This week, Ritva hosts the Lens-Artists Challenge, focusing on music. Ritva’s line, “Whether it’s a street artist down the street, local band or a world‑famous rockstar on stage…” feels like it was written for my archive. My selections span that exact arc, starting with a street performer who seems to defy gravity and ending with a legendary rock band under the summer sky. I went back over a dozen years to capture a range of photos I don’t recall sharing in a challenge before. You can read Ritva’s entire challenge post here.
Emery Carl is one of the most recognizable buskers in the Seattle music scene—especially at Pike Place Market, where he’s performed regularly for years. He’s appeared in the Pike Market Buskers’ Festival and in Seattle’s Buskers Series, often introduced as the “Seattle Busker King.” His trademark blend of music and circus‑style showmanship—hula hoops spinning, a guitar balanced on his chin, and another played in his hands—was on full display during our 2014 visit to Pike Place Market.
In 2023, at a Renaissance Faire in Fargo, North Dakota, the Loch Morr performers played to the delight of a toddler who wandered from the audience right up to the stage. While Lauren Morris—an accomplished fiddler with regional roots—played a violin solo, the guitarist, clearly unfazed by the unexpected backup dancer, grinned at the toddler’s improvised choreography.
A regional German band that plays at many folk gatherings across the upper Midwest, the Bockfest Boys from New Ulm, Minnesota, travel a lively summer circuit but are best known for their Oktoberfest concerts. Who can resist dancing a polka when they play? Apparently, quite a few people in this Fargo audience decided to sit it out—only a handful of dancers swayed to the music in this photo, taken at Fargo’s German Folk Festival at Rheault Farm in 2016.
I’ve supported Trollwood Performing Arts for years—it’s been part of Fargo Public Schools’ music and theater offerings since 1978. In 2012, I taught sound design and performance audio for their summer main stage production, helping students learn how to run the sound system. Among other skills, I taught students to adjust the performers’ wireless mics so their vocals carried above the live orchestra tucked beneath the set. I didn’t take any photos of that show, but one of my favorite Trollwood images comes from the 2015 performance of Mary Poppins. The student-run production fills the outdoor amphitheater with musical energy each summer.
In July 2024, I purchased the Nikon Z7 II mirrorless camera. Of course, I took it to downtown Fargo to start learning the new tool. I tried some street photography, but the sound of rock music pulled me toward a small square where a stage—much like the old gazebos that once anchored so many towns—hosts summer evening performances. On this day, Walking Phoenix, an indie‑alternative rock band from Fargo formed in March 2020, was the featured act. They mix classic rock, blues, jazz, and a bit of R&B into a sound that’s hard to label but easy to enjoy. Their live shows have earned them a solid regional following, and they’ve even opened for a few national and international acts.
An annual event in Oro Valley, Arizona, brings classic cars, BBQ lunches, and musical acts to the Arizona desert. Jimi “Primetime” Smith brought his authentic Chicago blues to the stage. A guitarist and vocalist with deep roots in Chicago’s musical lineage, he’s spent decades on stages from storied Midwest clubs to regular stops across Arizona, including Tucson.
At the Bluestem Amphitheater—the same venue where Trollwood stages its summer main productions—musical acts of international acclaim draw crowds from across the Fargo/Moorhead communities. In June 2014, we attended a Beach Boys Summer Tour concert, part of a national series of performances. Headed by original band member Brian Wilson (in the blue shirt) and keyboardist Bruce Johnston, the group entertained us with their familiar 1960s musical style. I took this photo with my Samsung S3 mobile phone and later pulled it from a large archive search to reprocess using current software tools.
With the sounds of Good Vibrations and Surfin’ U.S.A. bouncing around in my brain, it’s time to close out my challenge response. Thanks to Ritva for taking me down memory lane and reminding me of performances from the last decades. If only I’d taken photos of Tina Turner’s Twenty Four Seven Tour at the Fargo Dome in November 2000. Or captured the fun we had at the Gordon Lightfoot in Concert tour in 2009, when we ended up with tickets gifted from two strangers at a local McDonald’s who needed to head home early. I’m most distressed that I didn’t have the equipment to photograph Paul McCartney’s US Tour stop at the Xcel Energy Center in Minneapolis in 2005, when Lynn won two tickets from a Fargo radio station.
Last week, Anne reminded us that moving our bodies is a great way to skip the zoom lens, grab a nifty fifty (50 mm) or portrait lens (85 mm) fixed focal length, and zoom with your feet. Next week, Egidio hosts the challenge. Be sure to follow him here so you don’t miss the challenge, which goes live on Saturday, October 10 at noon Eastern Time.
If you’re sharing a Lens‑Artists Challenge response for the first time, welcome—we’d love to visit your post. To participate, publish your take on this week’s theme, link back to this page, and add the Lens‑Artists tag so others can discover your work. You’ll find more details on how the challenge works here.
John Steiner
Thanks for taking us on memory trip with you. Music does bring back memories. As did your comment, if I had only taken photos of… yes I have a bunch of those. I just saw an Eagles document, and remembered that I saw them in Helsinki in the 80’s as well as Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder. Appreciate your feel good photos, with life and joy of music so be seen in the images
Thanks, Ritva! I do listen to music daily, and have for years! It brings joy to hear those old songs… I don’t know most new artists of any genre. >grin<
John, thank you!
Your collection brought back fond memories of outdoor music and concerts, I attended way back when. I love the sense of motion and emotion in your feature photo.
Thanks, Suzette! I got lucky and nailed the exposure to just slightly blur the hula hoops. >grin<
You are welcome, John. You are a superbly skilled photographer.
I like to think… and I’ll take the compliment, but that shot of the busker was 90% luck and maybe 10% skill. >grin<
Luck is a great thing in photography, sometimes the best part (for me).
What a varied musical review you’ve taken us on John. What I appreciated most is that you’ve shown us that local talent is always the best.
Thanks, Anne! Those regional and local musicians work hard to play in a very competitive industry. They deserve their 15-minutes of fame. (As if I could give them that. >grin<)
You just did, in this post.
This is a fun collection. Your love for outdoor performers is vivid here. That street performer that opened your beautiful gallery is amazing.
I do like outdoor performances. I don’t have many indoor music shots in my gallery. Thanks, Egidio!
John, your music images are terrific. I love that the one of the Beach Boys! The first live concert I attended was the Beach Boys in Washington, D.C. back in the early 1960’s. I also saw the Beatles not long after that.
I never got to see the Beatles. Envy!!
John, I saw the Beatles when they played in D.C. Stadium in 1966. I was about 15. I remember they played from a stage set up on second base. Many years later we took our daughter with us to see Paul McCartney in Miami in 1990. Wow, the memories!
Indeed!
You have a fun and diverse collection John. I especially like the first two images!
Thanks, Brad! Lots of music, for sure.
Great collection of live music!! The opening one is great!!
Fantastic close ups of the bands. The first image with the toddler is extra cute.
Thanks, Rebecca! Ritva gave us a fun challenge!
After that first one, everything else was rather ordinary. 😆. I saw the Beach Boys in concert once many, many years ago. What fun!
You led with a terrific scene. I’m afraid I haven’t heard the Beach Boys in a concert, let alone the Beatles
So much for “world famous.” Those “world tours” don’t hit everywhere. We don’t have many international stars appearing in Fargo, North Dakota, either. >grin<
Oooh, The Beach Boys live! Great post, John. We saw Tina Turner when she was still touring with Ike. Can’t get too much good music.🎶
Indeed. I don’t do concerts much anymore, unless they are a local band in the park or some such. Too much crowd, too much noise… er, ah… Get off my lawn! >grin<
What a fantastic and energetic collection! Spanning from street magic to rock legends perfectly captures the true spirit of the theme. Beautifully done! 🎸
Thanks, Aura!
So much fun, John! Loved the first two very much!
Thanks, A-C!
Looks like you have been to lots of concerts. Congrats on the tickets to see Paul McCartney. That must have been exciting. I saw them in Indianapolis in 1964. No pictures, though. 🙂
It was a memorable trip. Lynn won the tickets on Friday night, I recall. Concert was Monday night. It gave me an excuse to get the Cardinal out of the hangar on Saturday, visit family in Mankato over the weekend, and spend the monday in Saint Paul.
Lots of birds with one stone, John, including a Cardinal. 🙂
Yep! I miss the Cardinal, but it was time to move on!
One less bird. 🙂
Wow, that’s a lot of wonderful experiences, John! The first one – singing while hula-hooping – mindblowing!
Indeed!
Great collection, that first image is very cool!
Thanks, Pamela!