Jay Valena Photography

SLAYER AT THE LONG BEACH ARENA

Jay — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 10:59:46 +0000

Thrash metal legends Slayer co-headlined a show with Megadeth at Long Beach arena, performing their 1990 album Seasons in the Abyss in its entirety.

Both headlining bands performed their 1990 albums on this tour, which for Slayer meant that live rarities such as “Spirit in Black” and “Born of Fire” were performed to many fans for the first time ever.

Slayer still performed a few of their other classic songs, though, including “Raining Blood”, “Angel of Death”, and “South of Heaven”.

Despite being unable to headbang after recent spinal cord surgery, vocalist/bassist Tom Araya still put on a great performance.

SEMI PRECIOUS WEAPONS AT THE SUNSET STRIP MUSIC FESTIVAL

Jay — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 21:23:56 +0000

Fresh off their opening slot on Lady Gaga’s world tour, Semi Precious Weapons brought back real rowdiness to the Sunset Strip during the Sunset Strip Music Festival.

A mid-song wardrobe change let Justin Tranter show off some more of his outfits.

FOREIGNER AT THE GIBSON AMPHITHEATRE

Jay — Mon, 31 May 2010 21:23:24 +0000

Vocalist Kelly Hansen led rockers Foreigner through a setlist of classic tracks during their tour opening for Styx.

IMMORTAL AT THE AVALON

Jay — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 08:46:16 +0000

Norwegian black metal stalwarts Immortal performed an exclusive show in Los Angeles as part of their short 4-date North American tour in support of their latest album, All Shall Fall.

The setlist performed was as follows:

All Shall Fall
The Rise of Darkness
Solarfall
Sons of Northern Darkness
Tyrants
Hordes to War
Norden on Fire
Grim and Frostbitten Kingdoms
A Sign for the Norse Hordes to Ride
Pure Holocaust Medley
Unearthly Kingdom
One by One
Withstand the Fall of Time
Beyond the North Waves
Battles in the North
Blashyrkh (Mighty Ravendark)

Shooting notes: The hectic lighting made this a somewhat difficult shoot, so I relied on my D700 pushed to ISO 6400 with my 70-200 lens for these shots. I decided to focus primarily on Abbath for this show due to his role as primary songwriter within the band.

MEGADETH AT THE HOLLYWOOD PALLADIUM

Jay — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 10:04:03 +0000

Megadeth performed in Hollywood as part of their 20th anniversary tour for their landmark album, Rust in Peace

As part of the 20th anniversary celebrations, Megadeth played the entire Rust in Peace album as a part of their setlist – this marked the first time the band has played all of the songs off the album on tour. The setlist was as follows:

01. Skin O’ My Teeth
02. In My Darkest Hour
03. She-Wolf
04. Holy Wars… The Punishment Due
05. Hangar 18
06. Take No Prisoners
07. Five Magics
08. Poison Was The Cure
09. Lucretia
10. Tornado Of Souls
11. Dawn Patrol
12. Rust In Peace… Polaris
13. Trust
14. The Right To Go Insane
15. Head Crusher
16. Symphony Of Destruction
17. Peace Sells
18. Holy Wars (Reprise)

This tour also marked the return of longtime bassist and founding member David Ellefson, who was the original bass player on their 1990 landmark album.

Shooting notes: Lighting-wise, this was an enjoyable concert to photograph – plenty of white spotlights balanced by background colored lights made for an enjoyable and somewhat varied shoot. However, mobility in the photopit was severely restricted due to the fact that over 35 photographers were approved to cover the concert – in anticipation of this, I quickly picked a spot between Mustaine and Ellefson that would allow me to concentrate on the two most important members of the band. I shot this entirely with my Nikon D700 and a Nikon 24-70 f2.8 lens.

UCLA “DAY OF ACTION” PROTEST RALLY

Jay — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 04:33:59 +0000

UCLA students and faculty participated in the UC-wide “Day of Action” protest rallies to voice their frustration with education budget cuts and a 32% fee hike for undergraduate students on March 4th, 2010.

The protest rally began at 11:30 in Bruin Plaza, where crowds gathered to display home-made signs voicing their discontent. At noon, presentations began that highlighted the opinions of many campus groups, faculty and lecturers on the fee hikes and recent incidents of racism in the University of California system.

After the presentations were completed, the protesters marched through campus while using megaphones to ask onlookers to join their cause – some classes even emptied as students joined the “walk out”.

The rally’s final destination was the office of the chancellor – police blockaded the entrance, and so the protesters filled up the hallways and refused to move.

EPICA AT THE HOUSE OF BLUES

Jay — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 07:02:31 +0000

Holland’s Epica came to Los Angeles to promote their latest album, Design your Universe, at the House of Blues.