I had the gracious opportunity to shoot this year’s Pain in the Grass festival put on by 99.9 KISW. In the past, I have shot for their sister station 107.7 The End, but never for KISW. I didn’t know what I was going to expect going into this so I was a bit nervous and expecting the worse to happen.

First off, traffic was bad getting into Auburn and trying to get through parking was even worse. Due to that, I had missed the first three bands that played (Post Modern Heroes, My Darkest Day and the 15th reincarnation of Drowning Pool) Plus a mix up with my photo pass made it even more difficult to get down to the VIP area.

After that was all cleared up, I made it in time to shoot the last 5 acts of the festival which included; Godsmack, Sevendust, Black Label Society, Puddle of Mudd and Shinedown. I will say this, I’m not a big fan of Metal, but this had to be the best festival I have shot this year! The fans were off the hook and the bands were very gracious for their attendance, something I haven’t seen at any of the festivals I have covered. Out of the bands that blew me away live that title has to go to none other than Godsmack. The light show and stage antics of frontman Sully Erna had the crowd going nuts the entire time. A close second has to be a tie between Sevendust and Shinedown.

Needless to say, I had a lot of fun at Pain in the Grass and I can’t wait to shoot another KISW event again as they were not only gracious, but all the staff was fun to be around.

On a sad note, I am bummed to hear Endfest will not be held this year. I had my hopes high to shoot this, and being the 20th anniversary of 107.7 The End is coming up, this was the event I had hoped to shoot… Maybe next year?

To see more photos including backstage and interview shots, Click here to view my Flickr gallery.

By: Xander Deccio

Sevendust

Puddle of Mudd

KISW Rock Girls

Black Label Society

Shinedown

Crowd Shots

Godsmack