Rock-N-Review : 𝔸𝕦𝕥𝕠𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕡𝕙 ℝ𝕠𝕔𝕜 ℕ' 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝔹𝕒𝕪𝕠𝕦 Of all the bands playing Rock'n The Bayou Concert this year, Autograph possibly held the most interest for me. I know Autograph, but I didn’t follow them as closely as I did other bands back in the day. Add to that the fact that I’ve never seen them live and I wasn’t sure what to expect when they took the stage. I’ve seen many shows from bands of that era that served only to disappoint, so to say I was apprehensive would have been an understatement. By the time they were done my only regret was NOT paying more attention to these boys before now.
Since I can’t tell you what their stage show used to be like and make the normal comparisons to then and now, I will stick to now and simply let you know these dudes bring the heat when the lights come on. Some turnover has Randy Rand as the sole remaining member from the original version, but for someone like me who wasn’t married to that lineup, I simply let the current members show speak for itself, and believe me, it is staggering to watch!
Simon is a natural born front-man and he holds the crowd in the palm of his hand. Vocally, he can straight up howl, and having watched him do these songs now, I can’t imagine anyone else standing up there. Randy and Jimi are both animals on their axes, but here is where my inexperience with the band (and lack of skill with a camera) told on me. Randy was sporting a cool ass hat for the entire set, which I love, but it presents photo challenges from the light show. Pro Sound and Lighting always bring the smoke, so normally I just have to time lights flashes to get the shots I want. Not that its always easy, but once I get the timing down, a guitarist facing the crowd with lights going dark/red/blue/green/WHITE I can wait/wait/wait/BOOM and there is my shot. When someone has a hat like this though, and I want to get his face, I also have to coordinate those flashes with the artist’s movements to catch him looking up, or out, or whatever. Not being familiar with Randy’s stage movements made my snaps somewhat random. If I was more familiar, I would know when he normally looks down and grinds, vs when he puts his hand up and stares out, etc. As it was, I would be focused on Simon and catch him out of the corner of my eye, but before I could reposition and refocus, he would be off grinding face down again. That left me with lots of shots where the brim of the hat cast a shadow over half his face. Same with Jimi Bell and all that long black hair. I would normally try to time his head whip or glances either way to get a clear face pic. Unfamiliar with both, I don’t think I did a particularly good job of either, but hey, maybe I can use that as an excuse to catch another show and improve upon myself? <<< hint hint While I am admitting my short comings as a photographer, I straight up hosed Marc. I spent so much time down front fighting shadows and hair that I ended up with only a couple good shots of him. Hell of a stick man, he deserved more than I gave him, 100% my fault.
So there it is. Even if I didn’t do a good job Autograph did, and they gained a new fan tonight as a result. They are as high energy as any band I’ve seen, with the obvious benefit of years of experience; it’s the perfect combination. Everyone up there knows how to be a rock star, they know what the fans want, and that’s what they deliver. When I say they are rock stars, all I mean by that is seeing them walking around back stage, even people who didn’t know who they were individually, knew they belonged on staged. If I had a chance tomorrow to see this show again, I would snatch it up in a heartbeat. If you have not seen them lately, or at all, I would tell you to correct that at your earliest opportunity. When you walk out, you may just find yourself online checking the price on Autograph CDs.
𝓐𝓾𝓽𝓸𝓰𝓻𝓪𝓹𝓱 𝓲𝓼: 𝒮𝒾𝓂𝑜𝓃 𝒟𝒶𝓃𝒾𝑒𝓁𝓈 – 𝓁𝑒𝒶𝒹 𝓋𝑜𝒸𝒶𝓁𝓈, 𝓇𝒽𝓎𝓉𝒽𝓂 𝑔𝓊𝒾𝓉𝒶𝓇 𝑅𝒶𝓃𝒹𝓎 𝑅𝒶𝓃𝒹 – 𝒷𝒶𝓈𝓈, 𝒷𝒶𝒸𝓀𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓋𝑜𝒸𝒶𝓁𝓈 𝑀𝒶𝓇𝒸 𝒲𝒾𝑒𝓁𝒶𝓃𝒹 – 𝒹𝓇𝓊𝓂𝓈 𝒥𝒾𝓂𝒾 𝐵𝑒𝓁𝓁 – 𝓁𝑒𝒶𝒹 𝑔𝓊𝒾𝓉𝒶𝓇, 𝒷𝒶𝒸𝓀𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓋𝑜𝒸𝒶𝓁𝓈
ROCK-N-REVIEW: Denham Springs, LA 70726