The Nibbana Family

In our first article on the subject, “Capturing Great Concert Videos“, we touched on the basics of how to shoot video at your favorite shows. Since that article was written, high definition (720/1080 HD) point-and-shoot (P&S) cameras have become commonplace and more and more people are recording their favorite artists and sharing them on YouTube. Now that the bar has been raised for the average quality video, if you want your videos to stand out you are going to need to take some steps to differentiate yourself. The first step is to start with the tips in our last article so you can learn about cameras, where you should stand in the venue, and what type of memory card to buy. Let’s move on to selecting the best camera currently available for shooting concert video.

Although our Canon camera has served us well since 2008, it’s time to upgrade to something with more than 3x zoom and 720p video. Finding a new camera is a daunting task amongst all of the various models out there – and if you recall from our first article, finding something with decent audio recording capability at a concert venue is not easy. We literally scoured the Internet for months looking at various camera review sites and forums for the right replacement. We thought we found it in the Panasonic DMC-GF3XK, a micro four-thirds (mini-DSLR) camera with a Lumix 14-42mm interchangeable lens and adjustable audio gain. We purchased one and took it out for some testing. The video quality was beautiful, but we were not impressed with its limited zoom. We quickly learned that the optical zoom capability of a standard lens is determined by dividing the larger number into the smaller number. In the case of this 14-42mm lens you divide 14 into 42 arriving at 3x optical zoom. So we returned it and were back to the drawing board.

After more research we narrowed our search to Read the rest of this entry »

Since I began capturing concert videos a lot of people have asked how I take such incredible quality footage. Getting great live video breaks down to the type of camera you use, your location in the audience, and your ability to hold the camera steady. Here are my techniques for capturing great concert videos.

The type of camera you use is the single most important aspect of capturing great video. Most cameras available today record 720p or 1080i HD video, so getting great picture quality isn’t too hard – it’s the audio quality that’s difficult to obtain. Even the best current camera models that capture HD video and Dolby stereo sound deliver distorted audio when faced with extremly loud volume from a concert venue. Unfortunately there isn’t anywhere on the side of the camera box where it reads, “Works well at 140db concerts!”. Finding a camera which works well in this environment is mainly hit or miss, and the best solution is to look at videos shot by others and ask them which camera they use.

The camera I use is the Read the rest of this entry »

The other night we saw Staind, Shinedown, Chevelle and Halestorm in concert. We were front row center and had the best view I could possibly ask for. We managed to catch a guitar pick from Shinedown, three guitar picks from Staind and a drumstick from Halestorm!

Kicking off the show was Halestorm, a local band from York, PA with a female vocalist and an absolute animal for a drum player. Coincidentally these two are brother and sister in the band, Lzzy and Arejay Hale, hence the band name. They did a great job of getting the crowd going and energized for the rest of the show.

Chevelle took the stage for an hour long set including their biggest hits. “The Red” was by far the crowd favorite and left the crowd roaring and ready to go for more. Personally, I was excited for Shinedown to take the stage as I have seen them live before and they put on an incredible show. Not to dissappoint, Brent and the band put on an electrifying show with their hits “45″, Heroes”, “Fly From The Inside”, and “Second Chance”. Brent’s enthusiam and interaction with the crowd was definately the highlight of the show!

Finally, Staind exploded on stage with “Raw” and continued their set with crowd favorites “Right Here, “So Far Away”, “For You”, and other hits before closing the show with “Mudshovel”. Aaron came down into the crowd to perform an acoustic set for “Outside” and “It’s Been Awhile” which was a treat for those further out in the audience. I was hoping to hear Aaron’s rendition of Pearl Jam’s “Black”, but it wasn’t to be tonight. Overall, their performance was great as they sounded incredible. My only gripe would be their stage presence, which lacked enthusiam similar to the gents in Van Halen we saw a few months back, but I had been tipped off by a friend and it was expected so I wasn’t as dissappointed as I might have been. Overall it was a terrific show!

Last night we saw Van Halen in concert with tickets I won on the radio. I’ll spare you the standard fare regarding the miracle of seeing David Lee Roth on stage again with the VH’s and go right into thoughts on the show.

The most imporant aspect of the show, the music, was incredible. You could close your eyes and think you were listening to the original recordings – they sounded that good. They roared through the hits without any misses. Sure, a few mistakes here and there, but what stood out was how clean the show was. How absolutely perfect. How “sterile”. And not in a good way.

There were no fancy pyrotechniques. No fancy light show. Heck, even the keyboardist was kept off stage and relegated to the pit. Eddie’s 16 year old son, Wolfie Van Halen (who replaced original bassist Michael Anthony), exhibited far less energy than his 50 year old bandmates and strolled around stage playing bass and never cracked smile. There just wasn’t much action on stage.

David Lee Roth, forever the perfect frontman and master showman, possessed a stage presence as sassy as his sparkling torso-baring jackets. Beaming perpetually, Eddie sometimes spun and sprung as his fingers, which were granted frequent close-ups on the big screen behind the stage, worked their wizardry.

Overall it was a pretty good show. The music was impeccable; the show just wasn’t much to behold. The energy seemed to be lacking and the crowd wasn’t very involved. I don’t know, perhaps since I’m not the biggest VH fan I just wasn’t in to it. Here is a clip from last nights show, judge for yourself: