Kid Cudi @ MTV’s Ulalume Festival

Last Friday MTV taped their Halloween special, christened the Ulalume Festival, a week early.  Kid Cudi, Dead By Sunrise, AFI and Paramore played a concert to a wet but enthusiastic crowd at Merriweather Post Pavilion and yours truly was on hand to cover the event for the Washington Post.

Rapper Kid Cudi was the night’s opening act and did a good job getting the crowd to forget about the crappy weather.  He’s a bit laid back on stage compared to other hip hop artists, but he’s still fun to shoot because he smiles a lot, and moves around the stage quite a bit.  Plus, no hat! That’s generally a big annoyance when shooting a rapper, especially when you’re not allowed to use a flash.

I shot this gig with my 1Ds Mk II with a 24-70/2.8 attached and also my 40D with a Tamron 17-50/2.8.  I had my 70-200/2.8 with me as well, but the stage is so low at Merriweather that I generally don’t need it, especially for acts that like to use the front of the stage.

Overall, lighting was good for the most part, at least until Paramore’s set.  But more on that later. If you like these photos and want to buy a print, check out my online shop.

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This entry was posted on Sunday, October 25th, 2009 at 11:28 pm and is filed under Concerts, Festivals, Merriweather Post Pavilion and tagged with Kid Cudi, MTV, MTV Ulalume Festival. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.