Song after song, he had the energy and a passion that shined through in not only his voice, but in his eyes and face as well. HE was enjoying this and everyone in the packed house felt it. There was a cool vibe going on and then we all got a treat.
During “Love’s Divine,” there was a touching moment where Seal was singing and a couple stood up in front of the stage and started to dance. You could tell they were truly in love as they looked in each others eyes. The man was singing to his true love. . . To them, they were in their own world and Seal was singing just for them. This was the most romantic thing I have seen in a long time. A very sweet moment. Seal thanked them and congratulated them on their soon-to-arrive baby.
Seal continued on and belted out some of his classic tunes as well as some NEW classics from his new album SOUL. If you have not heard this CD yet, go to Itunes now and listen to the samples. It is phenomenal. My mother borrowed my copy of the CD and I am not sure if I will ever get it back!
A Change is Gonna Come, A Mans World, I Can’t Stand The Rain, and many more were performed at the show. They all sounded even better than they did on the CD! Usually, bands or artists come out to sing and sound AWFUL. Seal is the real deal. I bet he records his songs in the studio in one take. His live performances are flawless.
LEICA M8 - 50 SUMMILUX ASPH AT 1.4
NIKON D90 AND 18-105VR LENS
After an hour of scooting, squatting, and shooting, I sat down to enjoy the show even more. By now the crowd was dancing and people were rushing the stage. Seal was gaining even more energy as the night progressed. The “I Love You Seal” screams were a-plenty and he always responded back with an “I love you too.”
The crowd REALLY went nuts when Seal performed his early hit “CRAZY” - Fans were rushing the stage and dancing. Seal managed to turn the Civic Opera House into an all-out dance party. The crowd was dancing, singing, and smiling. Everyone in that theater connected and felt that connection. They were in the zone and the energy did not stop, even after Seal left the stage. When Seal came back for the encore, the crowd went wild once again.
The show ended with “People Get Ready.” Before the song, Seal explained how this classic tune ended up on his new CD. After the show I had people asking me how I was able to bring in these cameras and roam around taking shots. I just said, “I’m the photographer.” A couple guys asked me if they could buy these photos. I instructed them to go to this site and enjoy them for free. One guy offered me $50 for my VIP pass. I said, “NO WAY,” as that pass, along with these photos, will be my memory of the night a special artist named Seal made one of my photography dreams come true. Once again Seal, I thank you and hope you enjoy the photos. I have been enjoying yours.
If Seal is coming to your town (HIS SOUL TOUR HAS NOW CONCLUDED IN THE USA), I HIGHLY recommend seeing this show. It was a mixture of beautiful vocals, exciting energy, touching moments, and some truly amazing songs. You will see none of the big-headed superstar syndrome you see in many other artists. Just a real, down-to-earth, all-around nice guy who happens to be uber talented in music, behind a camera, and at being a family man. This show and the man himself get an A+++ from me. Seal truly has “SOUL.”
Now, another story about our walk back to the hotel...
As we left the venue, we had a 1.6 mile walk back to the hotel. We could have taken a taxi, but we like to exercise (gotta love P90x). On the way back, we had a cool little adventure that made the night even that much more memorable. We stopped into a 7/11 to get a drink. As we were grabbing our waters, we saw a woman outside of the door lighting herself on fire!! NO JOKE! The owner runs out and she takes off her flaming sweater and throws it on the ground. She went in for a hot dog while her sweater burned. I am 100% serious! The smell of that burning sweater was AWFUL!
Then, if that wasn’t odd enough, a guy walked in with a bloody, beaten lip one minute later. He said that some guys just beat the hell out of him. Just great. At this point, we looked at each other and decided to skip the water. We left and walked at a brisk pace the rest of the way. I did have about $12k worth of camera gear AROUND MY NECK, so I guess we should have taken the taxi. It was an adventure that gives us something else to look back on and tell stories about. Besides, if we were mugged, I could have used my silver 50 Lux (Lens) as a weapon! Just kidding :)
As for the images and technical side of things, my M8 absolutely did AMAZING at the show. I was 100% happy with its performance with color and the metering. I shot in A mode, usually with the lens wide open, but did find my new 75 Summarit had a bad case of back focus in 80% of the shots with it. Also, I took about 100 shots with the D90 and found quite a few I liked. The M8 had a much higher keeper rate. I had no issues focusing, even at 1.4 with the 50 Lux. So yes, the M8 is a fantastic concert camera, if the lighting is good. For my 1st concert shooting experience, I was happy with the results, and man, I had a blast! You can check out SEAL’s website here.
UPDATE: If all of this wasn't enough, Seal posted a couple of my pics on his site and had this to say in his blog:
“A friend of mine who’s also an extremely talented photographer shot my show in Chicago. These are some of the best concert images that anyone has ever taken of me. This is what happens when you have a photographer who shoots for passion and not really because he’s being commissioned to do it as a job. I want to say thank you again to Steve for making such excellent images and also for administering such an enjoyable site. Take a look, if you love photography but can’t stand over technical nonsense (which quite often has nothing to do with great photography) you’ll love his site.
~S”
Thanks again Seal for the kind words, and the link. It was a pleasure to shoot this show and I would do it again, anytime.
UPDATE 06/09 - One of my images made it into the European tour book!
If you enjoyed this post, feel free to leave a comment!
WANT TO SEE MORE SHOTS FROM THE SHOW? CLICK HERE FOR MY SEAL CHICAGO 09 GALLERY!
SEAL “SOUL” TOUR LIVE IN CHICAGO 2009 - MY WORDS AND PHOTOS
Thursday, April 2, 2009
As you read this, keep in mind that I am neither a concert reviewer nor a concert photographer. As of this writing, April 2nd 2009, This is my 1st time doing both.
Oh what a night...
Yesterday was April 1st 2009 and I attended a concert that I will always remember for the rest of my life. I will always remember it for MANY reasons, including the memorable, energetic, and soulful performance of the guy everyone came to see. Seal.
I have been a fan since the early 90’s and when I saw he was coming to Chicago, I was there. My wife and I were pretty excited about it. Even though we had balcony seats, we knew it would be a GREAT show.
Let me back up to a few weeks ago. Seal (who is really into photography, cameras, and lenses), happened to stumble upon this site, enjoyed it, and e-mailed me with a kind message about it. Me, being a fan of his, well, I was honored that he even saw my site! The fact that he enjoyed it made it that much better. He shared some pics with me taken with his Leica M8.2, new Noctilux 0.95, and 21 and 24 Summilux lenses and allowed me to post them on the site in my blog, which was very cool of him!
I told him that my wife and I would be at his Chicago show and being the ultra nice, ultra cool, ultra great down-to-earth guy that he is, Seal e-mailed me and told me he could get me a photo pass to shoot the show if I wanted. The show was on April 1st, but this was no April fools joke. We packed a bag and took a short drive to downtown Chicago.
We arrived at the Civic Opera House in Chicago at 4 pm and were presented with a shiny VIP pass, as well as tickets right up front by the stage. I was told I could shoot all night, from wherever I wanted! I have never shot a concert but have ALWAYS wanted to. I remember I used to e-mail concert photographers and ask them how they got into the shows to shoot. None of them ever did respond. I never have been able to shoot a show even after wanting to for many years.
Being able to shoot Seals show really was a dream come true. I was getting to photograph not only a concert, but a guy who I have listened to since 1992. Amazing!
Here I was, walking backstage, in the empty theater for the sound check and all. INCREDIBLE!
It was now 4:35 pm. The wife was crazy starving and it was 3 hours until the show. We walked to a restaurant and had dinner. After we filled our tummies, we walked back to our hotel room at the Blackstone hotel on Michigan Ave (Great historic hotel BTW). On the way, we stopped in at Central Camera. I knew they sold Leica gear. They had a “demo” 75 Summarit for sale for a few hundred off the normal price, so I bought it to use at the show. My wife was so happy about the show she said, “Go ahead and get it!” - I did :)
We walked back to the Opera House and it was already 7:30PM. The opening act was already onstage playing. On my way in, I was stopped about 8 times by security as I was walking with my M8 and D90 around my neck with a bag of lenses. I showed them my VIP badge and all was cool.
By the time we got to our seats, the opening act was finishing up and it was almost time for Seal to come on. I was a bit nervous. The house was packed. Seeing that I never shot a concert before, I was afraid my shots would pretty much...well... SUCK. The M8 is not known as a concert camera, but I had faith in my little constant companion. I also looked at it as a plus. This would be more of a challenge...and I like challenges!
The anticipation in the crowd was intense. The lights dimmed, the show started, and BAM! The band started to play and we all heard the voice radiate throughout the theater. Seal emerged with “Human Beings” and his vocals were simply STUNNING. The guy I was just chatting with about Leica lenses was now on the stage and he and his band were in top form.
