BROOKS & DUNN- 'Last Rodeo' Tour- First Midwest Bank Amphitheater,Tinley Park, IL
When it comes to being part of something like legendary country duo Brooks & Dunn, distance didn't seem to bother me, traveling about eleven hours to see these guys perform on their last tour ever. I know these performances are set up many months in advance, and sometimes years, but the day could not have brought a more sweltering heat and humidity to the field in which the First Midwest Bank Amphitheater was built. l'm sure everyone in the long line waiting for the gate to open,which extended all away back to the road, would have much rather been at the beach that day.
With no rain in sight, the only thing I really had to worry about that day was, passing out from heat stroke, and keeping dust out of my camera. Gary Allen opened the show, and the stage extended into the audience which can present some really great perspectives for shooting, if photographers are allowed to shoot around it in the pit. In this case we were not, there were two other shooters beside myself. We were only allowed to shoot the first 2 songs for Gary Allen and Brooks and Dunn. Luckily Gary made use of the extended platform and I was able to get some great shots of his back to the audience. At one point a woman in front tried to grab Allen, to which security in the pit, pushed her back. The lighting for Gary's performance was rather simple, with a single spot to light him, and band members by the stage lighting.
I was a little disappointed with the Brooks and Dunn portion of the show as I and other photographers were told we had the first 3 songs, but then it changed to just two. For a majority of the songs Ronnie Dunn performed on the platform to the audience while Kix Brooks performed from the stage. Photographers were allowed to shoot from the left side of the stage, we did not have access around the platform in the pit, which didn't make sense as there was room in the pit. In either case, that definitely proved to affect the outcome of this shoot. For the first song I used my 14-24 since Kix and Ronnie were a few feet away, which resulted in my best images for this shoot. The last song I used my 80-200 which it would have been nice if Ronnie would have turned around or looked at us shooting. I was able to get a few nice shots of Kix, but that was it. Overall I wish I would have used the 80-200 first if I knew Ronnie was going to stay the entire time out on the end of the platform on the second song! ISO's were at 1600 and shutter speeds varied around 120-250.
