Ground Control Café is the coffee shop inside Fort Tectoria. Fort Tectoria is the building which houses VIATeC and many other local businesses. VIATeC (The Victoria Advanced Technology Council) is the driving force behind education and promotion of Greater Victoria’s technology sector, and Tectoria is its hipper, less corporate face.
And on Record Store Day this past weekend, they held a fantastic daytime listening party and nighttime multi-artist concert.
Canon EOS 70D · Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5 EX DC HSM
10 mm · 1/250 s · f/5.6 · ISO 1600
Just days earlier, Nik and Jill (who manage Ground Control), Dan Gunn (Mr. Tectoria), and many other helper elves transformed the main floor of Fort Tectoria from a typical white-walled room into the ultimate living room, complete with new paint, hand-installed wood paneling for great acoustics, and a vinyl listening station.
Here, Victoria’s Man Made Lake pose up in “the hot tub” before their performance. Wouldn’t you like this to be your living room?
Canon EOS 70D · Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5 EX DC HSM
10 mm · 1/125 s · f/3.5 · ISO 1600
Strobist: Canon 430EX II, 1/64 power, on camera, ceiling bounced
Robbie Aylesworth, an ex-Tectoria employee who quit his day job to focus on his (amazing) music, opened up the night of local talent with his usual effortless guitar wizardry.
And yes, that is hair light you see on him. I shoot ONE concert with flash, and now I’m that guy who brings light to every concert. Just kidding. Kinda maybe.
I generally have at least one flash and remote trigger set on me for concert shoots, ’cause . . . ya never know. Here, I took advantage of the “small venue” flexibility of walking-up-to-the-artist-before-his-performance-and-asking-him-if-I-might-take-a-few-photos-with-flash.
And boy howdy, did it ever pay off.
Canon EOS 70D · Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8
130 mm · 1/60 s · f/2.8 · ISO 2000
Strobist: Canon 430EX II, 1/64 power, remote triggered
Here, DJ Bimbo (Nick Lyons of Analogue Magazine) watches in undoubted horror as Tyson Elder, the OG Rocktographer, threatens to DJ something.
Canon EOS 70D · Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 DC HSM
18 mm · 1/60 s · f/2.8 · ISO 1600
Strobist: Canon 430EX II, 1/64 power, on camera, ceiling bounced
Man Made Lake’s energy got people to the dancefloor. This band had en-er-gy. The kind of energy which turns the word “energy” into a three syllable word.
Canon EOS 70D · Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5 EX DC HSM
10 mm · 1/30 s · f/3.5 · ISO 3200
Strobist: Canon 430EX II, 1/64 power, remote triggered
Dan Gunn, who I’ve known since somewhere in the late-90s, brought his dad, John, to the party! John is just as cool as Dan, who is just as cool as his son, Max. Cool must be a genetic trait in the Gunn family.
Canon EOS 70D · Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5 EX DC HSM
20 mm · 1/60 s · f/3.5 · ISO 2000
Strobist: Canon 430EX II, 1/64 power, on camera, ceiling bounced
Finishing off the night was Weird Party, whose music I highly encourage listening to, especially if you’re a fan of jazz, funk, and ambient, all tossed into a blender with an extra-strong dash of atmosphere, baby.
Their record (Weird Party is highly apropos on vinyl) contains the kind of music which will transport your mind to an endless beach. At sunset. In the ’60s.
Their live show is just as tight and psychedelic as their album, but with the “loud” and “fun” sliders pushed way up. I’ve been wanting to see how their music translates live for quite some time now, and I’m pretty sure I’m going to follow them around to a few more shows before I get it out of my system.
Canon EOS 70D · Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5 EX DC HSM
15 mm · 1/45 s · f/3.5 · ISO 3200
Strobist: Canon 430EX II, 1/64 power, remote triggered
I’ll end with an artsy shot of Robbie, shot through the space between two blue-tinted glass doors at the back of the room. Were they not 9’ tall and probably a couple hundred pounds each, I’d love a set of my own to use in photographs.
Canon EOS 70D · Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8
190 mm · 1/250 s · f/2.8 · ISO 2000
Strobist: Canon 430EX II, 1/64 power, remote triggered
=)