Shooting Stars and Little Rivers

These aren’t just two adjective-noun pairings, these are some high quality classic rock bands that I had the pleasure of photographing when Shooting Star opened for Little River Band at the Uptown Theater in Kansas City, MO on November 18, 2023. This gig might have been a bit of cheating to get it; Shooting Star’s drummer is none other than my uncle Steve! So I’ve been to many Shooting Star shows throughout my life and listened to their music for as long as I can remember (they’ve been a band since 1978) and I was so excited to reach out and hook up a photography gig with them.

It was also my first time at the Uptown Theater which shocked some of my family since I grew up near Kansas City. The venue feels quirky with colorful moulding, moody lighting, intricate statues, and (my favorite) a cardboard cutout of Don McLean hanging out in the balcony on stage-left. And the rug under Steve’s drum set just added to the fun. I wonder if he chose the rug?

When doing concert photography gigs, I prefer to know any special moments ahead of time so I can be better prepared to capture them happening instead of feeling behind the ball. But with Shooting Star I could figure out half of them before they happened just from having seen the setlist and knowing what songs were coming. It helps to know so many of the band’s songs! And as a personal favor to my other uncle John, I borrowed my dad’s action camera (thanks for covering for me dad!) and recorded the entire show from right behind the drumset (P.S. John you owe me one!).

Extra benefit of having the action camera video is being able to see myself laying down on stage, hiding behind the other band’s black-tarped equipment, just to get a better view of Steve on the drums (I’m on the right!).

As a bonus (or what most people that night called the headliner), Little River Band came on right afterwards and at the last minute gave permission to photograph them as well. Although, they told me to stay off the stage. Fair.

Little River Band is also a 70’s rock band hailing from Australia (though none of the current members are Aussies) and were even nominated for a Grammy back in 1979. I didn’t, and still don’t know many of their songs, but they played a great show which really got me excited when Chris Marion (the keyboard player) left his perch at upstage right and brought his keytar right out front to jam out. Wicked.

This all to say that I really enjoyed a trip back home for Thanksgiving and the wonderful opportunity to photograph two great bands while in town. The full Shooting Star and Little River Band galleries are live NOW, right here on journeywithryan.com and as always I’ll be posting the highlights on my instagram, @journeywithryan. Now I’m off to keep planning another big adventure in the new year, I’ll see you there!

-Ryan

p.s. I hope you like trains and snow.