At the beginning of this hike I expressed my desire for more fog. Fast forward to an hour later and I got all the fog I ever needed plus all the rain that came with it. Regardless, a good morning spent with the best of company.
I almost didn't go on this trip. With a full-time job, two weeks' worth of editing backlogged, and a wedding and an event already lined up at the end of the week, getting a last minute invite to fly out to LA was almost too overwhelming. I kept going back and forth. Originally I said yes. Then I backed out. The night before we were supposed to fly out, I changed my mind again.
I'm so glad I did.
Michael was set to play a show in LA at the Sayer's Club and so he brought Russell Broom, Andrew Ball, James Bundy, and me out with him. The day after we flew in, we had a relaxing morning grabbing brunch and coffee in Echo Park before an afternoon rehearsal at Bedrock with four musicians from LA. After rehearsals we found ourselves at the legendary Bob Hunka's house for bottomless Hunkaritas and amazing tacos. More cocktails at an unassuming French restaurant called Taix packed with a way too cool crowd and a couple street burgers later, Russell and I almost got matching tattoos and Andrew, James, Russ, and I passed out at three in the morning in the weirdest AirBnB I have ever stayed in.
Then, finally, show day. Michael did a radio performance at KCSN, which I embarrassingly and unintentionally video-bombed the entire time. We walked around Larchmont for lunch, petting dogs, and ice cream before heading back to the AirBnB to take some well-needed naps. As the sun was setting we headed out to the venue for sound check and the show. It all felt like it was over so quickly. In a blink, we were out of there and in an In-N-Out. 1 am burgers and fries. 3 am bed time. 5 am wake up call. Another one for the books.
I had the pleasure of meeting and taking photos of woodworking extraordinaire and founder of Camp & City John Fache for BRANDED Magazine's current issue. I can't describe John as anything else but super cool. If you ever need a serving board, bowl, table, or anything else beautifully handcrafted from wood, he is your guy.
This was without a doubt one of the best nights of my life, and it while made me so incredibly happy it also makes me sad because I honestly don't know how anything can ever live up this greatness. Watching Beyoncé while she's currently at the top of her career (which I totally thought after she released self-titled, how does she keep doing this???) from ten feet away absolutely crush her vocals while killing some amazing choreography as a 40-foot screen set off some of the most stunning visuals to complement everything .... where does it go from here? Will I have to quit my job and spend all my money so I can keep following Beyoncé's tour to stay happy? Beyoncé, can you please just hire me as your tour photographer??
Throughout the show I was so torn between being completely present in the moment and preserving our memories with photos and videos. I compromised by taking five second videos so I could stare intently at her face while still having a short clip I could watch on loop while lying in bed. Being the person that I am, I couldn't help but snap photos whenever I thought something looked amazing - which turned out to be a lot of the time.
Anyways. I'm glad I did take photos because I can look back on them and still remember the intense emotions I was feeling at the time. Here are some of my favourites.
