This is my favorite time of year to attend shows, and man, 2022 hasn’t disappointed in the slightest. There’s been an overabundance of good shows lately. And I really mean that! On a handful of weekend-nights this past month I’ve been able to pick and choose what I’m in the mood to hear and see, and as active as the East Tennessee music scene has been for the decade I’ve been involved in it, that isn’t a luxury I’ve felt afforded too often.
In a time where it really felt like all the venues and spaces and house show spots were drying up, a couple spots really have come through to provide a safe and supportive space for locals and touring acts this year. In the case of this article, lowercase books is one of these spaces I’ve been spending an increasing amount of time in, and will no doubt be regarded as a legendary venue for years to come.
And I really do mean legendary. Thanks to Shane Dixon who filmed this performance at lowercase books, Revolver Magazine put out an article highlighting The Callous Daoboys’ interesting performance that took place on the first of this month, practically cementing lowercase books as one of the most influential and important venues in our area.
As for gear this year, my camera equipment has gone mostly unchanged for shows. I’m shooting with a Canon 5D (2005), the Canon 10-18mm (locked at 18mm) or the Yongnuo 35mm f/2 with a Moment Cinebloom 20% filter, and a Yongnuo YN560IV flash. For footage, I’ve been using my JVC Everio GZ-MG330 (2008), though I’ve been experimenting with filters for it (wide angles, color filters, etc), as well as other, older Digital8 and Mini-DV camcorders.
I am assembling a new kit for shows based around my Olympus OM-D E-M1 MKII, and I may try that set up next month when I get everything in, but until then, this has been working great for me.
For the rest of this article, I’ll be posting photos of cool bands I saw at each of these shows, as well as some song recommendations from each of them. Both events were supported by The Knoxville Hardcore Collective, who has a Discord server you can join here, as well as a Twitter which is updated with tons of info regularly about the scene here. Thanks so much for checking this out, please subscribe (it’s FREE) and be safe and well.
The Callous Daoboys, GOOdVIBEsONLy, RAT PUNCH, Every Promise Kept, and Quiescent Mantis at lowercasebooks in Knoxville, Tennessee 12-1-22
Blind Tiger, knucklehead, Elderbug, and East Valley Riflemonks at the Pilot Light in Knoxville, Tennessee 11-19-22
Well, that’s it for this week! I hope you enjoyed the photos and gave the music a listen. Next week, I’ll have a media post with some digitized tapes for you to check out, but until then, check out my page on Archive.org for a full list of digitized media. If you have any questions, feel free to send me a message right here or drop a comment below. Lastly, you can check out all of my previous posts here. Thanks so much for checking out this week’s edition of Diptych!
See you soon!
—Forrest
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