Fight…For Your Right

Rob Halford
Burbank, Ca
May 11, 1993

(This photo and many others available for sale.  Email: IamKevin@fairwarning.com)

Rob Halford had shocked the Metal world the previous year by leaving Judas Priest and announcing he was forming a new band of his own – Fight. Halford had been living in Arizona and put together a team of young, hungry, aggressive metal-heads from the area. At that time, Halford was more influenced than influential and was very swayed by current and newer metal acts, particularly Pantera. For Halford, it was not only the music that was compelling to him, but also the lifestyle. Halford gained a new interest in his body – he began working out and toning his body, and with that came his passion for tattoos. His arms, legs, stomach, his head, and areas that I cared not to see, were decorated in tattooed art.

I met up with Rob Halford as he and the new band were in rehearsals for the first Fight tour. Before we started shooting, he and I spoke about what we wanted to get out of the shoot. We both agreed that we wanted something different – there were enough photos of Halford covered in leather, spikes and sunglasses floating around. I could tell that he really wanted to be looked at as a bad-ass – someone you would be afraid to pass by on the street or in dark alley. I also picked up on the fact that he was really into his body and tattoos and would like to show them off. I came up with the idea of going shirtless and just surrounding him in black, allowing his skin, his tattoos and his attitude to take over the photos. He loved the idea.

As we started shooting, he stood in a very strong, menacing stance – really capturing that bad-ass vibe that we spoke about. But as the shoot went on, and he and I established a rapport, he began to let his guard down. He became more and more comfortable in front of the camera, becoming less and less of a bad-ass and more and more of who he really is deep inside. At one point he lowered his trousers a bit so I could see that his lower abdomen also had artwork tattooed on it – the word “Grunt.” The “grunt” artwork led a lot lower than I cared to behold. We had all heard the rumors and I sure didn’t need to verify first hand. I remember telling Halford, “That’s cool…that’s low enough.” He smirked a bit, and the shoot continued.

I felt that Rob Halford and I really pushed our limits and the end result was one that showed a different side of Halford…at least a side that Halford had not publicly spoken about yet. I walked out of that shoot knowing that the two of us really accomplished our goal – we got a session that was really different than all the other sessions he had done.

Photographed with my Canon EOS-1, a Canon 28m-80mm f5.6 lens and a Novatron Strobe Light Kit. Shot on Fujichrome film.

Classic Reunions…Jane’s Addiction

Jane’s Addiction
Relapse Tour
Universal Amphitheatre
November 18, 1997

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Part three of a five-part series I am doing this week on Classic Reunions. Each day I will add a new photo of a featured artist and that band’s classic reunion.
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Jane’s Addiction had their first major break up in 1991, right after their final famous Honolulu gig in which Perry Farrell and drummer Stephen Perkins played a couple of tunes butt naked. Sadly, they were at the height of their game in terms of recognition and creative energy. Farrell formed Porno for Pyros while Dave Navarro joined the Red Hot Chili Peppers, replacing John Frusciante who was let go for drug use. Neither RHCP with Navarro or Porno for Pyros were able to generate the raw energy of their original incarnations. In 1997 Jane’s Addiction announced the Relapse Tour, but bassist Eric Avery refused to join, and was replaced by the Chili Peppers’ Flea. Though Flea is a kick-ass player, there was a raw, dirty and dangerous punk rock edge to Avery and Jane’s never felt quite the same without him. They had also developed a flashier and more flamboyant style, and it seemed that wearing expensive designer clothing outweighed the importance of the music. Again, the music still rocked, but the dangerous edge that was synonymous with Jane’s Addiction – that sense that anything could happen at any minute – was gone.

Photographed with my Canon EOS-1 and a Canon 28mm-70mm Canon f5.6 lens. Shot on Fujichrome film.

Classic Reunions…KISS

KISS
Los Angeles Forum
August 23, 1996

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This is the first of a five part series I am doing this week on Classic Reunions. Each day I will add a new photo of a featured artist and that band’s classic reunion.
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Around the mid 1980’s, KISS took off their make up and kept it off for more than ten years. During that time, tensions within the band erupted. Contract disputes and other personal problems caused drummer Peter Criss and lead guitarist Ace Frehley to leave the band. During this time, KISS went through several line-up changes, and they seemed to become less relevant each year. They had gone from being one of the most original, influential bands of all-time, to coming off as grunge wannabes. Seeing them in paisley shirts and beanies just never felt like the real KISS. Then, in 1996, the four original members announced that they would be reuniting – in full make up. This was the rock and roll reunion that everyone had been waiting for. I was very fortunate to have photographed all three of the Los Angeles Reunion shows as well as the KROQ Weenie Roast warm up gig just a few months prior. To make these L.A. shows even more exciting was the rumor that a reunited Van Halen with David Lee Roth would open the final show in L.A. – as a way to payback Gene Simmons for funding the original Van Halen demos. Unfortunately, the double VH, Kiss reunion never happened. I shot this photo of Gene during their final encore – Rock & Roll All Night. He had spit blood all over my camera case earlier in the show and now all of the confetti that was falling from the rafters was being glued to the sticky stage blood on my case. Once the show was over, my camera case was unrecognizable. I took a photo of my blood and confetti covered camera case the next morning…I gotta’ dig that up

Photographed with my Canon EOS-1 and a Canon 70mm-300mm f5.6 lens. Shot on Fujichrome film.

Amazing Screams…Axl Rose

Axl Rose
Guns N’ Roses
December 28, 1987
Perkin’s Palace : Pasadena, Ca

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

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Part five of a five part series I am doing this week that captures Amazing Screams.
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When Axl would scream, he looked like a baby bird wanting to eat. His whole body would convulse, he’d stomp his feet, squeeze the mic with both hands and get so totally into it, you thought he might spontaneously combust. His voice was so powerful it was like a new instrument that could carry its own melody and create its own little hook. This shot is from a four-night run they did at Perkins Palace just as Appetite For Destruction was beginning to take off. Right after this GNR went on a big arena tours, opening for Aerosmith and The Cult. This was the last time we got to see them in a theater,they soon became huge and were headlining the big stadiums themselves.

Photographed with trusty, smuggled in Canon AE-1 Program, a cheap, no name 70mm-210mm f5.6 lens. Shot on Fujichrome film.