sachyn, Author at Sachyn Mital

People of Afropunk 2015

Though this year’s Afropunk Fest felt more corporate, with some females promoting a car company dressed like they were Game of Thrones‘ Khaleesi and many other more obvious corporate sponsors, the organizers have never had any say in how attendees come dressed. And that is one of the best reasons to attend Afropunk Fest — to check out the people’s fashion. Afropunk fashion is original, individual, forward-thinking and colorfully expressed. While I wasn’t spending as much time on portraits as I should have, I did try to capture a lot of the variety. You can check out my photos of the fashionable people (and one fashionable pup) attending the 2015 Afropunk Fest after the jump.

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September 7, 2015

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Vintage Trouble at Afropunk 2015

Vintage Trouble at Afropunk Festival 2015 Day 2

I saw Vintage Trouble at Afropunk Fest a couple of years back when they just had one studio album to their name and really enjoyed their set. This year, they did an Afropunk warm in New York City at an event at Lincoln Center Out of Doors (where I got some really wild photos in the first four songs or so) ahead of their second album release, 1 Hopeful Rd. and the Afropunk Fest itself.

When the full Afropunk Fest rolled around, I was hoping to get some great shots of the band but for whatever reason, I was not granted a photo pass (even though I had one the past three years). However, I still managed to get a bunch of damn good pics as I stood against the rail for their entire set. Even though frontman Ty Taylor didn’t get as crazy as he had at Lincoln Center, he did end up sweating profusely. Vintage Trouble are a totally great band to see live and their new album is worth checking out. Check out more photos of Vintage Trouble at Afropunk after the jump!

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September 6, 2015

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Kamasi Washington: Blue Note NYC Photos

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Kamasi Washington‘s The Epic is the strongest jazz album of the year without a doubt. Clocking in at almost three hours, the album, like the artist behind it, is unconventional but tremendous. Signed to Flying Lotus’s Brainfeeder label, Washington creates jazz even as he roams amongst hip-hop colleagues, having appeared on albums from Kendrick Lamar and Thundercat for example.

A better recap will be up on PopMatters. And before that one of my images was featured on Dan Ouellette’s review over at ZealNYC, where he wrote, “Arguably not since Ornette Coleman left L.A. with his quartet in the late ‘50s to turn New York audiences onto his newfangled “free jazz” has a West Coast artist been so anticipated to finally arrive in the Gotham heart of jazz. While Washington may not make the profound impact that Ornette creatively foisted upon the jazz world, he will, judging by his first album and his fantastic showing at the Blue Note, continue to turn heads and open ears. As for significance, what he could do is introduce a new audience to jazz.” Follow the link above to read the rest and also check out the rest of my photos from Washington’s August 25th 8 pm set at Blue Note after the jump.

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August 31, 2015

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The Kominas at Baby’s All Right (Photos)

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In 2010 or 2011, a friend of mine recommended the band Philly-area band The Kominas to me. For whatever reason I didn’t get to see them till August 22nd 2015 at their show at Baby’s All Right in Williamsburg. The put on a great performance and their energy was tremendous. Their performance was in the middle of DJ sets from DJ Haram, DJ Rekha (who put together the event) and Bobby Friction, whose birthday was (around) the same night. At the end of their set The Kominas wished Friction a happy birthday with the help of the crowd. Check out photos of their show after the jump.

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August 22, 2015

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Romeo Santos at Barclays Center (7/12 Photos)

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I don’t know his music but Romeo Santos puts on a fun concert based up the three songs I saw and from the review that ran on the Village Voice with a few of my photos (that are not posted here). In her review, Claire Lobenfeld wrote about his awesomeness, “In the middle of Romeo Santos’s final night of his three-show run at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, the anointed king of the new generation of bachata told the crowd, “Do not bring men to my concert.” This wasn’t a comment on the many instances of girlfriend-stealing and temporary lover-dom he had been espousing for most of the evening. This was about “Dudes who hate at home.” As he went on, he said in so many words that gay fans were welcome, as well as men who were there to have a good time, but that frowning boyfriends and husbands should be left scowling on the couch. “Why do you like Romeo? I can do that shit better than him!” he joked to the crowd. “No, you can’t, motherfuckers. Or else I wouldn’t be up here.””

Well played Romeo. Check out some additional photos from the third and final night of his run at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn after the jump.

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July 19, 2015

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Morrissey Played Madison Square Garden (Photos)

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Once again I have outtakes from a concert I shot, and this time it is of Morrissey the former lead singer of seminal Manchester band The Smiths, performing at Madison Square Garden on 27 June 2015. The Village Voice, where a couple of my other photos can be found, had a full review of the show (including openers Blondie), where they noted, “the opportunity to see Manchester’s Son and Heir grace the stage was enough to warrant tears. The time between Blondie’s exit and Morrissey’s opening track was soon forgotten as the percussive intro of the Smiths’ political stunner “The Queen Is Dead” began to play beneath the projected image of Queen Elizabeth flipping the bird. Morrissey wielded his microphone with finesse while gripping bright yellow maracas, and fans, following in the tradition of so many showgoers before them, threw flowers onto the stage.”

Check out the photos of his performance, as well as a message from a fan that didn’t likely get delivered, after the jump. Morrissey sure can whip the microphone cord good.

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July 1, 2015