Monsters of Rock

Venue: 4th & B

City: San Diego, CA

Set length: Around 40 minutes

Tonight’s Lineup:

Pre-show banter…
I am going to try and keep my ramblings short on this review but there is a lot to say so advanced apologies if this ends up being a “The Stand” sized novel. I was in San Diego for 4 days at a Photography/Software Summit and skipped out on the Joe McNally presentation (which was a bummer to miss) to go see Pearl and The Iron Maidens, which I was excited for, at 4th & B! Once again, thanks to Phantom (Iron Maidens’ management) for the pass to the gig – he’s always been extremely kind and accommodating when I have asked about photographing the band.

So, my day started off at 5:00AM and pretty much spent the day hiking up and down the hills of the SD Zoo. I was able to take a quick nap from 5:00-6:00 and then I was off to grab some food and leave for the gig. Fortunately, the venue was about 6 miles from where I was staying so it made for an easy commute. I got there around 8:30 and the first band was already on as I walked through the door. I was armed with my Canon 1Ds Mark III, a 70-200mm f/2.8 and a 50mm f/1.2. I also had a Speedlight with me but I opted not to use it at all as the stage-lighting was pretty decent. My biggest enemies this night were the mic stands and the fact that I always seemed to always find myself out of place from the action – I was off my game tonight. Next time…

Reviews, comments, and possible putdowns for this band…
A cover band. Here was their setlist: No, not from memory – I wrote them down as I heard them, otherwise I would surely have forgotten (“and stop calling me Shirley!”)
– “You’ve Got Another Thing Coming” by Judas Priest
– “Let There Be Rock” by AC/DC
– “Immigrant Song” by Led Zeppelin
– “Highway Star” by Deep Purple
– “Shout At The Devil” by Motley Crue
– “War Pigs” by Black Sabbath

I may have missed a song in the above grouping but I think that was about it. You can check them out at…

www.myspace.com/MonstersOfRock