain sense of excitement to see friends and especially Elphie at UltraSound then around 1pm (give or take) I was called by my Supervisor or whatever her title is. She was rather cheerful in her desire to finally tell me what my schedule would be (though my efforts to find out over the previous week & a half went without response) and that schedule was Tuesday - Saturday and would begin immediately meaning I was expected to work that Saturday even though I had worked since Monday and would therefore have to work 6 straight days (the 6 days wasn't as big of a deal necessarily). I explained the person who makes the schedules had told me I was working Monday - Friday and had made weekend plans. Her demeanor changed 180 degrees to sounding as though the devil were inside of her as she told me I would have to take a call off which would go on my record and that isn't good for someone just starting out. I further tried to explain that I had tried to contact her to get information on my schedule. She claimed she was always available so I responded well I tried and no one would connect me with her and so i asked the scheduler to which she said he was not authorized to make those decisions. I gave up the argument at this point as it wasn't going anywhere and accepted that I would be taking a call off. I wasn't entirely sure I would have a job if I went to UltraSound but I decided to go anyway…

On with the less boring and annoying things. I packed up and left Pittsburgh around 8 or 9pm. I had been at work since like 5am and since my job is driving another several hours on the road wasn't exactly thrilling but nonetheless I left. I made a Sheetz stop as anyone ought to do then continued west until Lodi, Ohio. In the Akron area I became quite exhausted and decided that Lodi would be where I would sleep for the night. I made the backseat into a bed and slept for several hours before continuing on my way toward Auburn, Indiana. I arrived shortly before the festival was to begin after detouring through the little town which had some sort of celebrations and/or parades going on.

UltraSound was organized by the people of The Gathering, a community of Christ followers in Fort Wayne which includes Shawn Browning of Rottweiler Records, Grave Robber, All The Departed, etc. It was affordable and had bands I'd like to see so naturally going to the festival seemed like a good idea. I always enjoy supporting friends in whatever ways I can and this was another opportunity.

There were a few band cancellations for various reasons so UltraSound Fest had 10 bands - a good number for a single day festival.

Every Living Creature opened with a metal-ish worship set

http://youtu.be/c5TQy2Ly4No

Anchor To My Soul - screamo/metalcore - followed.

http://youtu.be/jBvTw6fNE58

A hardcore punk band I enjoy, All The Departed came on next.

http://youtu.be/WgIGN2BaGqY

The by pop metal of Scarlet Raven followed.

http://youtu.be/V9WxhtRFzzc

Jerome Schooley did some reggae/hip hop joined by the beatboxing of Trevor Heyd.

http://youtu.be/V0CkFC9ITSM

Trevor would follow with his own beatboxing set.

http://youtu.be/gAShyUKF7aU

Shawn invited folks to come to the Gathering to her Trevor Heyd speak the following day. The show went on with Goodnight Wednesday - a pop punk band.

http://youtu.be/Sk8Gz16ppS8

Relesser followed them with their metal goth type music.

http://youtu.be/8_YXUP7ibSQ

Then it was Blissed and their classic metal style.

http://youtu.be/-1ZBQp7d7iM

Leper headlined the festival with an interesting set (which i filmed all of). There were some technical issues which affected the backing tracks, there wasn't enough time for a proper sound check, and some guest members. Overall I enjoyed the set. It was different than usual and unique to this event.

http://youtu.be/LYiH5MzsA8g

The night was over and we went to stay with Chuck Thomas for the night before attending church with The Gathering the next day…

The UltraSound playlist is available for viewing here:

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh9ZwEF2QQpPT48STA6hHHjpvff7UBO6-

Filmed using a JVC HDD Everio. Edited using Final Cut Pro on a Mac Mini. Filmed & edited by Joel A. Swanson
http://aTigerRAWkFilm.blogspot.com

Summer Music Festival Footage Part 7 - Alliance Fest

Back in Pennsylvania, another festival happened that was primarily metal & hardcore. At the time I bought my ticket, Alliance Fest seemed promising then it got ridiculous! A one day festival with 3 stages and 60+ bands? I had to see how this would go off…

As the week of the festival came it was apparent there were some issues & things may not quite be what they appeared at first. Lots of bands dropped off with various explanations for why…for many it was an issue of financial compensation. Those final days leading up to the festival left the question would it even happen?

I don't know all the details of what went wrong at Alliance Fest. It's probably best to read the official statement from Alliance Fest itself than for me to try to rehash what I heard.

My friends in Corpus Christi were still planning to come out to Alliance Fest as the week came to a close and had some mercy sent to my house. The package arrived on the morning of the festival…it was a gloomy day but Elphie & I got ourselves up and going…semi awake.

We arrived at what should have been an hour or so after the festival was scheduled to start and nothing was happening. I delivered the package to Corpus Christi which was not quite the tshirt designed they had hoped for. After hanging around a bit we decided to go fetch some food and upon returning Corpus Christi was playing so we caught the end of their set. I filmed clips of 22 bands on this day. A few more than that played. Despite the issues, about half the bands still showed up including a few I really hoped to see such as Those Who Fear, Becoming The Archetype, Letters To The Exiles, Once Nothing, & Inhale Exhale.

Unfortunately not all those who were disgruntled with the festival issues stayed away and brought along a negative attitude. One (Hundredth) took it way too far and tried to destroy the sound production equipment in a classless & childish fit of anger I guess trying to get back at the promoter (though it was a bit misaimed since the production company had nothing to do with these issues). Most bands counteracted this negativity…2 in particular, Convictions & Ace Augustine, really made great statements of positive vibes.

For me, this festival did have its share of issues & lacked the organization necessary to be successful. People could wander into the grounds without paying & there was a lack of security & stage hands. There were way too many bands to fit the time allowed on two stages (one stage production pulled out last minute as well) without overlap. One band played one stage then the next band would play on the other stage…really it was probably the only way it could work due to the place where this festival took place. It happened in a park in a small town outside of Pittsburgh. The bigger named bands toward the end had their sets cut short. Despite all that & the negativity of some bands, it did go fairly well and was enjoyable overall.

Linked below is the playlist of the bands I filmed at this festival:  Corpus Christi, My Ransomed Soul, Phinehas, Blissed, Good Luck Varsity, Those Who Fear, Arcane Haven, Fit For A King, Blood Of The Martyrs, Ark Of The Covenant, Hundredth, Triple Stitch, Becoming The Archetype, Letter To The Exiles, The Protest, Ace Augustine, Convictions, Once Nothing, The Great Commission, Inhale Exhale, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, & Demon Hunter.


http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh9ZwEF2QQpNhmU_erm9OFUrhyrLBPh4p

(there are technical issues with some of these clips - Demon Hunter & Red Jumpsuit Apparatus were the most affected. I'm not sure about a solution for this. Some clips would not properly upload from the camera to the Mac for editing and some parts were lost.)

Filmed using a JVC HDD Everio. Edited using Final Cut Pro on a Mac Mini.
Filmed & edited by Joel A. Swanson

Summer Music Festival Footage Part 6 - Stand Together Fest 2013

July 19th & 20th, Elphie & I went to Nashville for Stand Together Fest. We got to stay with Natalie and visit with her a bit the night before the fest. Truth be told, by Saturday evening I had grown tired of hardcore (haha). A reason that I loved Cornerstone was the diversity of music going on at any time whereas Stand Together was a primarily hardcore/metal fest. There was a few variances here & there to help ease the hardcore overload. With that said, it was a good festival overall. During Saturday evening, it seems the sound levels increase substantially. My camera seems to have issues with that. It seems to believe it's being dropped by what I can only assume is the vibrations in the music. For the last few sets we sat upstairs where my camera seemed to work better.

Below is a playlist of the clips of all the bands at Stand Together Fest 2013

Reveal Renew, From The Eyes Of Servants, Conveyer, Strengthen What Remains, Thin Ice, Better Off, No Longer Bound, Bad Advice, Good Luck Varsity, Comrades, the full Jawbone set, With Increase, Everything Went Black, ThirtySeven, & Mychildren Mybride.



http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh9ZwEF2QQpNszlAieB3xSP4ZoKyVL3CZ

Filmed using a JVC HDD Everio. Edited using Final Cut Pro on a Mac Mini. Filmed & edited by Joel A. Swanson

A New Year Brings FUN! (usually)

I hope to be able to do some major catching up on my videos I've filmed over the last year. At this point I'm about 6 months behind in editing then posting them up for whoever cares to see.

In the meantime I created a new playlist of footage from New Year's Celebrating over the years. There were 2 in particular that stand out. Ringing in 2008 with old friends in Apple Valley, Ohio while my friend Greg DJed was RAD. That would be the first set of videos in this playlist. The other year was a show at the Attic in Dayton, Ohio where For Today rang in the New Year for 2011. That is actually the last set of videos in this playlist. I guess ringing in 2012 and 2013 weren't too note worthy to get their own videos (haha). I know 2013 was spent at work…lame.

Anyway, enjoy these and watch for new stuff soon!



http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh9ZwEF2QQpPrqDuQJIDr2UrNmHOamQVX

Happy Christmas!

I've put together a playlist of the Christmas time videos I've made over the years.

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh9ZwEF2QQpPX2UhJkt6XaYUAhQB0025h

Happy Christmas!