Edward Colver Fall Update

It’s no secret we here at City of Devils like Edward Colver.  His photos of punk and hardcore are classic.  His club photos of the Stray Cats, the Gun Club and the Butthole Surfers remind us that the early 80’s were an eclectic time to be wandering into rock clubs in LA. Hopefully our current festering hybridization of doom, thrash, psychedelia, and, yes, country and pop, will leave similarly inspiring footprints for others.  (FYI, Scott Hill of Fu Manchu is probably Colver’s biggest fan.)

It’s going to be a busy fall for Mr. Colver.  He may finally be getting his due.  On October 15, his photos were featured in a spoken word thing by Side One Dummy Records and Complete Control radio guy Joe Sib.  Most significantly, on October 30th, the Brooklyn Museum’s “Who Shot Rock” exhibit will debut and run through January 2010.  It features roughly 180 photos from the entire history of rock n roll.  An outtake from Colver’s classic Black Flag “Damaged” cover and a shot of Ian MacKaye playing with Minor Threat are both being used, making Colver one of the only photographers with two shots in the show.  A book is being released simultaneously on Knopf, and on November 4 at 7 PM, the curator of the show (photography historian Gail Buckland) will be reading with Colver at Book Soup in Hollywood.  Colver will be showing a lot of photos that have never been seen, including other “Damaged” shots and some of Minor Threat.  Colver is also selling a couple of tee shirts of Rollins and Ian (authorized if you care) featuring these shots.  Finally, he’s about to launch a test poster thing to allow people to order large posters of his shots for a lot less than you would pay in a gallery.  

So there you have it.  Get yer boots on (in the Slade sense, not the U2 sense) and get out to Book Soup to meet the man who, at “5 foot 17 inches” could hold a camera and hold his own in any circle pit.