Last week Chris Daughtry, the runner-up in American Idol’s fifth season, played at Foxborough Massachusetts’ Showcase Live, where I do quite a bit of house photography. I was a little late to the show unfortunately, so I wasn’t able to stake my positions but I don’t think it would have mattered much because it was truly a packed house! As soon as I walked in I heard the cries of women in 360 degrees. I had no idea the Chris Daughtry had such a huge fan base – the place was literally wall-to-wall packed.
Photographing in those conditions has its challenges, but it also has its benefits – usually the performers are much more animated and engaged with the crowd. There’s that energy that starts flowing and infects everyone from the crowd, to the sound guy, to the artists. I can’t help but catch it myself.
I have to say I was blown away by Daughtry. I watched season 5 of American Idol and he impressed me, but seeing him do his own stuff and perform with less pressure was a refreshing site. He’s an extremely charismatic presence on the stage, bringing both a sort of fun, jovial, almost folksy vibe to the stage, but also a hard, edgy, heavy-metal-with-a-splash-of-pop-vibe as well. Perhaps its that very combination of sweet and salty that makes him so popular.
His band mates, who I believe are his friends from his band in North Carolina before his fame on American Idol, were equally charismatic bringing the same charm and edginess that Chris brought.
I could go on, especially about how kind he and his bassist were with the crowd at the closing of the show, and how his bassist hung out with people for a good 45 minutes afterwards, signing autographs and posing for pictures, kissing ladies on their cheeks, or about how the women in the place seemed entranced by Chris’ singing and jumping around the stage, but… I’ll let the pictures try and tell the story, albeit not as complete.
Enjoy!
The Chris Daughtry by Ben Saren, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
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OMG..awesome pics! It's great to hear someone else say what we all know! They are amazing! I was right in front, and I love reliving that amazing night!
Thanks for the kind words! Glad you like the pics!
(Sent from my iPhone. Please excuse any typos.)