Day 1 of Madison’s Forward Music Festival had me bouncing from the High Noon Saloon to The Majestic where I ended up staying despite previous plans to race back to The High Noon.

First up was All Tiny Things who’s airy, looping, keyboarding songs were very nice atmosphere and I’ve read good things but I had to hit the road.

Racing over to The Majestic to catch At Night In The Box, a foursome out of Minneapolis who I hadn’t heard of prior to doing my research for FMF09 but who very quickly stood out as I paged through all 100 bands’ MySpace pages.  Mixing acoustic folk, fuzzed out electric blues, blues and indie into one I’m really glad I didn’t overlook them.  For only play 3-5 songs they put on a hell of a show and I was disappointed their set didn’t last a few more songs.

Next up was Gold made up of two guitars and drums.  Can’t find anything on them on the internets which is too bad because I dug their loud, hard rocking tunes.

The end of my night was with Puerto Rican punk band Davila 666 who came on looking like they’d been ‘prepping’ for their set for quite some time.  With bass, rhythm guitar, lead guitar, lead singer and a tambourine player all crowding the front of the stage I wasn’t sure what to expect.  With each backing vocal part, each member of the band (drummer included) all poured their all into the various mics around the stage singing backup and dancing around.

Between A Night At The Box and Davila 666 I’ve found two more acts to follow…

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A little review of recent work below over the last three months or so.  And I promise to keep this updated for the millions reading and waiting for the next post.

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Sometimes you need inspiration to guide, inform and assist your own work.  The Boston Globe’s ‘Big Picture’ does just that. Further, Flickr and the variety of photography magazines and blogs I read also provide the necessary inspiration when ‘photographer’s block’ kicks in.

Just some of my favorites that get me going.

[Note: I didn't take any of these and am not taking credit for doing anything other than finding them...]

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When I first learned that Nikon was coming out with a dSLR that could also shoot 720p video I was skeptical and like a lot of photographers, uneasy with combining the two formats.  I always liked the fact that dSLRs weren’t trying to be something they weren’t and that all the research and development went into better photos and more control.  I got excited about video in a dSLR after seeing Vincent Laforet’s Reverie which used the Canon 5D Mark II and an incredible collection of the finest Canon and Zeiss lenses available.  Seeing video shot on a $2,500 camera body that rivaled or surpased a $100,000 HD videocamera  is something to be impressed with.

Which leads me to the video below; something else to be impressed with.  The depth of field, composition and holding the shot just long enough to get a natural smile got me.  I’ve come around to the possibilities of video on a dSLR; now if I could only justify spending $2,500 on a new body…

Enjoy.

Sofia’s People: Canon 5dmk2 24p from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.

…got my SIM card situation all sorted out.  I am the proud new owner of a 19 digit Indian cell phone number, I’ll probably be back in the States before I figure out how to dial.  I headed to find ‘old Jodhpur’ and ended up walking for over an hour only to reach the end of the road and a ‘lake’ at the foot of the backside of the fort.  On my way back towards the center of town I was stopped by three brothers who wanted to chat.  My enthusiasm for sitting and talking to strangers around every corner is dwindling but I sat and talked with them.  I’m finding myself being asked the same questions over and over again.

What country you from? Married? Not married? Girlfriend? No girlfriend? Where are you staying? How much is your room? What is your occupation? No girlfriend? How much money you make? Have pen? How do you get visa?

After a long day walking and walking and walking through dirty, dusty, dog/cow/goat/human shit filled streets there isn’t anything better than sitting on the roof of one of the hundreds of havelis (private mansion turned into a hotel/restaurant), having something to eat and watching the sunset over the city…

…On my last night in Jodhpur I met another traveler and we took in the night scene on the streets of Jodhpur together.  Having not seen another westerner since London it was nice to talk to someone, especially someone who’d been traveling for the last year and a half.  Quite funny to hear she was bombarded with similar questions and noticed the same intricacies of Indian culture.  A sudden downpour caught us and we ended up sitting it out on the roof of another haveli having beers until they kicked us out.  On the way back to our guesthouse we met a family of cows blocking our way.  Got some great shots with the cows and met their owner, finding out they are owned by someone and that members of the community feed them for good karma.

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…the skeptical stares I received in Delhi have been quickly replaced by inviting and inquisitive glances (and even a few smiles).  I’m actually starting to feel like a mini celebrity.  Last night I met a guy named Aasif who works in a spice shop right around the corner from my guesthouse.  We started talking and he invited me to join him and his friends for drinks.  On my way to meet Aasif I ran into two independent party workers who I’d shared chai with earlier in the day, and they were motioning for me to get on their motorcycle.  Here I am, 8,000 miles from home and being fought over on a dark street in India.

Aasif and his friend were very nice and excited about hanging out with a westerner asking me an endless stream of questions.  At the bar we went to I very quickly noticed that there were no women anywhere to be found and thought there had been a terrible miscommunication only to find out that Indian women outside of the big cities don’t go out to bars.  Makes sense considering 95% of marriages in India are arranged.  I did feel a tad uncomfortable when everyone starting dancing with one another and try as I might I couldn’t keep up with their wicked bollywood inspired moves...

…being woken up at 6:30am by the Mosque across the street and their call to prayer, I ended up watching the sun rise which seems to be an everyday thing now.  After breakfast I walked down to the main square and sat and waited while the market opened.  Watching the market come to life was a nice way to start the day.  As the group grew to 5-6 young kids all waiting for me to turn water into wine or something I began to think about an article I read once about how to survive an attack by a group of children.  I take that back, it was really about how to beat up 11 children by yourself.  People have been very friendly and helpful and because of this I figured if someone saw some poor white dude getting pummeled by 6-7 10 year old boys, once they stopped laughing they might help a brother out…

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As published on Dane101.com

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Bands that time forgot is going to be a new series on here.  Tonight I’m shooting Monotonix.  An Israeli band that has been banned from just about every club in Tel Aviv for their live show antics which include (not an exclusive list) setting their instruments on fire, stealing drinks from the audience, not to mention setting up their stage IN the crowd and having the crowd, crowd surf the drummer…Quite the interesting assignment.

Watching footage reminded me of At The Drive-In and their impeccable dance moves.  Enjoy.

One Armed scissor – ATDi

Indie favorites Elf Power swung through Madison on Friday night, playing a short set of their own songs before taking a short break and serving as the backing band for Vic Chestnutt who they recently recorded an album with.  Talking with the keyboardist from Elf Power (woman with the funny hat) about life on the road was an interesting insight into the life of a touring band.

Dane101.com

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“…arriving in Jodhpur I am still not really knowing what I’m doing especially after last night’s adventure hopping on a moving train that turned out not to be mine.  Upon arriving and hopping off the train I am approached by no less than 10 rickshaw drivers, hotel managers and cab drivers; mostly ‘touts’.  Most of the drivers get a commission when they bring someone to a hotel (and even some restaurants) and so even after saying you have a reservation and that it’s ‘confirmed’ I am told my place is ‘very expensive’ and that he can take me to a better place for hundreds of rupees less.  We drive down back alley after back alley, pot holes be damned, going right through them, me bouncing wildly in the back.  The alleys look less and less inviting and I begin to wonder what kind of shit hole I’ve booked until we arrive at 20 foot tall cast iron gates and a courtyard with marble walls.  I’m home…”

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