As much as I’ve always loved concert photography and capturing bands as they poured every ounce of energy into each song. It was always the before and after that I wost most enamored with. As a kid I would pour through fanzines and books like Dance of Days and Banned in D.C. so engaged by the shots of the kids at the show or the bands just hanging out. “Oh my God. They’re like… real people.” These were the shots that really told the story of the friendships and intimacy formed through the music. I always wanted to take those kind of pictures. I always wanted to take the “UnBand” picture. The one where they were just being themselves and not (as the Agnostic Front song goes) “Not another character in a Hardcore handbook. This past Saturday some friends, old and new, gathered to see GO! and others play the final ABC No Rio matinee before the ball and chain rebuild the aging landmark. I did my best to capture some of the friends who gathered. Some of which live on separate coasts. Others I only see sporadically at events such as this one. All near and dear to my heart. These are the kinds of intimate images I always wanted to take. I did my best to get some unguarded shots but people have a way of spotting a camera and wanting to ham it up.