I first reached out to Grace in January after having “Bad Guy” on repeat for probably far too long. I sent her a message, gave her her flowers for selling out the tour, and we talked for a minute.
CUT TO: two months later.
Grace sends me a message saying she’d love for me to come out and shoot.
We planned for a 4pm soundcheck, which is usually when I like a venue best. Hours before doors. The room still mostly empty. Enough time alone with an artist for me to make a fool of myself a little, but usually enough time to find my way through it before anybody else shows up.
I ran upstairs to the balcony and made some photos with my little point-and-shoot. Then I pulled out the PXL2000 and ran around shooting some silly little pieces of footage on that. Everything still felt loose. No crowd yet, no real pressure on the room.
Then they started playing a cover of “Into You.”
For a few minutes it was just Grace, the band, an empty venue, and that song bouncing around a room that would look completely different a few hours later.
Soundcheck ended and we moved into the greenroom.
