Two shows, one evening: Passage Walkers, Giant Squid, Hammers of Misfortune

by unpetitfauve

On Saturday evening, Arthur and I were able to attend two shows in the East Bay. The first show (pictured above) was at Mythos Fine Art and Artifacts in Berkeley. We had just been there two weeks prior to see our friend Jesse’s art exhibit.  When we heard that Jesse’s new three-piece, Passage Walkers, would be playing there on Saturday, we made sure to schedule our day so we would get there in time to see his show before we went to The Uptown later for our friends in Giant Squid and Hammers of Misfortune.  Of course I took photos at both shows, so I could see how my new lens would work in a concert setting.  It worked very nicely!

This show was a sit-down affair due to its art gallery venue, and I would have felt awkward if I stood up to take photos, so we did our best while sitting down.  And I say “we” because Arthur took that second photo!  I would really like to see him do more photography.  Whenever I hand him my camera, he always takes nice photos.

The Passage Walkers were great!  Arthur and I loved their darkness and their folkiness.  We hope to make it to more of their shows in the future, and we can’t wait for the day they put out a record!

After Passage Walkers, Arthur and I got some sushi in Berkeley and then headed to The Uptown in Oakland to see our friends Giant Squid and Hammers of Misfortune.  Squid was wonderful as always.  Arthur and I were finally able to get our hands on a physical copy of their new record, Cenotes, as well as give Jackie and Aaron a copy of Arthur’s new record, Dwellings.

It had actually been a while since I’d seen Hammers. The last time I saw them live, they still had Patrick Goodwin from Pansy Division in their lineup. It was great to hear their new(ish) lead singer Joe Hutton and guitarist/vocalist Leila Abdul-Rauf. The songs from their most recent record, 17th Street, sound really great live.

The above photo’s excellent lighting was an accident. I happened to snap a photo at the same time as the guy next to me, and he had a really nice flash. Perhaps this photo can be considered an accidental collaboration.  Thank you, mystery photographer standing next to me, for allowing me to borrow some light.

All the best,

Amber R. Nelson