WhyDontHipstersDance: Treasure Island

10/21/08

Treasure Island

After the Phili MMJ show, I hopped on a flight to LA to attend my very first VMAs. As I first stepped onto the Paramount Studio lot Paris Hilton & family almost ran me over in a golf cart! I was working, but the excitement was contagious. I did my working bit and the rest of the night consisted of catching the short Kanye performance “in space,” and running into a bunch of wasted Real Worlders, whilst sipping on some champagne gratis. Later that week I tried to get into the sold out Ratatat show to no avail-my coworker (Wilson) was even playing the MTV card very vehemently! No worries though, because I had just seen them in NYC.

Soon after I flew to San Fran to spend some quality time with my sister and attended another great MMJ show at the beautiful Greek Theatre (again a light drizzle and more amazing-ness, I swear Jim James winked at me), spending the rest of the weekend shooting all sorts of goodness for MTVU at the Treasure Island Music Festival. We had ourselves a raw warehouse space and a talented Director of Photography shooting some bands from the festival that would stop by, play amidst beautiful lighting set-ups, and send shivers down my spine. Some standouts included Fleet Foxes, The Foals, and CSS. For the last band, I was sent to pick up Jack White and the crew from The Raconteurs. Oooh what a moment. I really stood back from it all while we were shooting them, giggling at how lucky I was. I've never seen the director so giddy! After shooting all day, the crew and I would rush through backstage to VIP, casually passing members of Vampire Weekend, having a quick conversation with Tokyo Police Club, and catching the last performances of the night--TV On The Radio, The Kills, Tegan & Sara, and The Raconteurs. Photos of the trip are posted on my Facebook album “Work.” Earlier this year we did a similar shoot at the SXSW festival in Austin for Ahead of the Curve. It's sensational work.