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Purple City Music Festival

I showed up a few minutes too late to see the very first act at the festival. After I got my bracelet, I wandered around to figure out the lay of the land. It was mostly pretty convenient.

Runt at River City Revival

These guys were entertaining to watch.

Sister Ray at McDougall United

I didn't like taking pictures in the church. I was always worried I'd burst into flame. Most of the photos here are of some of the friends I ran into.

Hydracat at DECL

This was the first band I saw at DECL, where I was assigned to cover all the bands. The purple lights were a little excessive, but I was able to get some decent photos without resorting to my speedlight.

Wallpaper at Temple

Wallpaper was the band that added a member's 7-year-old son to become BatScratch. However, BatScratch played only a couple songs and then transitioned into Wallpaper. I arrived too late and only saw Wallpaper.

Alleyway

This alleyway leading to the door of Starlite appears in Home Front's music video for "Nation."

Markus Midnight at Freemason Basement

The Freemasons Hall had two venues, with a basement beneath the main venue. But the basement was very well-lit, and it was easy to photograph bands there. It was probably the best lighting I saw at the whole festival.

Gone Cosmic at River City Revival

I enjoyed how expressive the lead vocalist of this band was. I kept seeing bands I liked at River City Revival, which I think was the free venue of the festival.

Kroovy Rookers at Starlite

I stopped by Starlite to see Kroovy Rookers, one of the few bands I'd seen before or had any prior knowledge of.

Hand Habits at McDougall

Didn't burst into flames, and did manage to get somewhat better photos of the band this time.

Ani at Freemasons

I swung by the Freemasons Hall and caught a bit of this band. It's harder to shoot upstairs than downstairs here.

I also ran into Nurple, the festival mascot, for the first time.

Shirley & the Pyramids at DECL

Back to base camp at DECL. This time I had a little less trouble with the intense purple light.

Teacup Romance at River City Revival

I stopped by RCR for another band there. At first I saw them soundchecking, and then came by later for their actual live set.

Dead Fibres at Starlite

Another act at the main Starlite room. It seemed a bit too big for me to get proper photos.

Vibes at Temple

Temple was a secondary stage inside Starlite. They would alternate between this stage and that stage. Sort of reminds me of Round Robin shows a few years ago in Korea.

Verttigo at Freemasons

I stopped by the Freemasons Hall for a quick look.

The Nurple

I ran into the Nurple in front of the Freemasons Hall.

Black Thunder at DECL

This was the last band at DECL, and then I was freed from my obligation there that night. Though I have to say it was one of the better venues as far as what I wanted to shoot.

Bootlicker

The venue was pretty packed, so I stayed at one corner and tried to get photos of the female member jumping.

Freemasons Hall

One last look inside the Freemasons Hall before I called it a night.

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Earl D at Block Party

The second day of Purple City started at 2pm, and there weren't many people around early on. It was hot out and there was no place to sit.

J Scope at Block Party

I don't know his full story, but J Scope was at Purple City to represent the Ukrainian scene.

Land Lady at Block Party

I was expecting Land Lady to be much more satirical, a take on one of the most hated figures in modern society. But I guess maybe she wasn't.

Dirty Eddy at River City Revival

Dirty Eddy was one of the acts I saw that I most quickly decided I liked. He's a sort of retro-90s act, inspired a bit by video game sound effects I think, and maybe a time when a guy with long hair, a moustache, and those glasses would be a creep, not a hipster. His vocals were very smooth, and his setup was interesting.

Misfortune Tellers at Block Party

The next band to play outside were the Misfortune Tellers.

Witch Victim at River City Revival

I went inside for a minute and caught this band.

KT Laine at Block Party

I saw this band, and also met a lot of interesting people in the crowd.

Overdrive ii Oblivion (O.ii.O) at Block Party

The outdoor acts were definitely getting heavier as the day progressed.

Supper Break

We walked a couple blocks for supper to Fu's Repair Shop, a Chinese restaurant with this speakeasy thing going on. This seems to be catching on all over the world, a restaurant, usually something Oriental, with a kitschy secret door leading to a restaurant. It doesn't affect the quality of the food, though I was pretty satisfied with the food here. They had soju cocktails, and when I asked what kind, the bartender started listing the flavours (ie flavoured sojus). I made it clear this stuff isn't soju, and it's not even based on real soju.

Lucy's Seduction at DECL

Those bright purple lights were turned upwards, and suddenly I could do a lot more with the speedlight than the night before.

Bad Ham at Freemasons Basement

Back to Freemasons Basement, where the lighting was good.

Counterfeit Jeans at DECL

I think my photography of these guys was getting closer to my own distinct style.

Open Eyes at River City Revival

I was most looking forward to seeing this band among everyone at the festival, as I've known its members since before I left Edmonton. I ended up just shooting and shooting until my battery died, which left me unable to use my camera for the rest of the festival. Worse, my charger was back in Korea.

Boosh at DECL

I went back to DECL to shoot the final band, Boosh, on my phone. That was pretty disappointing, because I probably would have gotten amazing photos if I could have kept using my DSLR and speed light.