I don’t listen to the radio. I happily pay my $10 a month for Spotify Premium and quickly judge anyone who doesn’t do the same. Not only for the sake of being able to choose exactly what song or playlist I’m listening to, but Spotify also gives me so many resources to discover new music with no compromising. If I’m adventuring in new territory and hate it, I move on. I’m not stuck listening to what some DJ thinks I want to hear or is being requested to play by some peasant who called in.
All of that said and my semi-hatred for radio aside, I have so much love and respect for 97X. I make an effort to go to any and every live event they put on in the area because I know that whatever artist(s) they have lined up is likely to be in line with my own taste whether I already know them or not. They’ve helped me discover a lot of great music which I am always grateful for! They put on a lot of smaller events throughout the year which normally feature two to three artist, but they’re nothing in comparison to Next Big Thing.
Next Big Thing is their annual pinnacle event that’s growing in stature and star power each year. I’ve gone for the last two years and that’s all it took to make me a lifetime attendee. After seeing all of the incredible bands on last year’s 2017 lineup like Paramore, Walk The Moon, and X Ambassadors (just my personal favorites from last year), I knew waking up the next morning that I’d be buying a ticket for NBT 2018 when they were announced later in the year. But then through 2018, I started taking concert photos, including every live event 97X put on. So I just kept the ball rolling, and got photo access to the biggest show I’ve shot to date!
And what a blast. 97X did not disappoint with the curation of artist, it was a beautifully temperate Florida weekend, and I was allowed in with my camera!
I guess this post is really just in appreciation of 97X. They don’t know it but they’ve given me the experience needed to take on more exciting opportunities to come in the music photography world. My concert portfolio is abundant with shots from their events, I’ve learned to navigate multi-artist shows at their events, and learned how to land photo passes through big name artist with just a few well placed emails. They’ve also given me a better idea of what pursuing music photography can mean for the future and it really excites me.
