Nahko & Medicine for the People / Live at Gabe’s in Iowa City

This was my first time seeing Nahko & Medicine for the People live. I’d been a fan for a few years after being introduced to Nahko & Co. by my good friend Mahalo Yo Joe out in Portland. Medicine used to park their Van outside Joe’s house and use the facilities for extended periods of time in their more vagabond days. Joe sent me some rough demos during that time and after I heard Vultures of Culture I knew this was something really special. Then I saw the Black as Night video that Grototote shot and I was hooked.

I had been trying to catch Nahko live for quite some time but due to numerous scheduling conflicts I kept missing him at home in Minnesota. That happened one too many times so when I heard he was passing through our lovely southern neighbor in Iowa on October 8th, 2014, I decide it was time to make the trek down. I gifted the Dark as Night album to an old friend of mine months early, after I did a commercial shoot for his company, and it turns out he absolutely fell in love with it. We drove down together on last minutes notice. Nahko and the band, and the crowd at Gabe’s in Iowa City created some seriously awesome energy together this evening. It was so jam packed in that small place and the singalongs that occurred were legendary. Such an intimate and raw exchange of great energy. I met Nahko after the show and it was like meeting a long lost brother. He said to me, “where do I know you from, I know we’ve met before, and I said, “I was thinking the same exact thing.” ;-)

Bonus…I also met a pair of really cool ladies who were seeing Nahko for the first time that evening too, in Jen Stillions & Kaylyn Hoskins. Jen, who also filled in last minute up front running the fog machine, is an old soul with a huge heart and has a rad Etsy shop you should probably check out. Kaylyn, another super cool photographer, and Jen’s BFF, was also shooting this evening and you can see her shots here.

I’ve since had the pleasure of shooting Nahko in…

Hawaii
California
Minnesota

Those shows will be uploaded ASAP.

Cheers!

Jackson

=D

The handwritten set list taped to a microphone stand at Gabe's in Iowa City

A fan at the stage edge holding a sign reading One Tribe, One Divine Human Family, Gabe's in Iowa City

A smudge bundle burning in a hand at the stage edge, the band playing behind, Gabe's in Iowa City

A vocalist singing into a handheld microphone at Gabe's in Iowa City

The band on the low club stage, Nahko at centre with his guitar, Gabe's in Iowa City

Nahko leaning out over the crowd with his acoustic guitar, hands reaching up, Gabe's in Iowa City

The crowd with arms raised, seen across the keyboard at Gabe's in Iowa City

Nahko bent over his acoustic guitar at the microphone, Gabe's in Iowa City

Nahko singing with one hand outstretched, the drum kit behind him, Gabe's in Iowa City

Raised arms in the crowd seen past the keyboard at Gabe's in Iowa City

A bandmate singing into a handheld microphone at Gabe's in Iowa City

Close on Nahko's hands and his illustrated acoustic guitar, Gabe's in Iowa City

Nahko crossing the stage with his guitar, caught in motion blur, Gabe's in Iowa City

A long exposure of the guitar swinging through the stage lights at Gabe's in Iowa City

Nahko raising his guitar overhead in a beam of light, Gabe's in Iowa City

Nahko with an arm raised as hands reach up from the crowd, Gabe's in Iowa City

Nahko reaching toward the crowd, his guitar slung behind him, Gabe's in Iowa City

Nahko laughing at the keyboard with a bandmate singing behind him, Gabe's in Iowa City

A guitarist in a headband leaning out toward the reaching crowd, Gabe's in Iowa City

The crowd with arms raised under the club's low ceiling, Gabe's in Iowa City

Fans singing and dancing shoulder to shoulder at Gabe's in Iowa City

A guitarist crouched low on the dark stage at Gabe's in Iowa City

Nahko leaning out over the crowd with his guitar in a beam of light, Gabe's in Iowa City

The percussionist singing behind his drums and cymbals at Gabe's in Iowa City

The packed club floor with hands in the air at Gabe's in Iowa City

The crowd filling the room at Gabe's in Iowa City

Nahko singing with one arm outstretched, guitar in hand, Gabe's in Iowa City

Nahko reaching out from the microphone mid-song at Gabe's in Iowa City

Close on the acoustic guitar and a band sticker on the case at Gabe's in Iowa City

Nahko playing at the microphone as fans sing along at right, Gabe's in Iowa City

A guitarist in a headband with an illustrated acoustic guitar, the drummer behind, Gabe's in Iowa City

A guitarist arched backward mid-song with the bassist at right, Gabe's in Iowa City

Nahko with an arm raised as hands reach toward him from the floor, Gabe's in Iowa City

Nahko singing while a fan photographs him from the front row, Gabe's in Iowa City

Nahko singing into the microphone with one hand raised, Gabe's in Iowa City

Nahko at the microphone with a finger raised, guitar across his chest, Gabe's in Iowa City

A fan filming on a phone in the foreground as the band plays behind, Gabe's in Iowa City

Nahko reaching toward the crowd from the stage edge, Gabe's in Iowa City

Two bandmates shoulder to shoulder, one lifting a guitar overhead, Gabe's in Iowa City

Nahko seen from behind facing a crowd of raised hands and phones, Gabe's in Iowa City

Nahko with an arm raised, fans close at the stage edge, Gabe's in Iowa City

Nahko seen from behind pointing out over the crowd, Gabe's in Iowa City

The band mid-song, Nahko bent over his guitar at left, Gabe's in Iowa City

The band bent forward in a row beneath the Medicine for the People banner, Gabe's in Iowa City

Nahko laughing at the microphone in profile, Gabe's in Iowa City

Nahko playing his guitar down among the crowd at Gabe's in Iowa City

Nahko at the stage edge with fans reaching toward him, Gabe's in Iowa City

Nahko playing at the stage edge as fans sing along, Gabe's in Iowa City

Nahko at the microphone with the front row close beside him, Gabe's in Iowa City

Nahko leaning over the keyboard to talk with fans at the stage edge, Gabe's in Iowa City

Fans posing together after the show at Gabe's in Iowa City

To see more live music work hop on over to my Music Page.

Minneapolis wedding photographer Jackson Tyler Eddy

Jackson Tyler Eddy is a Minneapolis wedding photographer with 17+ years behind the camera, hundreds of weddings photographed, and a place in The Knot Hall of Fame. His landscape work has been featured by National Geographic in its Daily Dozen, and that same artist's eye carries into every wedding he photographs. Available for weddings throughout Minnesota and destinations worldwide.

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