Stick Figure @ Highline Ballroom, NYC

Live Reviews | Mar 26th, 2016

Stick Figure, Fortunate Youth, Raging Fyah @ Highline Ballroom, NYC (16)

Date: March 24, 2016
Opening Acts: Raging Fyah, Fortunate Youth
Band Website: http://www.stickfiguremusic.com/

Stick Figure returned to the East Coast and New York City in support of their stellar record “Set in Stone,” on Thursday March 24, 2016. After getting into the band last summer and with their new release, I was looking forward to this show for months and the band certainly didn’t disappoint! Opening the show was Raging Fyah and Fortunate Youth.

Arriving shortly before the opener, Highline Ballroom was already quite bustling and getting full with anticipation of a fun, chill night of Reggae Rock. Shooting shows like this can prove tricky as there is no photo pit for the show and navigating the crowd to get clear shots with clean backgrounds is a challenge. As I joked to my friends who I was with at the show, it’s like navigating the stoner seas of the Highline Ballroom. I suppose it’s easier than say hardcore and punk shows that’s for sure.

Raging Fyah, hailing from Kingston Jamaica opened the show with a solid 30 minute set of reggae music to get the crowd warmed up and ready to go. During that set it was still possible to move around getting a few shots. That proved quite difficult once Fortunate Youth took the stage. At this point, the venue was completely full and there was no way to move anywhere. I bailed on my friends to claim a spot on an elevated platform for reserved dinner tables and stood on the steps the remainder of the night. It was the perfect spot for photos and with no restriction on how long I could shoot I was happy to park it there and snap away. Fortunate Youth definitely have a following as they had a lot of friends and family in attendance as well as ton of people knowing their songs as well. Stick Figure did a great job bringing some worthy opening acts along for the tour. At this point, everyone was baked to high hell (not me, well maybe secondhand contact high ha ha.)

Stick Figure was up next and came out to boisterous applause including Cocoa The Tour Dog. Everyone loves Cocoa! Fans bring Cocoa stuffed toys to nosh on during the set and it’s quite friendly to go up to everyone and say hello and get petted while Stick Figure jams out. Stick Figure opened the show with Breathe from their excellent record “Burial Ground,” everyone was in heaven during this show. Maybe it was the big clouds in the room. Who knows. As an audience member, the lighting setup was superb with many strobes situated throughout giving everyone a great atmosphere. At times it was a matter of timing my shots and waiting for the right time to capture the show because there wasn’t much facial lighting. Shooting the entire set I could wait for those moments however. Last minute photo gig and I didn’t charge my battery for the camera so it was hanging by a thread all night but I made it! Fans were treated to a wide array songs from Stick Figure library including tracks from “Burial Ground,” “Smoke Stack” and their latest “Set in Stone” which is just fantastic. A lot of my favorites were played like “Choice is Yours,” “Smile on Faces,” “Mind Block,” “Hawaii Song,” and “Weight of Sound.” For the last tune of the night Stick Figure brought out Raging Fyah, and Fortunate Youth to sing along and extra special guests New Kingston and Protoje which was awesome to see. Nice to see how connected the reggae community is and all come out to support one another.

Here are some photos from the show:

Raging Fyah

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Fortunate Youth

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Stick Figure

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For the full albums and perhaps buy a print to support a starving artist (hehe) click here:

Raging Fyah:
https://mattkremkau.smugmug.com/CONCERT-PHOTOGRAPHY/RAGING-FYAH

Fortunate Youth:
https://mattkremkau.smugmug.com/CONCERT-PHOTOGRAPHY/FORTUNATE-YOUTH

Stick Figure:
https://mattkremkau.smugmug.com/CONCERT-PHOTOGRAPHY/STICK-FIGURE/

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