Well, New Year's Eve came and went. I celebrated by dragging my best friend to a 10 band bill at the Stetson for the Calgary Beer Core's Punk vs. Metal finals.  Thrash metal band Blackest Sin took the top honours for the evening after a few days of deliberation (read: curing hangovers) by the judges. 

What a night! What chaos! What fun! What copious amounts of liquor!  It was a real treat to spend the night with such great company. I had my camera along with me, but opted to only take a few shots per band and spend time with my friend instead of being glued to the viewfinder. It was sure an odd change to view bands through regular eyes and ears rather than a lens, I often found myself not knowing what to do with myself, what are people supposed do with their arms when they're not taking photos? Do you cross your arms and look mad?  Do you jump into the mosh pit with reckless abandon? Do you drink two beers at once? I tried for a clumsy combination of all three. 

Even without spending the entire night behind the camera, I managed to walk away with some nice shots for each of the bands that played with the exception of my own. Someday I'll learn how to do on stage selfies and play at the same time for the ultimate self indulgent experience.   Until then, I rely on you gentle readers, armed with your iphone in one hand and slopping pint of beer in the other. 

Here's Blackest Sin during their winning performance of the metals:

Select photos from the entire tournament and finals can be viewed here

Happy 2014 everyone, see you in the pit!