Capsize | 02.03.16 | Dirty Dog Bar
I've been itching to see Capsize again since I saw them for the first time back in Summer 2014 on The Common Vision tour with Being As An Ocean. I hadn't heard of them before that night, or any other band that was playing... I was really only there to see Being As An Ocean. I remember that night surprisingly well, considering that was over a year and a half ago. I remember being so happy to get to catch a show after the first week at my new "grown up" job with my good friends and it turned out to be such a great night of music. I saw Counterparts for the first time that night as well and I remember ducking into another venue next door to catch a local band in between sets (RIP Red 7 and Holy Mountain) .
So fast forward to present day where I've definitely gotten more into the "hardcore" scene, or whatever you'd like to call it-- I'm terrible at classifying genres, and I don't particularly like to, honestly. When I found out Capsize was making a stop here in Austin at a small venue, not far from my office building, and on the cheap, I knew I had to make it out to the show and snap some pictures. Going 2 weeks without seeing or shooting a show gives me the sads, let alone the 2+ months I've gone since actually shooting a show, so you know a year and a half of wanting to see a band live is too damn long for me. So needless to say, I was freaking stoked to see Capsize.
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There were a lot more bands than I was expecting playing this night, and I'm going to be honest, I didn't find them particularly enjoyable or entertaining. Maybe it was the lack of a real crowd, because Dirty Dog was a lot bigger than I expected and there weren't many people to fill up the place. Maybe it was that I wasn't getting decent pictures. Or maybe it's because I didn't feel a particular connection with what was happening on stage. The people who were in the crowd seemed to enjoy it, so that counts for something, I just wasn't feeling it... until Capsize took the stage. I was shocked to see so few people crowding around the stage when they came on but that didn't stop the guys from completely commanding the stage when they started playing and I really loved that. The energy and passion they put into playing was real to me and while I was mostly focused on photographing, there were times where I found myself just immersed in these guys' performance. It could have been easy for them to phone it in because there weren't that many people there but they didn't, and I seriously respect that so much. Their set was over entirely too quickly and the place cleared out fast, which bummed me out cause I thought they had put on a great show, but I did take advantage of that to be my awkward self and ask the guys if I could take some photos for my on-going portrait series (which my friend actually did most of the asking for me, haha).
The guys were all so nice and I had a lovely run in with the vocalist's mom who was so sweet and so adorable. We got to talk a little about music and tours and she was just so proud of her son and the band and after seeing them live, it's completely evident as to why. Listening to their albums you can hear the growth and progression but then to see that manifest live was just fantastic.
