Route9 Revisited
by dissol2 on Jun.27, 2011, under Uncategorized
Many people have contacted me for the past few months. they ask me if I’m still photographing musicians… sometimes life gets busy.
I work very challenging job. I have two teenage kids. I teach math in my spare time. I go to the gym often. I spend time with my friends often. so what do I decide to do? I decided to produce a movie. yeah I’ll still photographs musicians … but I’m on sword and into the art scene too. I may even throw in some pictures from film production.
yesterday I met with the director and the associate producer. I’m the executive producer… I’ll keep you informed.
Pete Scott (route9)
Sam Johnson at Dark World Gallery
by dissol2 on Feb.09, 2011, under Uncategorized
I met Sam Johnson at Dark World Gallery. He walked up and introduced himself to me. He was a bold and engaging person, quite an unusual characteristic in the art world.
I asked Sam to tell me about his art. He explained how he had always been drawing wolves, sharks, snakes, and crows from an early age. Most kids draw such things, but stop at some point. But Sam was alway drawn to the primeval side of these images.
I was amazed by the raw primitive feeling evoked by the work of this young, up and coming artist. Go to Dark World Gallery in the month of February to see the art work of Sam Johnson.
Rest In Peace Jeff Barnard, Worcester’s Greatest Blogger Died Sunday.
by dissol2 on Nov.29, 2010, under Uncategorized
If you had asked anyone in Worcester to name a blog, chances are most would know Wormtown Taxi, the blog run by Jeff Barnard for years. Jeff chronicled the events of Worcester as the man on the streets, literally. He photographed and blogged from his taxi on the streets of Worcester.
Jeff you will missed by all.
Old Skool Vinyl House DJ Thunda Plays Fusion
by dissol2 on Nov.14, 2010, under Field Report
Fusion on Water St. was traditionally closed on Tuesday nights. But recently they decided to start a House music night on Tuesdays. In order to promote their House Music night, they invited DJ Thunda.
DJ Thunda, although a Massachusetts native, is well known in the New York City/ South Connecticut area for his vinyl House music live mixes. Very few can mix like Thunda. Know by the name Brian Rowe, Thunda was recently a Worcester local, spotted occasionally at Beatnicks, Arts or Wormtown Brewery.
Thunda texted me at work to let me know he would be playing Worcester that Tuesday night. I stopped in to Fusion. Brian had his selection of vinyl LP in a milk crate. He placed his hands on the turntables mixing, matching and altering the sounds of several turntables the way that only vinyl artists can do. The sound was amazing. Each song was created on the fly and was a unique mix of several vinyl recordings. I watched Brian and tried to understand the intricacies of what he did. All I can say is this art form is incredibly intensive, fast, and dumbfounding. Thunda mixed sounds, switched albums, and modified tracks in ways that I never thought possible.
Although DJ Thunda may not grace Worcester’s presence with his talents often, stop down to Fusion and see other Old Skool House mixes live from the hands of the masters.
Antoine Fonseca at Dark World Galleries
by dissol2 on Nov.07, 2010, under Uncategorized
Last night I attended Antoine’s FIRST SOLO SHOW in the U.S. here at Dark World Gallery in Worcester. Not to be missed, his large scale drawings will fill the walls of the gallery for the month of November. Please stop in and see the art. This is a show not to be missed.
Art in the Park Worcester 2010
by dissol2 on Oct.30, 2010, under Misc.
The following are my entries to the 2010 Art in the Park Photography contest.
Do you like them? Let me know!
Six To Midnight
by dissol2 on Oct.16, 2010, under Uncategorized
I saw an invitation on Facebook earlier this year. I was invited to a show to see some band that I had never heard of. Yes, I often get invites from bands that I have friended, but who was Six To Midnight? I read the guess list and found that well known musicians were attending in large number. So instead of Not Attending, I decided to look further into this one.
I showed up and quickly found out Worcester’s winners for the Best Rock Band, were reforming. They grabbed Worcester’s best guitarist, Seth Magnant, known for his work with Shotgun Blues. They had the Lead Singer of the Dave Rivers Group and his minion drummer Andy Caplan. A recent change in line-up includes Timothy “Pleased To Meet You” Broadbent.
Last night’s show the the Lucky Dog was their best yet. Six to Midnight is hard hitting rock. Seth and Dave are probably Worcester’s best two guitarists. Dave also has lots of energy in his singing that never lets down.
The highlight of the show was the last song. Drummer Andy and Lead singer Dave switch places then bassist Tim and guitarist Seth switch places. All this was done mid-song and without interruption. The resulting new configuration was just as good, with Andy belting out vocals, Dave rolling the drums, Seth backing up with bass, and Tim breaking into a guitar solo! Wow. These guys are talented.
Jon Lacouture, The Drunker You Are, The Better He Sounds!
by dissol2 on Sep.14, 2010, under Field Report
There are places in Worcester that have incredible performers that we often hear nothing about. Not all musician can be found at the Lucky Dog or Ralph’s Diner. Often local musicians perform off the beaten paths. There are places such as Art’s Diner, the Diamond Inn, Brooks’ Pub, the Blue Plate Lounge and the Greendale Pub that have their own regulars. This week, I want to focus on one of those regulars. For some musician are white tower divas, who care nothing for the crowd, but only play for themselves. But have you ever been to a show where the band is fun, interactive, drinking and partying along with you?
Jon Lacouture is one of those performers. He can be found every Friday night at Art’s and every Saturday at Brooks’. But who is Jon? Simply, he’s a guy singing and playing a guitar. While Jon is not a virtuoso on the guitar, he is known for his audience interactions and vocal power. He keeps the crowd entertained, and exudes energy with every songs that he performs. No one will ever be bored with Jon. Also, he occasionally surprises his fans straying from his classic rock standards, dabbling into Snoop Dogg, The Violent Femmes, Flogging Molly and other crowd pleasers. Jon enjoys doing shots with his fans, sharing a toast, or just messing with the drunks. He often stops a song mid riff and says something to some drunk woman nearby, or some tipsy frat boy. Often fans attempt to join in on a song or two, guest musicians show up such a harmonica Dave or Fred Stout. Occasionally the infamous Parkey fills in during a break with his own unique acoustic trance style originals. His signature self depreciating statement starts every night with “The drunker you are, the better I sound.”
If you want good tunes with vocal power see Jon. Take that headline as a compliment. If you haven’t hit Art’s yet on Friday then you haven’t found the best party in Worcester.
-Pete Scott (route9.org)
Sean Dusoe mysteriously reappears
by dissol2 on Aug.13, 2010, under Uncategorized
The latest news over the past month has been the mysterious disappearance of Sean Dusoe, the bass player from recent Dave Rivers variation, Six To Midnight. Proposed by many to be
Worcester’s best up and coming band. But mysteriously Sean Dusoe had disappeared. Rummors speculated that he was studying new bass riffs from Geddy Lee, other proposed that he was doing experiments with former Castine bassist to learn of his popularity, other suggest Sean was hanging with the Dahli Lama or Siobhan Magnus. Other suggest even more evil sinister theories involving lasers, the Pandas, and world domination…
As quickly as he disappeared, Sean reemerged into the public spotlight in the last week. Six To Midnight is rumored to be planning a show the weekend of the 20-22nd. This should be the show of the year…plan on attending.
Tom Morris, where have you gone?
by dissol2 on Aug.12, 2010, under Uncategorized
I just got a story published in the latest Worcester Magazine on my review of Castine. SO what happens. I find out that the line up of Castine has just changed, again. Tom Morris found me at Ralph’s and informed me that he is no longer with Castine. I asked why but got no asnswer.
Rumors abound as many speculate the Castine/Tom Morris split. Some suggest missing Bassist Sean Dusoe has brainwashed Tom and hidden him in his secret lab for evil experiments, other propose an alien abduction has reprogrammed Tom brain to prefer polka tunes, other propose the Tom will break up the Pandas and recreate the Tom Morris experiment, other propose personal differences… Will the speculation end.
Winners of the Best Alt. Band and Best Male Vocalist
by dissol2 on Aug.06, 2010, under The Plan
They’ll probably be shocked that I finally posted this. I met Mike Kittredge back in April and recognized him. I snapped a quick picture of him at Ralph’s drinking at the bar. I then photographed his band, Castine, in June at the lucky dog. Finally, as a wrap up of my 2009 turtle Boy Winners, I present Castine.
I remember when I first meet Castine, it was mid 2006. I was visiting the Lucky Dog and Ralph’s almost every weekend trying to photograph all the Gothic, Death Punk, and Psychobilly bands in the area. I was trying to photograph a band such as the Automatons, Demon Seed, Ghoul’s Night out or Gein and the Graverobbers. I was approached by the then Manager of Castine. He inquired who I was and why I was photographing bands. I stated that I was Route 9 and this is what I do.
Marcus, the manager at the time convinced me to photograph this new up and coming band Castine. Who are they? Some guys who grew up on Castine St. in Worcester. Where’s Castine st, actually I was surprised to find out I live near Castine st, over by O’ Conners and Lou Rock’s Diner. So I reluctantly went. I was not impressed with the new up and coming band Castine. I thought Mike Kittredge had great talent, but nothing jumped out at me.
So years later, when I saw that Castine had won best Alternative band, I skeptically decided to photograph a s
how. The first thing that I noticed was that much of the band had changed. Their bass players was now drummer, and Tom Morris of Dave River’s Group Fame was playing bass with this new Castine. The next thing that I noticed was the large number of eager fans. So when I heard the new Castine I was shocked. Castine is a band of huge power, energy, and great music. Yes Castine. I was wrong. You are now the best Alt band in Worcester. Castine can be found often at Ralph’s, Lucky Dog and other locations. Go to their Show. It will be a great night.
It’s Hot.
by dissol2 on Jul.07, 2010, under Uncategorized
Of course it’s hot. It’s July after all. Give me a beer, a great movie on DVD, and the AC blasting away, and I’ll be happy. Last night I watched Alien vs. Predator: Requiem. OK, so it wasn’t a great movie. But I wasn’t thirsty, bored or hot.
Why the US ignores Soccer
by dissol2 on Jun.22, 2010, under Misc.
I work with an international collection of programmers, engineers and chemists. The World Cup is the hot topic of the day. But the Americans are not as interested.
But our kids play soccer. The American team does well every year. I have my theories.
1. American culture is saturated with its own sports traditions. Baseball, football, basketball and hockey keep us busy year round, not to mention golf, tennis, marathons, NASCAR, bull riding, lacrosse, Rugby, Volleyball, Roller Derby, racquetball, rodeo, horse racing, polo, swimming, figure skating and many other which compete for recognition but also fall short of the big 4.
2. We hate low scoring games. Luck plays a huge statistical factor in low scoring games. How many 1-0 wins were the result of a lucky goal?
3. We hate games that often end in a tie. A 1-1 score is a disappointment
While we love to have our kids play soccer (it’s the number one youth sport in the US), we have less interest in watching adults play it. Sorry, but it’s the truth. If you don’t like it, sit down, while we watch an NBA game, Roller Derby or bull riding. Explain to me why we are closed minded. What? You’re not interested in watching those sports with me? Nice.
The Viceman Cometh, Patrick Stone
by dissol2 on Jun.08, 2010, under Field Report, Misc.
In every town, we meet locals who stand out. At every show of the flock and many other local gathers, one is sure to see Miami Vice. Yes that’s the Infamous Patrick Stone.
I was at the Dive Bar and ran into Patrick. I asked him his story. He started out as a fan of Mullethead years ago at the Lucky Dog. While there, he heard tales of the Flock of Azzholes. He turned to the Bartender, Erick Godin, and asked if that new Flock band was any good. Unknown to Patrick. Erick was the formidable fronts-man of the Flock. Erick sang the band’s praises to Patrick and convinced him to check them out. Patrick went once and was hooked. He came to every show, then quickly morphed into the 80s icon for every show.
Somewhere along the line Patrick must have realized how successful this carefully crafted persona got him recognized. For today, if you go to see band such as six to Midnight, Hey now Morris Fader, or Jon Short, you may see one dressed as Don Johnson in the crowd. If you do, say “Hi” to the infamous viceman.
Worcester Art Museum Kicks Out Route9!
by dissol2 on Jun.01, 2010, under The Plan
Well, they almost did. 
I showed up on the third Thursday to the Worcester Art Museum I was armed with my camera, ready to photograph the Worcester Jazz Orchestra. But the doors were closed. SO many had shown up that they weren’t allowing anyone else it. Oh yeah, Jazz is what respectable people show up for. Metal, punk, ska and country have small followings, but Jazz is different. Fans of music as well as people pretending to like jazz to impress their friends also show up!
It was OK. I started to take picture through an open window. I was quickly accosted by several people, who demanded to know which newspaper I worked for. I stated that I didn’t work for anyone. I was quickly informed that I had no right to photograph the WJO. I politely disagreed and stated the any public performance may be photographed unless the facility has rules against such. Then I pointed down the hall to Wormtown Rocks. I stated, “All of those are photographs of public performances.”
Suddenly this woman realized she may be wrong. She said she would be right back. She consulted with the staff and quickly apologized. She said I was free to take as many pictures as I wanted. The moral of the story is this. Know your rights.
Live Music Photography 101
by dissol2 on May.02, 2010, under Uncategorized
Here’s an article by Beyond MegaPixels. It give great tips on photographing bands live on stage.
http://www.beyondmegapixels.com/2009/07/live-music-photography-101/
Wormtown Rocks. Go see my photos…
by dissol2 on Apr.27, 2010, under Uncategorized
Yes, I have to admit it. I am proud that I have a couple of pictures in the Wormtown Rocks photo exhibit at the Worcester Art Museum.
Best Blues Band, Delta Generators
by dissol2 on Apr.27, 2010, under The Plan
I went to Dante’s unannounced. I guessed I learned my lesson. Some bands just kinda freak out and want nothing to do with you when you show up to take photographs. They get quiet, stop talking to you when you explain you want to take picture of them for your band photography web site.
Erick Godin, Best Frontman. The Flock, Best Coverband
by dissol2 on Apr.27, 2010, under Field Report
I remember seeing the Flock 3-4 years ago when they were new to the scene. I was not impressed then. But the Flock of today is a different band. They are so much better. In fact, they are one of the best bands that I have seen in Worcester.
There is no one who compares to Erick Godin for live performances. I remember dancing to the band, Erick was in the crowd ordering a beer at the bar and singing at the same time. He interacted with the crowd, pointed out situations and involved us. There is no other band as fun as the Flock. If you like 80′s music, even if you don’t, you must see the Flock.
The plan: Delta Generators and Jubilee Gardens!
by dissol2 on Apr.02, 2010, under The Plan
This weekend I do photos of Delta Generators Friday at Dante’s in Marlboro and Jubilee Gardens at Sahara Saturday! Come out and ask for a Route9.org shirt.
Route9 meets the Pandas
by dissol2 on Mar.19, 2010, under Uncategorized
This is Pandas weekend. You have the opportunity to see Worcester’s best Electronic/Experimental band either at Ralph’s on Friday or at Nick’s on Saturday. I have chosen Ralph’s. Come on out and meet Route9 tonight. The shirts are here. Free shirt to the first to show up tonight and ask me for one.
Who Shot Rock and Roll at the Worcester Art Museum
by PeteScott on Mar.17, 2010, under Uncategorized
“Who Shot Rock and Roll” opened at the WAM. I attended the show this past Sunday. I was thrilled to see art that was contemporary and pertinent to our society today displayed in their halls. Too often people have the impression that museums are places full of 17th century painting of European nobility. This show destroys that image.
The curators of the WAM realize that many forms of art from the 20th and 21st century can be riveting and draw in the crowds. I’m not talking about painted urinals or other such bizarre trends of the dada to surreal period. Many modern art forms use the technology of today, cameras, computers and more. The art forms are different but no less creative. I applaud the WAM for taking this bold step to draw in today’s crowd. The show surprised even me. I wanted to visit before I brought my kids. I am glad I did so. The back room of the exhibit hall had a few surprises. But overall, the images were powerful compelling, and varied. I saw pictures of Elvis sitting in an auditorium waiting to go on stage, Bob Marley carrying his instruments in the back way to a club, and Jimi Hendrix with a crew cut and wearing a suit. But the show goes all the way to LL cool J, Eminem, Snoop Dawg, Bow Wow Wow, Adam Ant, and U2.
Now, that I have given them kudos. I have a strong critique. The “Wormtown Rocks” photography contest was announced to WAM members by way of their flyers, but never a single flyer sent to the Lucky Dog or Ralphs. That’s where we would find the photographers of wormtown. Rock and roll is alive today and can be seen at Tammany hall and Beatniks, not just in the 60s. Why not reach out to the rock and roll crowd too?
Pete Scott, What’s your number?
by PeteScott on Mar.07, 2010, under The Plan
I was hanging out Friday Night with the Dave River Group at Jillians. I was waiting to photograph the Flock. Andy Caplan, the drummer of the Dave Rivers Group asked me a question. He stopped me in my track because I didn’t know the answer. He asked “How many more groups do you need to photograph?”
I didn’t know the answer, I guessed 9 or 10 more. I was wrong the number is 14.
Here’s the list.
- Bee’s Knees
- Black River Sound
- Castine
- Delta Generators
- DJ Shame
- Fallen Shall Rise
- Hey Now Morris Fader
- Holmes
- John Brazile
- Jubilee Gardens
- Miars
- Steven Lefebvre
- The Pandas
- Weight of Gravity
Fellow Route 9ers here are helping. Andy took the best bathroom photo for me. I’ve got 5 months to go. AARGGH! I’ve got to get busy! Hey bands. I want to snap your picture live. I am looking for you. Hey Bee’s KNees, why don’t you do any shows anymore? Hey Pandas, Get booked more often. Miars, we want to see you. Fellow Route 9ers, let’s get hunting.
Hey why did Black River Sound get the Award? They never play in Worcester? If any of you get booked let me know.WE had such a great time. Please come out to the photoshoot and party with Route 9. Pete Scott, What’s your Number?
It’s 14.
DJ Matty, Worcester’s Best DJ
by dissol2 on Mar.07, 2010, under Field Report
I set out on the mission to hunt down Worcester’s best DJ. I contacted DJ Matty a few weeks before. I found out that he plays 3 or 4 different clubs a week. He told me that would be at Jose Murphy’s every Friday and Saturday night. I made plans to be there Friday.
I walked in to Jose Murphy’s. The first thing that happenedwas the bouncer made me remove my hat before going in. I doubt anyone would have thought me to be a gangsta. But I reluctantly complied. The club is a restaurant by day and dance club by night. The owners of Funky Murphy’s decided to open a Mexican place and Voila, Jose Murphy’s was born.
I arrived at 11pm and walked straight through the dance floor. I was greeted by DJ Matty immediately. He was surrounded by his entourage who I had to squeeze through to get to Mat Andrews. I entered the DJ booth and was overwhelmed by the surroundings of high tech and computers. Yes, DJing is the blend of art and science. The flat screen monitors showed representation of spinning vinyl, cued up videos, Beats per minute counters, and sound spectra. DJ matty announced my presence and asked everyone to come up with requests. Yes, everyone did come up with their requests.
Matty showed me his mixing, blending, and DJing skills. I stood there dumbfounded by the vast arrays of controls, sliders, dials, and buttons. He informed me that he has been doing this for 10 years. He filled requests quickly. He even played my Lady Gaga request almost immediately. I asked Matty why he was Worcester’s best DJ. He told me it is because he plays what every ask, not what he feels like playing. Yes, I know what he means, every DJ seems to have their own preferences.But DJ Matty quickly played the hits when asked, from the Black Eyed Peas, Brittany Spears to Jay Sean and Kesha. By midnight DJ Matty had packed them all in wall to wall. I quickly made my exit to return to my old standby Art’s Diner. Congratulations to Mat Andrews, the best DJ in Worcester.,
