It’s been nearly ten years since I was lucky enough to see Sleater-Kinney live at First Avenue in Minneapolis. At the time I was working on my master’s degree in journalism at the University of Missouri, specializing in photojournalism. That summer I had landed an internship at the Duluth News Tribune, but was spending a lot of time in the Twin Cities, distracted by a boyfriend, who would eventually become my husband, and a vibrant cultural scene.
I was developing my graduate professional project, which would eventually have the unwieldy title, “Women in Rock: Experiences of Female Music Photographers and Photographing the All-female Rock Band ‘Coach Said Not To.’ The project, which relied on critical feminist theory, required a research component and a professional work component. For the professional work component, my dream was to photographically document an all female rock band as they toured the country — think “Almost Famous,” but as a photographer. Naturally, I was interested in photographing Sleater-Kinney, but realized a band that big would most likely laugh at my proposal to follow them on tour with my camera. However, I figured it couldn’t hurt to ask. I wish I could find the email I sent to their management, but it’s been ten years and I assume it was sent from my old university account. Alas, no surprise, I was not granted access to shoot Sleater-Kinney on tour, but was given a press pass to photograph the First Avenue show, proving that it is always worth asking.
A lot has happened in the ten years since photographing the First Avenue show. I finally grew up. I successfully completed my master’s degree, producing a multimedia story on the all-female Minneapolis band Coach Said Not To for the professional work component of my project. I got married, bought a house and had a kid all in a single year. I worked as a staff photographer for the Rochester Post-Bulletin for five years. Exhaustion, brought on by an 80-mile daily commute, eventually led me to quit my job and become a stay-at-home mom, and for the past two years I’ve been building a freelance photography business, focused on wedding and family photography. Sadly, I don’t get a chance to photograph musical acts very often these days. Although I’m a night owl, once my son goes to bed, I’m usually relaxing with a glass of wine, a good book, some mindless t.v. or wasting time on the internet. My grown up life is dramatically lacking in rock and roll.
Waking up one morning in October to the news of Sleater-Kinney reuniting, putting out a new album and touring, I felt as excited as my four-year-old son Oskar when he’s allowed to watch an episode of Transformers Rescue Bots. The next day, dressed in my Sleater-Kinney concert t-shirt, I drop Oskar off at preschool a little early so I can get online to order pre-sale tickets for the February 14th First Avenue show the instant they go on sale at 9 a.m. I hit a near-by coffee shop, knowing their internet connection is faster than our wireless at home. I feel like a giddy teenager nerd as I open my laptop and get set to order tickets. However, I soon find the coffee shop has changed their wi-fi password and I’m having problems connecting. My ticket ordering is in peril and I’m freaking out. When I’m finally able to log on and order my tickets, my sense of relief and excitement is absolute and immediate. I will be spending my Valentine’s Day rocking out to one of the best punk bands ever. As long as I can find a babysitter. Later that day I send out text messages to my two most reliable babysitters — nearly four months before the show.
I recently re-edited the photographs I shot of the June 2005 First Avenue show and was reminded of how amazing a show it truly was. The band’s high energy performance was incredibly entertaining and I think the photographs I shot capture that. I have photographed many bands while working for newspapers, including some fairly big acts like Elvis Costello, Mary J. Blige, Nine Inch Nails, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill. Most of these acts enforced the dreaded three-song rule, which allows photographers to only shoot during the first three songs of the performance. The rule is pretty common these days, as management fights to have complete control over their act’s image. If you’d like to know everything that is wrong with this rule, please feel free to read “Women in Rock: Experiences of Female Music Photographers and Photographing the All-female Rock Band ‘Coach Said Not To.”
I was not limited by the three-song rule when I photographed Sleater-Kinney and I’m grateful for this. I’m also grateful for the experience of photographing a band whose music I know and love. Feeling the music in your soul as you’re shooting and composing your images is pretty fantastic. Editing the photos and reliving the show as you do so is pretty damn cool, too. Looking at these images ten years later, my only regret is my own inexperience as a photographer and the limitations of my equipment. Digital SLR’s have come a long way in dealing with low light in the past ten years and I have certainly grown as a photographer. It would be great to have another shot at photographing the band, pun fully intended. Maybe I ought to take my own advice from ten years ago, and just ask.
