After finding out last minute that I would be denied the opportunity of covering Turnover’s 10-year anniversary tour of Peripheral Vision last year, I felt gutted and empty. I had driven from Tucson to Phoenix fully expecting to cover this monumental show, but as I was walking up to the venue with my gear, I received an email that the venue had changed the photo pit capacity and that I had been cut from the media list. I tried not to let it discourage me. I kept telling myself that I would get an opportunity to dig myself out of this feeling. What I didn’t know then was that Tucson would open up the most gorgeous venue in Arizona a few months later and that Turnover would be playing there nearly a year after this heartbreaking experience that felt like a dark shadow had been placed over me, but I had set my intention on redeeming myself in the future.
I felt the light return to my eyes the moment that I saw the announcement for their show at La Rosa. It felt intentional, and because of that, I decided to shoot the experience entirely on film. Shooting a show at La Rosa is unlike photographing at any other venue in Arizona. It’s hard not to get distracted by the architecture, so it’s best to capture how a band transforms this beautiful space and makes it their own. Their show on June 29th was exactly a month after the release of their newest full-length Down on Earth, where Turnover once again showed us that they are unafraid of experimenting creatively with their sound. Known for their unique blend of dream-pop, shoegaze, and indie rock, I knew that with this being an unnamed tour, they would play a little bit of everything from their catalog.
My first order of business was to climb up the spiral staircase leading to the balcony view at La Rosa, where I would load my film. From up here, I usually try to absorb the energy of the crowd’s anticipation for the night. Most people had bought a ticket with the intention of seeing Turnover, but they had brought with them two incredible supporting acts. I arrived as she’s green was performing. Their warm and fuzzy shoegaze filled the room with echoing dreamscapes, and the worry that I would mess up my film as I was loading it had been carried to a far away place. I only caught a few photos of their set, but for good reason — I had found myself in a trance as their set went on, and I was more interested in existing within this cloudy and weightless feeling without distractions.
After the experience of that first set, I needed something to balance out the deep state of relaxation strongly gripping me, and Narrow Head did just that by bringing their blend of 90’s grunge and shoegaze and blasting it in my face. The chapel space was beginning to transform into the perfect setting for Turnover’s tendency to make the modern age feel nostalgic.
They started their set with “Nightjar,” the lead single off their newest record. I thought that the first time I heard this song was when I attempted to recreate the nostalgia of listening to their music for the first time by driving at night with my windows down and letting the wind brush my face on its release date, but I was wrong. This was a song that they had played during their previous tour which was when I had first been exposed to it. I was just too busy sulking in a haze about not being able to cover the show at that previous stop in Phoenix. It was fitting that they decided to open with this song because it felt like they were comfortable enough to confirm their satisfaction with the experimental journey they have taken so many of us devoted fans on for well over 10 years. The colors and shapes of the lights bouncing around the arches within this chapel space kept evolving with their setlist and the energy within this room was unbelievable. I knew that I had limited opportunities to capture these moments, and somehow in the middle of their set, the glass on my main camera had locked up. This was my black and white roll of film, and for a moment I felt my heart stop. But the good thing about a Turnover show is that it feels like a good friend is asking you to sit in a comfortable position as they play you their interpretations of the best elements of shoegaze, dream-pop and alternative rock that they know you are drawn to just to bring you even a sliver of hope.
Songs like “Hello Euphoria” and “Dizzy on the Comedown,” carried an emotionally rejuvenating energy by bringing it back to their emotional and shoegazy classics. Along with bringing us their new material, we were treated to their more dream-pop classics like “Super Natural” and “Pure Devotion.” When I ran out of film I wanted to simply exist with the room and the crowd, I felt everything floating around me. After having a breakdown over the possibility of my film not turning out well, I was able to convince myself that no matter how the photos turned out, I would at least be able to look back at the underexposed or blurry shots and relive the feeling of the fuzzy and dreamy night I experienced at their show.
