Matador Records - Las Vegas Concert Photography

Last weekend, Matt and I went to Las Vegas for Matador Records' 21st Birthday Party - the Lost Weekend 3 day music concert. I had never been to Vegas before and having so many of my favorite bands converge at one point in time provided the perfect opportunity to go. I've been a fan of many of the artists since high school and college, and many of the bands have well, disbanded, since then, so seeing them reunite or seeing them for the first time live was a really amazing and nostalgic experience for me.  Matt and I also did some sightseeing in other parts of the city, like checking out the Pinball Hall of Fame and the vintage neon signs on Fremont Street, but the music was definitely the highlight. This was also one of the only concerts I've been to that allowed more than point and shoot cameras, so I was able to get some fun pictures.

The Japanese punk band Guitar Wolf opened and closed the first night and they were amazing. They played an after-party where I got  some of my favorite photos of the whole weekend.

Pavement was the Friday night headliner and even though I had just seen them the night before at the Hollywood Bowl and earlier this year in Berkeley, I can't get enough of their music. 

Saturday we went to the Strip and the Pinball Museum, but we got back in time to catch Spoon and Belle and Sebastian. Spoon didn't play "Sister Jack" and Belle and Sebastian didn't play "Slow Graffiti" but they were still great.

Sunday included another trip out of the Palms to check out neon signs and more of Las Vegas. Then back to see the last night of bands, starting with the New Pornographers.

And then Liz Phair, whose music I've loved forever but never thought I'd get to see touring. She played a short set of songs from only her first two albums, but they were perfect. Ted Leo joined her in a duet for her last song.

And then closing out the whole festival was my all-time favorite band, Guided by Voices. They retired in 2004, though I've seen Bob Pollard tour since then (and gotten his autograph on my one-of-a-kind vinyl Propeller!) This was the "classic lineup" with band members from 1993-1996. It was such a good show and a great way to end the weekend!

Other awesome bands we saw that I didn't get awesome pictures of were Sonic Youth, Harlem, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, Superchunk, Yo La Tengo and many more. The rest of the pictures can be seen here. I had such a good time and have had such good music stuck in my head for the last week. Happy Birthday, Matador!