Randy Now's Man Cave Archives - New Jersey, Philadelphia, NYC Personal Branding, Commercial and Editorial Photographer

Hey I’m Amazed by Gigantic A Pixies Tribute Band

March 26, 2018/0 Comments/in Concerts, Music Photography /by Deirdre Ryan

UPDATE! Scroll down to see a video from the night that they performed!

So this past Saturday was not a very good day at all. Actually as you may have noticed, the past few weeks haven’t been the best, I haven’t been my best.

My mom suggested that my husband and I go see a band perform called Gigantic-Pixies Tribute, at our friend’s place, Randy Now’s Man Cave, make it sort of like a “date night”. Friends of mine were going to a local bar called The H.O.B. afterwards because Saturdays is karaoke night. I had no idea just how much we needed that night until the music started to play. They made me feel so much better!

I love The Pixies, started listening to them in HS and then throughout college to Frank Black’s solo works, and even now. I brought my Olympus mirrorless camera and the Olympus 17mm f1.8 lens and asked if it was ok to take some pictures, and I was told yeah. Normally I tend to bring a Canon full frame with a 16-35mm f2.8L , Canon 50mm f1.8 and at least my Canon 100mm Macro f2.8 lens. But I was so not in the mood, so I went minimalist.

I got to chat with Joe Ujj the lead singer a little bit beforehand and the wife of one of the band members who was sitting in the back. If I am able to, I try to introduce myself, talk “shop” about gear and let them know who I am, that while I am a pro photographer, I’m there for the music and usually when I do this, it’s my night off LOL

The video embedded below gives you an idea of how awesome they are.

Here is a list of what they played, I can’t remember all of it:

Wave of Mutilation
I Bleed
Gigantic
Crackity Jones
Hey
Mr. Grieves
No 13 Baby
Caribou
I’ve Been Tired
Allison
Is She Weird
Manta Ray
Weird At My School(I think)

They played an incredible set, I can’t remember all of the songs, but anything by the Pixies takes me waaay back to a time of HS with my art, theater, hanging out, studying, boyfriends, besties, and then art college if you didn’t know who they were you did now. Their first 4 albums were in constant rotation on my portable Sony CD/Tape player. Yes, I’m old enough to remember when these albums were first released. Wave of Mutilation has 2 versions, the slower one from the UK Surf, was used in the movie with Christian Slater in the 1990 Pump Up The Volume.

The pitch of Joe’s vocals was practically perfect, the drums, guitars and bass were spot on. I mean these guys were incredible, and I hope that they continue on this streak because like I said, they were amazing. Check out their Facebook page and keep looking for a venue and date that they’re playing next. You will not leave disappointed.

Later on, we walked to The H.O.B., had a drink, ate something yummy, and met up with our friends. I normally sing at karaoke but I wasn’t feeling it. However my husband sang Don’t You Forget about Me by Simple Minds(he was great and I’m not just saying this) and my other friend belted out Ballroom Blitz among others, and practically took the house down!

Thanks again for letting me photograph that night everyone, you’re awesome! Check out more photos of musicians by clicking here. If you want to get a hold of me, just click on the red Chat Now button. Be sure to follow everyone, especially Randy Now’s Man Cave on Facebook for upcoming concerts and events!

UPDATED: The band JUST released this video from the night of this performance and tagged a bunch of us on Facebook. Thanks guys so much!

Pixies / Weird At My School (by Gigantic – A Pixies Tribute)
Shot by Allegra at Randy Now’s Man Cave on March 24th, 2018 in Bordentown, NJ. Thanks to Randy, Amy, Deidre, Christina, Anawim, JP
Posted by Gigantic – A Pixies Tribute on Friday, April 6, 2018

An Intimate Evening With Local Band The Successful Failures-NJ Music Photographer

May 19, 2017/0 Comments/in Concerts, Music Photography /by Deirdre Ryan

The Successful Failures are lead singer and rhythm guitarist, Mick Chorba, Rob Martin on drums, lead guitarist Pete Smith and Ron Bechamps on bass. They’re a local Indie-Rock, Americana singer-songwriter, rock-n-roll band based in Chesterfield, NJ with quite a large following. We met about a year or so ago when they opened for Men Without Hats. I was a guest in the audience taking photos of the bands and they liked the photos that I took of them.

Since then, we’ve been in touch, then we came together this past January and I photographed them for their upcoming new album. I’m not going to share those images yet until the artwork is finalized. However I’m very excited, because not only are they an incredible band, they are super nice. We have the same interests, and sense of humor. I love seeing these guys live and wish that I can do so more often.

They played at Randy’s Man Cave recently amongst musical greats encased forever both in vinyl and CD. With this as their background, the audience was a mixture of fans, family and friends, I have to say that this was one of the best live performances I have ever seen. And not because they played some songs of my favorite band, The Beatles, either 😉

I love musicians, and to photograph them live, is a rush, because deep down inside I think part of me wants to be onstage too.

UPDATE:

Below is the video from that night featuring my photos, and yes, I do get credit on YouTube 🙂 Thanks guys, it looks great!

Pete just wails on his guitar, I love watching him perform!

Here’s Mike Devito, of the School of Rock All Star Band. He’s going to be touring with The School Of Rock All Star Band at Lollapalooza this summer. Mike came up and did an original jam with a birthday related improvisational. It was pretty awesome!

I like to call this image, “Changing of the Guards”.

As Ron was playing it looked like he was also “browsing” the records to see what he wanted to buy later LOL

They ended the evening with their version of John Denver’s Country Road, and invited everyone to sing along as loud as they could. And yes…I did just that because I love that song.

Below are videos from Commish TV, I highly recommend that you subscribe to their channel. You can see me sitting on the floor taking pictures and sitting on the chair to the left, my foot “tapping” to the beat. I do my very best not to get in the way of other people who are there to enjoy performances. There was another video crew there, and the space was small. However everyone was very nice and seemed to understand our purpose.

I’d like thank The Successful Failures and Randy for allowing me to be there as always. The band has a YouTube Channel and are on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. You can purchase their albums on iTunes and Amazon. Like I mentioned earlier, they are going to release a new album soon, so subscribe to their newsletter on their website and follow them on social media.

And, be sure to follow me here on my blog, subscribe to my newsletter, and follow me on Instagram and Facebook. If you’re a record label, band promoter, musician or in a band looking for a photographer, contact me.

Hey everyone, I need to put this on my blog posts. I’ve been burned horribly, but understand it’s a legal thing I have to do to protect myself. Thanks for your support, here it is: All photographs appearing on this site are the property of Deirdre Ryan Photography. They are protected by U.S. Copyright Laws, and are not to be downloaded or reproduced in any way without the written permission of Deirdre Ryan Photography. Copyright ©2017 Deirdre Ryan All Rights Reserved.

Local DJ to Mtv to Author, Matt Pinfield Visits The ManCave- NJ Music and Events Photography

March 15, 2017/0 Comments/in event photography, Music Photography, Photojournalism /by Deirdre Ryan

If you grew up in parts of north Jersey and listened to the radio during the 80’s there was a very good chance that you’ve heard of Matt Pinfield, who was at the WRSU FM 106.3 at Rutgers. If you watched Mtv, you probably heard of Matt Pinfield who hosted “MTV’s 120 Minutes. Within a year, he hosted a variety of MTV shows including “MattRock,” “Pinfield Suite,” “Pinfield Presents,” “Rocks Off,” Say What?, MTV Live, and over 100 MTV specials.”(quoted from Wikipedia)

But while he was a DJ at WRSU he found out about the famous club in Trenton called City Gardens. And it was there that he met Randy Now and Jon Stewart. Since then, he and Randy have been friends. Matt has now been in San Francisco for the morning show KFROG, and a nightly show called Two Hours with Matt Pinfield and recently wrote a book called All These Things That I’ve Done: My Insane, Improbable Rock Life. He’s been touring around the country promoting his book and came back to NJ and made a stop at Randy’s ManCave for a Meet and Greet, and to sign copies of his books.

That’s Randy in the middle.

Photos of myself with my husband and Matt by: Jen Suwak http://www.roamingdingoproductions.com We got him to crack up and double over with laughter 🙂

A lot of fans came out to see him, the line was out the door, friends from his old neighborhood in NJ were there, co-workers from WRSU, and an “old” flame. He took extra time to speak to each and every one that was there. It didn’t matter the time frame. Everyone was special, he was kind, generous funny and truly loved being there.

I wished that I could’ve stayed longer to chat with everyone, but our daughter had a birthday party to get to.

Thank you Matt! It was an honor to meet you, thank you for writing the book, and signing it for us!

Cowboy Trails, Hard Rocking Sounds to Surfing the Fender Strat

August 29, 2016/0 Comments/in Concerts, Music Photography /by Deirdre Ryan

This was a Killer Triple Bill Concert at the Performing Arts Center in Bordentown, NJ hosted by Randy Now on August 13th, 2016. Originally this was supposed to be an HUGE outdoor event in Bordentown Township as a fundraiser. I don’t know what happened but suddenly it had to be indoors and with less than 5 days notice.

For everyone reading, I want you all to know something: Randy puts his heart and soul into everything he does, especially these concerts and events that he does. He loves music, pop culture, and everything that comes along with it. Because of Randy, my daughter and her friends are able to see live bands perform, some of them she loved already like Peter Tork of the The Monkees and expanding her horizons of punk and rock bands.

Bringing famous talent like Peter Tork, Robyn Hitchcock, Men Without Hats, Marshal Crenshaw, he also had a special SOLD OUT dinner and a concert with Iain Matthews with James Fogarty, The Toasters, and more. I mean Randy has a book that has him all over the inside of it titled: No Slam Dancing, No Stage Diving, No Spikes: An Oral History of the Legendary City Gardens, and a movie about him and City Gardens Riot on the Dance Floor: The story of Randy Now and City Gardens Buy the book and dvd at his shop. His place in our town is awesome, and he is a wealth of trivia and stories.

Like I said, I have no idea what happened with the fundraiser or why this concert was suddenly changed, but Randy is a dear friend, and I love the guy a lot and many do as well.

So do this favor for me: patronize his shop, go to his events and concerts, spread the word about all that he is doing. Spread the love and kindness, because he deserves this and so much more. He loves what he does and that to me just awesome <3 -Thanks everyone!

Jet Weston and His Atomic Ranch Hands played songs of cowboy days by the fire as well as Johnny Cash and the blues from the 1930’s. The Doughboys are an incredible NJ rock and roll band that just kills it every time with their amazing drum and guitar solos, vocals, and now they have a new album coming up. The Sharkskins are a surf rock band that came out strong with Dick Dale’s 1962 Misirlou, complete with trumpet. I was super amped that they played Goo Goo Muck by The Cramps 😀

Then Jet asked if there were any women who could sing to come up on stage. My friends pointed to me, I asked what key, and so I went on the stage and this did happen. I sang back up to Don’t Let Go. My husband grabbed my Canon Mark 5D III with the 70-200mm 2.8L lens and took these next few photos.

I screwed up a couple of times, but it was a lot of fun, I do sing in my church choir in the Alto section. I was hoping that someone had video of this.

Video by Kris Lewis

Then came The Doughboys!

Just Like A Yoyo, only better.

Then the main act->>>>>>>The Sharkskins! These guys came blasting out with Dick Dale’s “Misirlou”.

Check out this video of the their final performance that my friend Stephanie shot while I was on the floor in front of the stage photographing the band. BTW she’s a fabulous artist!

The Sharkskins at Open Arts PAC, Bordentown, NJ #thesharkskins #surf #surfrock #60s #livemusic #openartsstage #surf #rock #openartspac #fez #suits #sharp #finale
A video posted by Stephanie Neuhaus (@steffapeppa) on Aug 14, 2016 at 1:05pm PDT

I go to these concerts to have fun and photograph them for my own enjoyment. It’s something I love to do, it’s right in my area, and I was able to bring my daughter and her friends to this show. My husband and other friends were there that night too. Yes, I would love the opportunity to photograph band and musicians for big magazines and record labels. If that opportunity comes my way, that would be awesome. Thank you to everyone that night for be great! I can’t wait to see you perform again!

Take a look at their websites and purchase their albums, thanks!

Also a HUGE thank you to Randy Now and everyone who came that night! Come to Bordentown and stop by Randy’s shop and say hello, get some LPs, cds or other great stuff!

All images are Copyright Deirdre Ryan Photography. They are protected by U.S. Copyright Laws, and are not to be downloaded or reproduced in any way without the written permission of Deirdre Ryan Photography.

Who You Gonna Call? Ghostbuster’s!

July 10, 2016/0 Comments/in Editorial, Photojournalism /by Deirdre Ryan

Today at Randy Now’s Man Cave the new Ghostbuster’s ECTO – 1 Car pulled up in front of the shop. Instead of an ambulance, it’s an early 80’s Cadillac Hearse. About 6 of these were made for the movie during filming of the new Ghostbuster’s movie that’s coming out, and this was one of them.

My husband and I came by around 4:30PM with our daughter and her best friend fresh from seeing The Secret Life of Pets(go see it, it’s really good, we have been waiting a year for it!), I had my Canon 5D III, Canon 16-35mm f2.8L lens, and a Canon 600EX-RT flash on me to take some photos of it and the girls.

Randy was helping people with the kids, taking pictures of everyone with their cellphone cameras, and being awesome as usual 🙂
Also today was the last chance – for a copy of the 2-dvd set RIOT ON THE DANCE FLOOR and the second edition copies of the since out of print for two years, NO SLAM DANCING, NO STAGE DIVING, NO SPIKES with both book authors and film directors on hand to sign copies. These are about the legendary club, City Gardens that was on Calhoun Street in Trenton, NJ and Randy was a HUGE part of it.

I’m kicking myself because I completely forgot about this! I’m finally reading my first edition copy and here I was RIGHT THERE taking pictures of the car and I could’ve also had my book signed too! DANG IT! But I got some nice images of my friend Randy and that in itself makes me super happy. You can see the process of how I shot these quick portraits of him to get the one that I think is the best.

I had to work quickly because A.) there were cars driving by while I was in the middle of the street and B.) Randy was pretty busy, but somehow I knew that he didn’t get any photos of just himself with the vehicle yet by the time I got there. Randy loves to do funny poses and I love that about him, however I got him to do some pretty cool ones with the hearse.

I like the shot below because it’s in between him posing and he’s laughing and relaxed, having a good time with me 🙂

Then I got the idea to have Randy sit in the back with “Slimer”, and after a couple of frames, this is my favorite shot by far.

Here’s me and “Slimer” taking a “selfie” with my camera…Photo by David W. Ryan. (BTW, that camera with the lens and flash is not lightweight to hold it out like that for too long.)
I don’t know how he manages to get things to his shop or people to do concerts, but the man has a TON of connections. Thank you Randy for bringing this piece of Hollywood to our small town today. Tell him thanks by commenting on this blog post and also go to this link:

Let’s get him voted for Best Record Store and bring Bordentown even more in front of everyone than before! Thanks!

THE TRENTONIAN READERS CHOICE AWARDS / VOTE FOR RANDY NOW’S MAN CAVE / BEST CD STORE / BEST MUSIC STORE / AND FILL IN THE “MISCELLANEOUS” WITH “RECORD STORE” NEAR THE BOTTOM FOR RANDY NOW’S MAN CAVE

The Insomniacs, Spanking Charlene and The Doughboys Instead of a School Event

January 6, 2016/0 Comments/in Concerts, Music Photography /by Deirdre Ryan

Once again, Randy Now did it again! This time it was for his GARAGE A GOGO WEEKEND held on September 18th and 19th, 2015.at The Open Arts Stage Theater in Bordentown was rocking to three incredible bands. The first night was The Insomniacs, Spanking Charlene and The Doughboys. The second night was The Droogettes, Sorala, Palmyra Delran and The Grip Weeds. I wasn’t able to make it the second night though 🙁

I was a torn about letting my daughter attend Bingo Night at her school or come with me to the concert. At her elementary school, Bingo Night was my committee that I would help out with and run. But this night was something that I wanted to go to, and I thought, you know what? She’s really into The Doughboys, and she’ll love the other two bands. I decided to bring her with me, and her other two friends were helping their dad in the back too. And guess what? THEY.LOVED.EVERYONE.

First up was The Insomniacs, are from NJ and WOW!!!! Check out their new vinyl single here. And look for their album on iTunes -Just Enjoy It!

Then came Spanking Charlene from NYC. The girls were super impressed with the lead singer, a powerful woman. They LOVED her! Check out their album Where are The Freaks.

Then came The Doughboys! Plus Myke Scavone was about to go on tour with The Yardbirds in October and November 2015, so that was pretty exciting. Now he had something in common with Eric Clapton and Jimmy Paige. The Doughboys have been covering songs by The Yardbirds for a long time. I wish that I could’ve seen one of those shows.

Mike Caruso on bass…

Lead singer, harmonica, and percussions, Myke Scavone….

This photo was shot during the song as seen from the below video.

Gar Francis on lead guitar just wails….

The amazing Richie X. Heyman on drums.

Performing Bo Diddly and Mona.

My daughter and her friends had a very good time, might I even say epic? They were so impressed with seeing a strong woman singing and wanted to meet her, and got to get their pictures taken. This to me and my friends, who were the other parents there, agreed, gave our girls an education into music and culture that was different than the norm.

As always, I want to thank these bands, The Open arts Stage and to Randy Now at Randy Now’s Man Cave located right here in Bordentown, NJ. If it were for Randy, then none of these act would in such a great venue like this in our little town. Love you Randy!!!!!

The Successful Failures Perform With Men Without Hats

November 30, 2015/0 Comments/in Concerts, Music Photography /by Deirdre Ryan Commercial Photography

The Successful Failures and Men Without Hats came to Bordentown back in June of this year. Randy Now is a great guy and a very good friend who brings awesome bands and talents to our little town at The Open Arts Theater.

They have a blue-sy, rock, sound that is loud and incredible. The guy on the lead guitar just wails and you can tell that he just loves his instrument and what he does with it.

Randy and Ivan(the lead singer of Men Without Hats) go way back. So it was really a treat to see Pop Goes The World and The Safety Dance, among others live and up close.

All images copyright Deirdre Ryan Photography. DO NOT SCREENSHOT IMAGES or copy in anyway. By doing so is not only illegal, but will give you bad karma. Thank you.

Uncle Floyd and Les The Mentalist Perform In Bordentown, NJ

August 21, 2015/0 Comments/in Concerts /by Deirdre Ryan Commercial Photography

Acts like these are getting fewer and fewer, so when you see a show that reads Uncle Floyd with Special Guest Les The Mentalist, then you should buy a ticket, bring friends and see the show.

Randy Now hosted the performance at the Open Arts Stage in Bordentown, NJ on May 16, 2015.

The first act was Les the Mentalist, and what he does is help bend the way your brain perceives things, he makes you think and is really damn funny too. Truly Les’s act is one to catch!

After Les The Mentalist’s act was Uncle Floyd! If you’re from New Jersey growing up, you’ll remember him from his tv, The Uncle Floyd Show I remember watching this on UHF channel 48 I “think”….closer to NYC in Northern NJ it was on another UHF channel. But Uncle Floyd is a vaudeville comedienne, who is also a fantastic piano player. (A little known fact about myself, I’m a classically train pianist, so when I hear someone who’s good, I mention it, because it’s literally a joy to my ears.)

Myself and the audience were laughing so hard we were crying, we had such a great time! People, you really need to see Uncle Floyd live in person.

Peter Tork and The Shoe Suede Blues Concert Shot By Bordentown Photographer

February 8, 2015/0 Comments/in Concerts, Music Photography /by Deirdre Ryan Commercial Photography

On Saturday, November 29, 2014, my buddy Randy Now, introduced Peter Tork and his band The Shoe Suede Blues on stage at the Open Arts Theater in Bordentown Township. This is my second time seeing Peter and his band perform here and I was super excited again. I’m a huge fan of The Monkees and I really like that Peter is doing the blues. You can check out his music by clicking on this link.

He played music from his new album Step by Step and of course quite a few by The Monkees. The photo above is where he’s playing Daydream Believer and parts of the song he lets the audience sing. It was AWESOME!

After taking this shot I was in the back with my friends singing quite loudly, I sing in a church choir 😉

This woman, was filling in for one of his band mate and she was fantastic! Not only could she sing, but she was great on slide guitar and bass. Lauren Ellis was her name I believe.