Sometimes it takes something new to make you realize how much you loved something old.  Photography helped me reexamine the music that I loved. A new wave of bands bringing the urgency of the late 80's hardcore scene and blending it with new passion and power rekindled me. American Nightmare was one of the bands that helped revitalize my love for the music that had meant so much to me. I'm not from the first generation of hardcore kids that defined NYHC or DC or Boston or LA but I am in the second wave. The displaced suburban kids that found community in the screaming of other kids barely older than themselves. I had already been going to shows for 14 years by the time I saw American Nightmare the first time. I was getting older and wasn't going to as many shows. I had a real job and responsibilities - you know the story. But as the new century came in and brought with it the ruin of my city in more ways than one there were a new wave of bands that weren't about being tough guys. The sound was new but reminded me of the old days in the right ways without sounding like a retread of the bands that first brought me into hardcore. 

The shows were cathartic. The band was intense. The crowd mirrored it. The lyrics spoke to everyone that ever had a heart and could admit it. The sing alongs and the stage dives were deja vu'. The band never left you thinking that you'd seen anything less than their best. It was a time that I knew I couldn't continue to be a part of the pit anymore - not the way i had. The first few shows I brought a point and shoot. Then I started carrying the DSLR - I wasn't a guy that was going to stand on the stage. Compared to the gear that we have today the gear was archaic. Noise at 400 ISO. My flashes weren't wireless. My shutter speeds were slower and the images weren't sharp enough in the shitty light that fills most clubs. And mostly I simply didn't know what I was doing. So take these with a grain of salt and know that I'm still happy to have captured a moment in time that I won't forget. 

12/23/01 CBGB - Wes wasn't able to sing so Joseph Sulier filled in...

1/22/02 CBGB

3/3/2002 Knitting Factory NYC

6/6/2003 Club Krome NJ

9/14/2003 CBGB's