The Deck the Hall Ball, rather, the yearly 107.7 The End (KNDD) alternative Seattle music station mainstay big ass concert come holiday extravaganza…this year, it was a great show.

Visual Highlights were probably provided by all the of the crowd interaction between the two bands, Phoenix, and 30 Seconds to Mars, via their leads…

The latter, seems to be a bit, how shall I say, much critisized, likely due to their overly accessible music, and movie star lead, Jared Leto. Here’s my take on that… The music, was good…it wasn’t edgy, and it wasn’t classic, but it was pleasant…and well, accessible will be successful, if not fully appreciated by the more than a bit critical musical ears, especially in Seattle…And the “rock star” moves, playing and bantering to the crowd, as well, was much poo-poo’d by several bloggers and tweets… Well as a photographer, the lens loved the playing to the crowd, and as evidenced in the images, the crowd loved it right back…I guess the people in front were less picky about the depth of the tunes? Regardless, Leto put it all out there, he is very good looking and mugged for the more than full photo pit and masses of fans… Some said, well, he is just “acting” the rock star…Note – he is not that good of an actor! lol. I think he may have found his true calling on stage. His definitely movie star good looks as well as his ease and accessiblity in his performance are pretty darned compelling. Like his music, or not… It did not make my ears bleed, so for me, it was all good…because, well as long as you bring me the rock star in the images, I am a fan! Oh and his eyes are so blue, they glow, even from far away~

Musically, Metric and Phoenix were my faves. Image wise, Leto aside, my fave shots were of the redhead that fronted the local opener of the show, Visqueen. Curly red flying hair…gorgeous.

Muse, the headliners delivered the close of the show that had been building in the final 5th hour. For those that left half way through the show…I still stand perplexed. But to each their own. I am an observer, and if I see the crowd responding, that will always influence how I remember a show…There is an engergy that flows between the stage and crowd…if it’s there, I am always impressed, whether or not, the tunes will ever flow through my own headphones…

A selection of images are posted on Live Daily Gallery Spotlight –
http://livedaily.com/news/107-7-the-end-s-quot-deck-the-hall-ball-quot-gallery-spotlight-seattle-wa-dec-15-2009-21003.html

Flickr set – http://www.flickr.com/photos/emswazzu/sets/72157622886878159/show/