My 'Burgh Life & Shows - November 2013

Footage includes Elphie & I taking a trip to Detroit, MI, a dinner date of spaghetti w/ venison, Lisa visiting Pittsburgh & going to Oakland, The Strip District, Wholey's Fish Market, Kuhn's, the Toonseum, Schmidt's Olde World Deli, & The Beehive, a massage, Elphie leaving me in Cleveland, squirrel hunting, The Penguins beating the Maple Leafs 6-5 in a shootout, & Thanksgiving.

Soundtrack includes "We Gotta Make It" by The Trigger Code & "Melted Vinyl" by Furthermore...



http://youtu.be/yx4YSKjPf_0

November started out for Elphie & I in Michigan with a couple Leper shows. It was good to hang with them for a few days. Desiring Dead Flesh was on one of the shows as well so I captured some footage of that:



http://youtu.be/qIZbvxBrAFU



http://youtu.be/jh0iopMgbfA




http://youtu.be/1DwmYKR8OzQ

The 90s came back for a night in Pittsburgh with Five Iron Frenzy touring with Reel Big Fish:



http://youtu.be/X0CDpFssMuQ



http://youtu.be/LUmPLowbKX4

I survived quite the early winter storm to catch The Rose Hill on my way back from hunting in Warren. I was able to capture their new song, Offender. It turns out that it happens to be the last time I saw The Rose Hill as this lineup as member changes have occurred in the months since then.



http://youtu.be/H-FkpJiVh9g

Filmed & edited by Joel A. Swanson

My 'Burgh Life & Shows - October 2013

My 'Burgh Life

Footage includes the Pirates first playoff game since 1992 in Pittsburgh where they eliminate the Reds from the playoffs in a 5-2 Wild Card victory, The Rook wedding (Amber & Dylan), the Pirates WIN over the Cardinals in the NLDS, two Penguins games, Elphie returns, visiting with Gregor in Cleveland, The Frankenstein Wedding (and cake), & a rally for Adjunct Professors with surprise guest Bill Peduto.

Soundtrack includes "Beat 'Em Bucs" by the Benny Benack Band & "Brand New Life" by The Prometheus Project.

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



http://youtu.be/cCHl4IYAR4g

Revolution Radio @ The Rooke Wedding (10.05.13)

This was the first set by Revolution Radio in quite a while. It was good to see the guys playing again at this wedding of two RAD folks!



http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL65DF1DF11CEDE845

Unified Underground 2013

Unified Underground is always a great time. This year was extra special with Elphie being there. It's always good to hang with this community & see some cool shows too!



http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh9ZwEF2QQpPZqhLsDl60CsqlTZ5wGZbV

October 17th, 2013

I planned to go to see Mike Mains & The Branches…thankfully I still did get to see them and The Orphan, The Poet but ran very late due to an unreasonable work schedule…an unfortunate trend in my current employment.

The Orphan, The Poet



http://youtu.be/lIuf8vNBEfs

Mike Mains & The Branches



http://youtu.be/YAl3KEjaXko

October 19th, 2013

I haven't had the chance to see He Is Legend in several years. This day was the first day of small game hunting in Pennsylvania. After having dinner with my parents I headed back home to Pittsburgh and on to see this show. I arrived very late & just as He Is Legend was taking the stage.

He Is Legend



http://youtu.be/HSEZbfesXpU

October 20th, 2013

The Chariot farewell tour came through the Pittsburgh area so naturally I went. I arrived to this one in time to see the touring bands. I didn't get off work in time to get there for the beginning of the show (again) so I missed out on Pittsburgh area metal core stuff (i believe).

The Chariot



http://youtu.be/PGjOujmecGk

October 29th, 2013

There was a rally for Adjunct Professors. My friend, Derek, played a The Homeless Gospel Choir set with a new tune.

The Homeless Gospel Choir



http://youtu.be/73Vnb1e5b6U

A Step Toward Building Something Beautiful:  10.31.13

Elphie & I met during GothiCon 2011 in Cincinnati and developed a friendship mostly online due to the distance between us. I moved to Pittsburgh in November 2012 & the day that I moved, Elphie contacted me about meeting up while she travelled during the Christmas holiday. At first it didn't look like that would happen but later plans were made though in the end it still did not happen. We continued our online talking. I felt an interest in her but did not speak of it clearly due to circumstances that caused her to believe it best to not get involved in a relationship. She eventually stated her interest in me and I then responded with confirmation of interest. Elphie visited in Pittsburgh around my birthday then we went to some music festivals and she spent a while in Pittsburgh through the summer. Though I thought it may be changing at times, our status remained friends who really liked each other. This became somewhat frustrating over time but I continued to hold onto the hope that we could be something really good. On Halloween, Elphie told me there was surprise waiting when I got home from work. It was her willingness to commit to a relationship. i was very happy at this moment. She captured a lot of the footage in this one. I added a clip with background information

Soundtrack includes "Reflections - music video version" by Travelouge & "Beat Your Heart Out" by The Distillers

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



http://youtu.be/hl7wi8QOjCA

After this wonderful moment, Elphie & I went to a show at a place run by a friend called The Den Season. We listened to Derek tell some stories at this event.

Derek Zanetti tell stories



http://youtu.be/D1-OkOEhTYo

Unified Underground 2013

Unified Underground changed location to Louisville, KY for 2013. It was a good change. There was an affordable hotel available to us and the facilities seemed more suited for this kind of gathering. The theme was "The Heart." As always, it was good to spend time with friends I don't see as often as I would like and hear some great music. This year had the added bonus of Elphie coming out with Leper to Unified Underground. Linked below is the playlist of video clips from the conference:



http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh9ZwEF2QQpPZqhLsDl60CsqlTZ5wGZbV

Filmed & edited by Joel A. Swanson

Revolution Radio Plays The Rooke Wedding (10.05.13)

My housemate & friend, Dylan, asked if he could borrow the sound equipment I brought with me in my move to Pittsburgh. He was getting married and a band he was once in would be playing the reception. I offered to also help run the sound for this event & set up the system.

The band was Revolution Radio. I met Dylan through booking this band and his other band, The Last Hope, as they toured to Cornerstone while I worked at Covenant in Cincinnati.

Revolution Radio played a fun set for the reception. It was good to see the guys playing again:



http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL65DF1DF11CEDE845

Filmed & edited (& sound engineered) by Joel A. Swanson

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