In The Beginning…

Judas Priest – Long Beach Arena : November 21, 1982

One thing that seems to surprise people is the fact that I started shooting rock bands when I was a young teen. So this is for the old school fans…a look into my early roots. I am sure this will be the first in a series. This shot is from one of my all-time favorite concerts. I will never forget the way the arena exploded when the band opened with Electric Eye. Rob Halford stood raised above the drum riser – laser lights shooting recklessly. There was such a mad energy from the crowd that night. I remember thinking to myself, Heavy Metal music is about to explode. I am proud to say that I was right.

Photographed from my seat with my trusty, smuggled in Canon AE-1, an 80mm-300mm zoom lens with a 2x tele-converter attached.

It Tastes Just Like Chaos

(These photos and many others now available for sale.  Email: IamKevin@fairwarning.com)

The Taste Of Chaos Tour hit L.A. at the Long Beach Arena and Avenged Sevenfold kicked out their fair share of chaos. The arena was packed with thousands of little A7X clones, a sure sign that the band’s time has come. I have known these guys for years now, shooting them from the clubs to the big time. It’s good to see a band you respect, and like personally, get rewarded for the years of blood they’ve spilled. I shot their entire set, sharing the pit with a multi-camera video crew that’s working on an upcoming DVD. At one point, I got slammed in the head by one of the video camera braces. It left a real nasty, bloody cut – but that goes with the territory.

kevin estrada~

Murderfest

Spent Sunday night on stage with The Godfathers Of Grindcore, Napalm Death. Here are a couple of shots from the mayhem that took place at The Knitting Factory on the final night of their tour. The amazing thing about these guys is how humble and down to earth they are offstage.

kevin estrada~

The Story Begins

If you would have told me when I was 14 or 15 years old that I would spend a birthday with Motley Crue, I never would have believed it. And I hate to think of what I might have sold to score that day. But today it happened. The day started off with two beautiful handmade birthday cards from my daughters and after that, a Flying-V guitar was delivered to my door. Then it was off to shoot The Crue as they kicked off Cruefest, 2008. The live shot is the official kickoff photo that I shot for Cruefest. I photographed the other photo as the band took their last breaths just before being bombared by a tidal wave of press.