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1 Hanson Place

100% Black

285 Kent

345 Jay St

45 Adapters

4Knots Music Festival

538 Johnson

A Frames

A Place To Bury Strangers

A-Bones

ABC Rebel Night

Acid Baby Jesus

Acid Dad

Acid Mothers Temple

acoustic

Adia Victoria

AfroPunk Fest Afterparty

afterparty

Alana Amram and the Rough Gems

Alberta Cross

album release

album review

Alex Battles

Alex Battles and the Whiskey Rebellion

Algiers

All Night Drug Prowling Wolves

Amanda X

Amour Obscur

anarchy

Andre Williams

Andy Animal

announcement

announcement calendar shrinkage

Apache

Apehangers

approaching total darkness

Asociale

Atlantic Antic

Audacity

Audio Social Dissent Tour

Avers

Ay Balazo

B. A. Miale

Baby's All Right

Backstage

backstory

Bad Cop

Bad Manners

Bad Sports

Baked

Baltimore

bank vault

Bar Matchless

Barrence Whitfield and The Savages

Bass Drum Of Death

Bastille Day

Bat Fangs

Battle of the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Bands

Baxx Sisi's

Beach Fossils

Beach Slang

Beach Week

Beekman Beer Garden

beer fight

Big Freedia

Big Sandy and his Fly-Rite Boys

Big Ups

Billy Eli

birthday party

black and white

Black Cat

Black Clouds

Black Masala

Bleached

Bleeding Rainbow

Bloodshot Bill

blue

Bob Log III

Bonaparte

Boogarins

Boot & Saddle

boots

Boring Portals

Born Loose

Bosco Delrey

Bowery Ballroom

Bowery Electric

Bowery Poetry Club

Boxtopus

Bree's Birthday

brick

Britt Thomas and the Breaker Boys

Brodown Throwdown 6

Brooklyn Based

Brooklyn Bazaar

Brooklyn Bowl

Brooklyn Country

Brooklyn Fireproof

Brooklyn Folk Festival

Brooklyn Night Bazaar

Brownbird Rudy Relic

Bruar Falls

Brunt Of It

Buck Gooter

Budweiser

Burger Records Showcase

Burnt Ones

Bushwick

Bushwick Open Studios

Butter The Children

Buzzcocks

Cake Shop

calamari bowling

calendar

Calvin Johnson

Cameo Gallery

Camera Obscura

Canker Blossom

Carnivorous Bells

Cavestomp

CD Cellar

Chain And The Gang

chaos

Chaos Chaos

Cheap Time

Cheeseburger

Chicane/Detector

Chrome Cranks

Cinema Hearts

Citizen

City of the Sun

City Winery

CJ Ramone

Clearance

Club Europa

CMJ

Cockney Rejects

Coco66

Coliseum

College Park

Comet Ping Pong

Connie's Ric Rac

Conspiracy of Owls

Control Top

Converse Rubber Tracks Live

converted hallway

Copes

Corridor

Cosmic Psychos

Cosmonauts

counting fail

Crazy Baldhead

Creepoid

Crocodiles

Cult Of Youth

Cum Stain

D.O.A.

Daddy Long Legs

Daikaiju

dalek

Damaged City Fest 2014

Damaged City Fest 2017

Dammit

Dandelion Wine

Dark Web

David King and the Confirmed Bachelors

Davila 666

DC9

Dead Exs

Dead Gaze

Dead Herring

Dead Leaf Echo

Dead Phones

Death

Death By Audio

Death By Unga Bunga

Death First

Death Valley Girls

Deep Sleep

Delicate Steve

Den-Mate

Diarrhea Planet

Dick Dale

Dig Deeper

DIIV

Dinowalrus

Dirty And His Fists

Disappears

DIY

Dmitry Wild

Don Pedro

Dope Body

Downstairs

Draize

Dreadlords

drink bracelet

Dude York

Dum Dum Girls

Dustin Wong

Ear and Eye Fest

elbow injury

Electric Tickle Machine

EP Release Show

Esben And The Witch

Eternal Summers

etiquette lesson

EULA

Everybody Hits Philadelphia

Ex-Cult

Ex-Hex

Ex-Humans

Exitmusic

Exploding In Sound Records

extra hand

Fancy! Clip Party

farewell

Feral Foster

Fergus and Geronimo

FIAF

Finally!

fingers

Fiona Silver

Fitz and the Tantrums

Floristree

Food Stamps

formerly CBGBs

Foster Care

French Films

Frontier Room

FuckCOVID

Fucked Up

Full Bush

Gallery Bar

Gangstagrass

Gary Clark Jr

Gary War

Gary Wilson

Glasslands Gallery

Golden Animals

Golden Triangle

great hair

Great White Caps

Gringo Star

Grooms

guiro

Guitar Lightnin' Lee

Guitar Wolf

Habibi

Halloween

Hammered Satin

Hank's Saloon

Hanni El Khatib

Har Mar Superstar

Haybaby

Heavy Temple

Hector's Pets

Heliotropes

Hemlines

Herbcraft

hiatus

Hiromu

Honduras

Hot Dog!

House Of Vans

Hullabaloo!

Human Eye

humor

Hungry March Band

Hunters

Ice Balloons

Impose Magazine

Independence Day

interview

Issue Project Room

Jack Daniels

Jack Oblivian

Jackson Lynch

Jacuzzi Boys

Jalopy

Japanther

Jay Heiselman

JC Brooks and The Uptown Sound

Jeff The Brotherhood

John Varvatos Gallery

Johnny Brenda's

Jon Spencer

Jon Spencer and the HITmakers

Jon Spencer Blues Explosion

Josh

Josh Styles

jumping

K-Holes

Ken Boothe

Kick

Killyn Lunsford

King Dude

King Tuff

Knockdown Center

Kool-Aid

Kung Fu Necktie

L Magazine

La Luz

Lady Lamb

Lady Lamb The Beekeeper

Lala Lala

Las Ardillas

Las Rosas

Last Exit

le Poisson Rouge

Lee Bains III and The Glory Fires

Les Sans Culottes

Lightning Bolt

lightshow

Liquor Store

literal group

Lito and the Shepherds

Littlefield

Live On Front

Live With Animals

LiveFastDie

Livids

Living Bread

Living Days

Local X Local

Lodro

Lone Wolf

Lorelei

Lorelle Meets The Obsolete

LoveStruck

Lubricated Goat

Lulu's

Lust For Youth

M Shanghai

M Shanghai String Band

M.A.K.U. SoundSystem

M.O.T.O.

Madam Robot and the Lust Brigade

Magnetix

Man Forever

Man Man

Man or Astro-Man?

Manitoba's

maraca

Marissa Nadler

Mark Sultan

mask obsession

Maxwell's

Melon Farmers

Mercury Lounge

Mermaids

Mesh

Metro Gallery

Metropolis Vintage

Metz

Midnite Till Death

Milkboy

Milkboy ArtHouse

Mindtroll

MiniBoone

Mirror Mirror

Monogold

Moon Duo

Moon Honey

Moss Icon

Mucca Pazza

Mungo Jerry

Music Band

Music Hall of Williamsburg

Mutant Genes

Muuy Biien

Naam

Naomi Shelton and the Gospel Queens

Nasimiyu

Nasty Women Exhibition

National Cherry Blossom Festival

Native Sun

Nervosas

Nervous Assistant

Nevertune

New Bomb Turks

New Year's Eve

New York Night Train

Nice Face

Nicole Atkins

Nicole Atkins and The Black Sea

Nightmare Air

Nihilistics

ninjas

No Statik

Nobunny

Northside Fest

Northside Festival

Norton Records Benefit

Nothing

Nouvellas

NSFW

NT

Nude Beach

NYC Vintage Motorcycle Show

Oi

One Way Out

Organs

Ortlieb's

Othermen X

Ottobar

ow

O'Death

paisley

Pampers

Parkay Quarts

Parquet Courts

Party Expo

Passions

PAWS

Peelander-Z

Pendu

Personal and the Pizzas

Pete's Candy Store

Philadephia

PhilaMOCA

Pianos

Pile

pink jumpsuit

Pissed Jeans

pointing

Polyon

Pop.1280

Post Teens

Potty Mouth

Priests

Primus

Prince Rupert's Drops

Protomartyr

Psychic Ills

Psychic TV

Public Assembly

Puff Pieces

Pujol

punk

punk-folk

Purling Hiss

Quintron and Miss Pussycat

R Stevie Moore

Raccoon Fighter

rad

Radkey

Reagan Youth

Rebel Night Weekender

red

Red Baraat

Red Hook Ramblers

RedTouchBlack

Regal Degal

Reisling Festival

reunion

review

Ringo Deathstarr

Rock Lottery

Rock N Roll Hotel

Rock Yard

Rockwood Music Hall

Royal Baths

Rye Coalition

Sailor Jerry

Saint Motel

Saint Vitus

Santos Party House

sauna

Scenic Presents

Screaming Females

Screamin' Rebel Angels

Sean Kershaw and the New Jack Ramblers

Seaport Music Festival

Secret Project Robot

Sex Beet

Sharon Jones

Shea Stadium

Shellshag

Shilpa Ray

Shingo

Shirt/Pants

single review

Sister Anne

ska

Skating Polly

Slash Run

Sløtface

sleep

Slomo Sapiens

Slothrust

Slowdance

Smashed! Blocked!

Smoke Green

Snail Mail

Snake Oil Review

Sorceress

soul and rock-n-roll

Soulside

South Street Seaport

Southpaw

Speedy Ortiz

spelling test

Spike Hill

Spires

St. Stephen Church

Stage Two

Stalkers

Starcrawler

still rockin'

Straightjacket Nation

Stranger Cole

strobes

Stumblebum Brass Band

Summer Cannibals

Sunflower Bean

superfunky

Superheaven

Supersuckers

Surf City

sweat

Sweet Soubrette

Tact

Tai Chi Master

Taiwan Housing Project

Tami Lynn

Tancred

Tashaki Miyaki

Teen Anger

Teen Mortgage

Teenanger

Tenement

Texas Terri Bomb

The Above

The Acheron

The Apollo Theatre

The Ar-Kaics

The Babies

The Back C.C.s

the band not the brand

The Bell House

The Beverlys

The Black Angels

The Black Heart Procession

The Black Hollies

The Black Lips

The Brimstones

The Bullys

The Business

The Calamity Janes

The Cambodian Space Project

The Cincinnati One

The Continental

The Coup

The Dap Kings

The Dead Flowers

The Delancey

The Dive Bar Dukes

The Dixons

The Dust Busters

The Dust Rays

The Dwarves

The Ettes

The Everymen

The Figgs

The Flamin' Groovies

The Fleshtones

The Foxx

The Giraffes

The Girls at Dawn

The Gloomy Ones

The Goddamn Gallows

The Golden Grass

The Gories

The Grand Victory

The Great Gaylord

The Greenhornes

The Gutter

The Heavy

The Henry Clay People

The Hollows

The Horehound

The Immaculates

The International Bar

The Jigglers

The Joy Formidable

The Julie Ruin

The Knitting Factory

The Lemon Twigs

The Live Ones

The Local 269

The London Souls

The Lost Crusaders

The Marked Men

The Men

The Mummies

The Newton Gang

The Nuclears

The Oblivians

The Old Edison

The Othermen

The Pack A.D.

The Paper Box

The Paranoyds

The Piggies

The Pinch

The Pleasure Kills

The Queers

The Rats

The Reigning Sound

The Rock Shop

The Rough Gems

The Runaway Suns

The Sadies

The Schizophonics

The Scofflaws

The Shalitas

The Shank

The Siberians

The Sidebar

The Sights

The Skins

The So So Glos

The Sonics

The Sound Hole

The Studio at Webster Hall

The Sweet Divines

The Swingin' Neckbreakers

The Teen Age

The Templars

The Thermals

The Trashmen

The Upper Crust

The V!brators

The Vacant Lots

The Vandelles

The Velvet Lounge

The Waldos

The Warhawks

The Warsaw

The Weirdos

The Well

The Wild Honey Pie

The Woes

Thee Holy Ghost

Thee Oh Sees

Thick

Three Fuckin' Guitars

three fuckin' tambourines

Throwback

Tidal Basin

Tim Fite

Time is Fire

Timmy's Organism

Titus Andronicus

TODD

Together Pangea

Tokyo Rocks

Tommy's Tavern

too many mics

Total Slacker

touch someone

Trash Bar

Tropical Fuck Storm

Tropicalia

Tunnel Of Love

turned up the lights

TV Ghost

Tweens

Twen

Twin Guns

Ume

Underclass Revue

Underground Arts

Union Pool

Union Stage

Vacation

Vanishing Point

Vans Classic Series

Vaura

Vaz

Vensaire

Violent Bullshit

Vivian Girls

vomit everywhere

Walter Lure and The Waldos

Wanted Man

Warbly Jets

Waxahatchee

we moved

We Were Black Clouds

Weakened Friends

Webster Hall

Welcome To Our Nightmare

Wet Brain

What Blog?! Party

WHCS Benefit

White Hills

White Mystery

White Reaper

White Ring

Whooping Crane

Widowspeak

Wild Thing

Wild Yaks

Wildhoney

Williamsburg Salsa Orchestra

Williamsburg Waterfront

Willy Gantrim

Wing Dam

WLWL

Wojcik

Wooden Shjips

World War IX

wow this sucks

X

Xray Eyeballs

Yamantaka // Sonic Titan

Yellow Dogs

Youth Brigade

Zack Orion and Ardeshir Mountain

Here for the Bands

About Me and FAQ

Who are you?

My name is Marcus Lauer and HereForTheBands.com is a solo project.

I was born in Detroit, grew up in LA, and lived in several places including The Netherlands, Canada, and Berkeley, CA. During my time as a photographer I have lived in New York City, Washington DC, and Philadelphia. So yeah, I get around.

While I have been going to concerts regularly for decades, photography is a more recent interest. I bought a point-and-shoot camera around 2002 just because I thought I should own one. While living in New York (circa 2007) I started taking photos at an animal shelter which sparked my interest in photography as a hobby. Since I was going to lots of concerts I started photographing shows too. In 2009 I decided I was serious enough about photography as a hobby to buy a DSLR, and not long after that I started publishing my concert photos on this website.

Aside from the concert photography I do some street photography, some nature photography, just whatever I'm in the mood for. I'm not too serious about any of that non-concert stuff and will not post it here.

You can reach me at hereforthebands@gmail.com.

HereForTheBands.com Privacy Policy

Beyond the basic logging which all web servers do we do not collect any information on viewers of this website. The web server will record the IP address which connected to this site, the page requested, the time at which it was requested, and the user-agent string (e.g. which web browser you are using). That's it. I guess we're an old-fashioned website.

Can I use your photos on my website
(or Facebook or on a poster or t-shirt or whatever)?

First, if you are actually in a band which I photographed then you can use my photos of your band for promotional purposes with no restrictions. That includes using them for commercial purposes. I would appreciate being credited for my work but this is not mandatory. Thanks for not complaining or kicking me out when I took photos of your band. :)

For everyone else, these photos are released under the Creative Commons BY-NC 2.0 license. Basically, feel free to post them on the web or use them for noncommercial purposes as long as you give me credit in some way. If you create a derivative work there are no license restrictions on that except that it must be non-commercial.

If you want to use these photos for a commercial product then please contact me.

Are you shooting for someone
(like a magazine or well-known blog)?

I have shot for music blogs before, most recently Impose. In the past I have shot for BrooklynVegan, Vulture (New York Magazine), and any number of smaller blogs. However most of the time I'm doing it for fun or practice so "it depends".

Why isn't my event on the calendar?

The short answer is that I either missed it or skipped it.

The long answer is that the calendar is supposed to be a music calendar, not an event calendar. Concerts and music events definitely make the calendar. DJ nights, dance parties and open mics sometimes make the calendar (it helps if there's a live band). Comedy, musical theatre, poetry readings, dance lessons, yoga-with-music, and burlesque rarely make the calendar even if there is a live band since, at least in my opinion, they aren't mainly about the music.

That applies to the venues themselves as well. Venues which mostly have live bands tend to be on the calendar whereas ones which mostly have open mics and comedy nights or rarely have any music at all tend not to be.

What kind of camera and lens and flash do you use?

The answer to this question has changed so many times over the years, so prepare for an avalanche of numbers...

Back in 2009-2010 I used a Canon T1i along with a Canon 17-85mm or Canon 28-135mm lens and a Speedlite 430EX II flash. Towards the end I picked up that Sigma 30mm f/1.4, then the Canon 85mm f/1.4.

From 2011-2012 I used a Canon 7D. I was quite happy with the autofocus system in the 7D, somewhat less so with the picture quality at high ISO levels, but it got the job done. Back then I mainly used three primes: a Sigma 30mm f/1.4, Sigma 50mm f/1.4, and Canon 85mm f/1.8.

From 2013-2018 I used a Canon 5D Mark III, which was amazing in every way except that recovering detail in shadows was hard. I used to shoot almost entirely with prime lenses but more recently have started using zooms. The full list of lenses I have used at some point in the last few years is pretty long. Most of the time I use either my "small" kit of a Canon 24-70, 35mm f/2 IS, and either a 100mm f/2 or 135mm f/2. I also have a "big" kit which is the 24-70, a Tokina 16-28mm, Canon 70-200 f/2.8, and whatever primes or extenders I can fit in my bag with them (usually that 35mm).

As of the start of 2019 I am using a Sony α7 III with a Metabones adapter so that I can still use those Canon lenses.

Hey, you wrote something bad or mean
or just plain confusing about our band! What gives?

Please remember that I am not a marketer. I am not specifically trying to pitch these bands to anyone, nor do I make any money off this or work as a professional photographer at all. In the end this is just the opinion of one blogger who was at the show.

Now, obviously I would prefer to spend my time writing good things about bands I like. I also prefer being funny to being serious in my writing. It's not like I'm some music expert, I'm more of a dedicated enthusiast. However in the end this site is very much about the photography. If the photos are good I'm going to post them even if I didn't like the band, in which case I might say something about that.

Why aren't you using Tumblr
(or Twitter or Flickr etc.) instead of a photoblog?

The main reason why I went the photoblog route is that I wanted a programming project to work on. This website does not use WordPress or any existing frameworks. It uses a simple Content Management System (CMS) which I created by hand in PHP. It gets the job done, looks decent on a computer or a cell phone (and on my resume) and gives me something to mess around with whenever I'm in the mood to do some coding.

Why is your hair plastered to the side of your head like that?

To keep it out of my eyes when I shoot. Duh!

Special Thanks To:

  • Steve Koepke and The List. This is how I discovered music back in college (UC Berkeley, mid-90s).
  • The OhMyRockness and BrooklynVegan concert calendars. I spent 10+ years living in NYC and these were a lifeline.
  • ShowListDC for introducing me to the DC music scene. Also for being good but not so good that I didn't think I could do better (sorry but the slow updates were killing me).
  • My friend Molly's website NYCSeen (now defunct, but see here if you really care) which got me thinking about how to set up a music website.

Marcus