Mr. Smalls is probably my favorite venue in Pittsburgh, to be honest with you. It’s a small venue but the lighting is perfect. It’s great for acts who can bring a crowd but aren’t necessarily ready sell out arena after arena in every city the come to. This was my first show at the Funhouse at Mr. Smalls. The Funhouse is an upstairs stage, from the main theatre, usually used for even smaller bands, who are mostly local and do short tours throughout the year. I had never shot there and was actually nervous, not knowing the lighting situation and how big the room was and all that jazz, but I was pleasantly surprised.
If you remember, the first time I ever shot Vertigo, was when they were the local band opener for Marianas Trench’s SPF 80’s Tour in 2016. Fast-forward to 2017, they loved those pictures so much, they wanted to hire me for their opening gig with Enter Shikari… my first ever paid gig. Since they decided to book me, I’ve become practically obsessed with their music. I honestly don’t know how it took me so long to become a fan but I’m glad I gave them a listen.
Last month, I attended their album release show, which I didn’t shoot due to the fact that they said they have had “way too many gigs” at the venue it was held. Chris and I went regardless just to come support our friends and we loved Hear Tonight and Colourshow, who were other bands on the roster. Great show and wonderful turnout, which was awesome.
A bit before the album release was when they asked me to shoot this show they were playing with 7 Minutes In Heaven, as well as Colourshow and a few other bands. Long story short, I jumped at that chance.
I loved the Funhouse and the lighting was much better than I expected. I also shot Colourshow in hopes of getting future gigs with them as well. Overall, the show was awesome. Vertigo, as I expected, played an awesome set and I got some great photos out of it. Colourshow, in case you didn’t know, is another local band who play -what they call- “emo dad-rock”. This was my second time seeing them, first time shooting them, and it was so fun. They played a fun set and I got some great pictures out of it.
Well, that’s it for this post! Hope you enjoy these wonderful pictures and you can check out both bands and like them on Facebook in the links tagged on the band names! You can see the rest of the shots not featured at the bottom, on my Portfolio on Flickr!
Abigail McNatt Photography 