Local Natives | 12.15.16 | Emo's
I have been wanting to see Local Natives for years... like since my freshman year of college when I first heard Gorilla Manor. They've come to Austin several times over the years but I've never been able to catch a show of theirs and I've been bummed every single time I miss them.
Fate finally smiled upon me when they were announced as a headliner for one of two nights of 101x's Indie Xmas. Every year this local radio station in Austin hosts these shows with cool sponsors and the ticket proceeds benefit Habitat for Humanity. Not only did I get to see a band I've been itching to see for about 6 years, but I was also lucky enough to get in to photograph the sold out show.
After waiting to see a band for so long... realistically there was a good chance it wouldn't have lived up to my expectations, but that certainly was not the case here. The energy of the band and the crowd was just so genuine and positive. Everyone in the crowd was singing and dancing along to every word and were in such good spirits. I also got to hear and sing along to my favorite songs in their catalog. It's shows like this that remind me of why I love live music so much and why it's so important to me: they are transcendental and transport me to another sphere of existence.
This is probably the last show I'll officially shoot for the year and it makes me all sentimental thinking of all the shows I've gotten the opportunity to photograph. I've gotten to photograph my favorite bands and bands I've wanted to shoot for years, and gotten to photograph bands I never thought I'd get the chance to shoot.
