It’s been a couple years since Pueblo promoter Tommy Giodone shared his idea to host a concert out on his St. Charles Mesa property with Nick Bonham and myself. Tommy told us he was bringing in country music acts Gary Allan and Florida Georgia Line, was using pickup truck beds as premium tailgate seating, and was marketing the event as “Bands In The Backyard.” I was familiar with other Tommy G Productions like his annual Professional Bull Riders event here in town. I knew he knew how to successfully run a large-scale event. But I didn’t know what to make of this latest brainchild. That goes to show what I know about promotions.
As the house photographer to the 2014 Bands In The Backyard I had an All-Access pass for the two-day country music festival, which took place June 20 & 21. The lineup included Jake Owen, Thomas Rhett, Chase Rice, Uncle Kracker, Casey Donahew Band, and Blackjack Billy. I shot just about everything on site, from headlining talent to corporate sponsored port-a-potties. I also got a glimpse of how the summer concert business operates. It was a hot and dusty couple of days, long days, too, about 11-12 hours per day for me, longer for likes of Tommy, his ultra-capable No. 2, Bri Wills, and a really nice woman named Kathy who I think is the Tommy G Productions bookkeeper but did double duty putting out small fires left and right. Despite the hours, it felt really good to work, to be on the other side of the railing, making pictures.
Part of my duties entailed shooting the Meet & Greets, the photo sessions where fans and corporate wheels get their photos taken with the performers. Once I got my lighting dialed in, shooting those was a breeze. Every performer was familiar with the drill, and while some played it straight, others had more fun with it than others. Casey Donahew, who seemed to want to be anywhere else (like on stage playing, maybe), surprised me when he mugged with radio personality Alisha Scott. And I thought the guys from the band Blackjack Billy hit the nail on the head with their “fill-in-the-blank” pose, poking fun at the Meet & Greet formula.
Being the lone shooter, I got stretched a little thin at one point. During the second day of concerts, I was scheduled to shoot the Chase Rice Meet & Greet, then meet a helicopter about quarter mile off site to shoot some aerials, then get back on site to shoot the Thomas Rhett Meet & Greet, all in the span of 40 minutes. I still don’t know how I managed to pull that off.
I was also posting to Facebook and Twitter for “Bands.” I took the approach that each performance had an early deadline and that after getting a couple shots, get back to the office and file. Then get back to the concert and continue shooting. I felt the response on Facebook was impressive, but much less so on Twitter. Most of the “likes” and comments came from women, which I found surprising. However, Bri wasn’t. “They’re our key demographic,” she said. No kidding. The venue was full of women between the ages of 18-30. If I were, say, a 23-year-old version of Thomas Rhett’s “All-American Middle Class White Boy,” I’d plan on going to next year’s Bands In The Backyard.
Jake Owen snaps a selfie during his show In #Pueblo during @TommyGBands_ Saturday. #BIBY pic.twitter.com/KBvT4kDKil
— BandsInTheBackyard (@theyardcolorado) June 22, 2014
