The Bishops play CG's Sports Cafe

As promised, today's post delivers pictures from the Indy cover band The Bishops' performance on Jan. 21 at CG's Sports Cafe in Bargersville, Ind.

Actually, the trip to CG's was primarily to take formal shots of the band -- a group shot and individual mug shots -- for the band to use on its website. But, I also wanted to experiment more than I had in the past with the video feature on my Canon 7D, so I recorded a half-dozen video clips of the band, and those are posted at my smugmug gallery.

Here are shots from the band playing CG's; leading off with my favorite of the formal group shots. Guitarist and vocalist Bryan Bishop had asked for a series of serious, smile and kooky shots. This was the jewel of the kooky shots.

To see a full gallery of stills from this show, visit this link.

Above and below: It's rare to find an angle, room and no dancers to impede a shot that includes a full band in one frame. I got not one, not two ... even three at CG's. The ones above and below were taken from normal angles on opposite sides of the stage. Above, from left, are keyboardist RJ Johnson, guitarist and vocalist Bryan Bishop, drummer John Margue, vocalist Georgette Fraction, bass player Eldon Hawkins and lead guitarist Matt Ley.

Above and below: The lead vocalists in some rare form -- Bishop wearing a cap hip-hop style in the middle of a hip-hop tune, Fraction caught in a mini-swirl, hair a-flyin'.

Above: Bishop, taking his hip-hop flavor to the people ... and on the dance floor.

Above: From down low, a third image of the full band in one frame.

Above and next few below: Individual captures of the other band members, starting with drummer Marque above, who's ready to come down hard with both sticks. One of the nice things about CG's was the lighting was ample across the stage, so when it came time for band member introductions -- and brief solos -- I could get Marque and the others without the usual lens fighting to find light and focus. 

 Above: Keyboardist RJ Johnson

Above: Bass player Eldon Hawkins

Above: Lead guitarist Matt Ley

The Bishops play Mickey's Irish Pub

Today's post is another effort to play catch-up. On Jan. 14, I shot three music performances in the Indianapolis area, starting with two at the Indy Acoustic Cafe Series (Griffin House and Vance Gilbert) in Fountain Square in Indianapolis, before finishing the night in Carmel, at Mickey's Irish Pub, where the cover band The Bishops invited me to shoot their show.

The Bishops were introducing two new band members -- keyboardist RJ Johnson and lead guitarist Matt Ley -- and wanted fresh performance and group shots. I followed up the Jan. 14 visit with a trip the following weekend to CG's Sports Cafe in Bargersville, where I took formal group shots, one of which the band is now using at its web site, and also recorded a dozen video clips, which you can check out at this link. I'll post shots from the show at CG's in my next post. 

Today's post, however, concentrates on the Jan. 14 show at Mickey's. Besides Johnson and Ley, band members include drummer John Marque, bass player Eldon Hawkins, vocalist Georgette Fraction and guitarist/vocalist Bryan Bishop. The image leading off the post is my favorite among the many shots I got of the Mickey's patrons dancing to the music and fussing over new guitarist Ley.

To see a full gallery of images from this show, visit this link.

Above, a view of the dance floor from the stage. Band members Matt Ley (foreground) on lead guitar and Bryan Bishop (far right) on lead vocals. Below, Ley in the throes of a solo.

 

Above: I didn't find out until after posting a similar picture -- one without the dip -- on my Facebook page that the couple featured in this silhouette were at Mickey's that evening to celebrate their engagement. The couple, which asked me for prints of this shot, are Dean Kraner and Kimberly Hamilton McCord.

Above and below: The primary vocalists for The Bishops, Bryan Bishop and Georgette Fraction. 

Above and below: The band's rhythm section, John Marque on drums and Eldon Hawkins on bass.

Above: New keyboardist RJ Johnson, with Marque in the background.

Above and next two below: More shots from the dance floor.

Above: The band brought up a Mickey's patron to handle lead vocals on a song during the last set. He embraced the opportunity and did a bang-up job.

Above: Catching Fraction in a reflective moment.

Above and next two below: More interaction between dancers and guitarist Ley.

 

The Bishops rock The Grill

Spent last Friday night photographing The Bishops, an Indianapolis rock band that was pretty cool to begin with, but they introduced a keyboard player, Brian Barbour, at their show April 22 at The Grill, 9755 Fall Creek Road, Indianapolis, and the band's Bryan Bishop thinks this will open the group to explore more songs and styles.

The Grill is a cozy place, but that didn't stop people from finding room to dance through the night. The Bishops do loads of spot-on covers, from Mellencamp to Prince, Rolling Stones to Vanilla Ice, Neil Diamond (their "Sweet Caroline" was a venue-sing-a-long on Friday) to Wild Cherry (remember "Play that Funky Music"?). Bishop and vocalist Georgette Fraction handle most of the lead vocals, but lead guitarist Eric Boehmer will tackle a song or two ... and he's the start attraction on the guitar-solo-frenzied "Stranglehold" by Ted Nugent.

Also in the band are bassist Eldon Hawkins and drummer John Marque. These images are from their show at The Grill.

For a full gallery of images from the show, follow this link.

Eric Boehmer (above), spellbound by the moment ... and (below) mixing it up on the axe with an animated Bryan Bishop.

Above: Georgette Fraction, doing what she does so well; the joy is obvious.

Above: New keyboardist Brian Barbour.

Above: Bassist Eldon Hawkins in the middle of a windmill strum.

Above: Bishop showing his skills on harmonica.

 

Boehmer investing in the solo (above) ... and a closeup of his pick hand (below).

Above: Taking a different perspective, aided by a wide-angle lens, and getting unobstructed views of five of the six band members. From left: Bishop, drummer John Marque, Fraction, Hawkins and Boehmer.

Bishop hamming it up (above) on one tune, then donning the prop (below) for Vanilla Ice's "Ice, Ice Baby." 

 

Marque (above) putting a silence on a cymbal and (below) getting into his rhythm contributions. 

 

Fraction (above) taking lead on Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" then (below) taking lead on laughter.

Bassist Hawkins (above) and keyboardist Barbour (below).

The Bishops frolic at Clancy's Pub

Music was the source of another shoot on Jan. 14, this time at Clancy's Pub on the southside of Indianapolis. The Indy rock band The Bishops was performing. The band members are Bryan Bishop (vocals, rhythm and acoustic guitar), Georgette Fraction (vocals), Eric Boehmer (lead guitar), Eldon Hawkins (bass) and John Marque (drums). These images are from that visit.

A full gallery of images from the show can be found at The Bishops at Clancy's Pub.

Above: Georgette hitting a high note.

Above: The full band (minus drummer Marque) from left: Bishop, Fraction, Boehmer and Hawkins.

Above: Bishop and Fraction, during a high-steppin' number.

Above: The band at the start of a country-western tune. New member Hawkins (far right) had started the song without a prop, so someone from the audience volunteered their pink cowgirl hat. Good-naturedly, he accepted ... and (below) had fun with it.

 

 

 

 Above: Hawkins in a more serious mode, laying down the bass lines. 

Above: Bishop, Fraction and Boehmer in a frame treated with a glow-diffusion texturizing filter in post-processing.

Above and next two below: The energy-pumping Georgette Fraction, in high groove and song.

Above and next two below: Eric Boehmer, vested heavily in his musicianship and vocals.

Above: Bryan Bishop, dressed -- and posed -- to deliver the band's cover of Vanilla Ice's "Ice, Ice Baby."