About
From the crowd to the pit
Twenty-five years of shooting shows from wherever a ticket put us. Capital Soundcheck is the outlet that gets the camera to the front.
Who
Capital Soundcheck is an independent photo outlet for live music in Washington, DC. It is edited and photographed by JP Coakley, who lives in the DC area and has shot concerts since 2000: Phish at Allstate Arena on 35mm film, Medeski Martin & Wood across their fall 2002 tour, Girl Talk's January 2011 run through Cleveland, Columbus, Louisville, New Orleans and St. Louis, Bonnaroo, and lately the rooms close to home, 9:30 Club and Merriweather Post Pavilion among them.
What we publish
A gallery from every show we cover, within 48 hours, with the act, the room and the date on every frame. When a show deserves words, a short review runs with it. Galleries stay up; this is an archive, not a feed.
How we work
We ask for one photo pass per show and shoot the first three songs without flash, from the pit when there is one and from the soundboard or the balcony when there is not. We follow the artist's photo agreement and the house rules, and we send the artist's team the link when the gallery is up. The details are on the press page.
Elsewhere
JP's other photography lives at jpcoakley.com: portraits, Lot Shots, roads, and the full live music archive this site grew out of.