El Monstero

For those of you who don’t know, El Monstero is the best kept secret St. Louis. They’re a Pink Floyd tribute act that brings all the spectacle. A three hour concert, presented by a 12 piece band, costumed characters and pole dancers – they really do present a definitive Pink Floyd experience.

Saturday, February 3rd marked their inaugural show in Kansas City at the Uptown Theater. What followed was a journey through all the hits, staples and deep album cuts, with lights, psychedelic animations and pigs on stilts. If they’re not coming to your area, be sure to make the trip out to see them.

Every concert presents its own unique challenges, be it harsh lighting, or a tight pit (this show had both), and just when you’re getting the hang of things, the three songs are up and the shoot is done. 

The whole band was dressed up.

The Uptown was at near-capacity, not bad for a tribute act. The fact that several dozen in attendance drove in from St Louis to see El Monstero is a testament to the show they deliver. I think this shot says it all:

For those keeping score out there, I shot this show with my new Nkon D600 (RAW, of course). The lens was an oldie, but a goodie Tokina 28-70 f/2.8 The focus on it is fast and it produces fairly sharp results throughout the image. It’ll be my workhorse for a while, but the Nikkor 24-70 f/2.8 is still on my wish list.

I think these images show that you can safely go to 6400 ISO and produce some very usable shots.