Pictures of Papa Roach at Carolina Rebellion

If you happened to look through my pictures of Papa Roach at Welcome to Rockville, then you’re probably aware that I’m a long-time fan. That only solidified as the World’s Loudest Month ensued and I had the privilege of seeing Papa Roach live every weekend.

Something I always try to do is analyze my photo sets to see where I can improve for the next time I shoot a band. I found myself overly fixated on Jerry Horton’s side of the stage at Welcome to Rockville. He comes to the front of the stage frequently where monitors are not, making it easy to catch great photos of him. So, my objective at Carolina Rebellion was to spend a little more time on Tobin Esperance. I discovered that I have been missing out.

One of the highlights of the entire Carolina Rebellion weekend happened shortly after Papa Roach’s set. I was standing side stage, half chatting with a friend of mine (Troy, drummer of Failure Anthem, who will be at Chicago Open Air – be sure to check them out!) and half snapping a few shots of Falling in Reverse. He nudged in the direction of Jacoby Shaddix (Papa Roach’s vocalist), who was standing a few people down from us and rocking out. A few moments later, Jacoby happened to look over and notice me. He reached out and tapped me on the shoulder, “Hey! You were at Welcome to Rockville taking some pics last week, weren’t you?” He quickly continued with, “Didn’t we share some of your photos? Did we properly credit you?” I nodded, a little bit of stunned but highly appreciative of him asking. “You got some killer shots! What’s your name again?” We exchanged a few more quick words and I told him I’d see him again the next weekend at Northern Invasion. He gained further respect from me for such a candid interaction, and for the simple fact that he came out to watch and support the other bands playing at the festival. Gotta love music supporting music!