The Observatory

Dennis Lyxzén and the rest of Refused treat The Observatory in Santa Ana like a stage for an argument that has to be won, playing there on May 25, 2015, five weeks before their comeback album Freedom hit shelves.

I got into this band in 1998, at 13, off a Punk-O-Rama compilation from a record store I visited every summer as a kid, and I'd already caught their 2012 reunion shows at the Glass House in Pomona and the Warfield in San Francisco before I ever got this close with a camera. This was my first full pit access to shoot them, and the shot later went into my photo book Break Free.

Captured on June 7, 2015, at The Observatory in Santa Ana, this photo documents Matt Skiba during Alkaline Trio's Past Live tour.

Photographed on September 5, 2015, during the Burger A-Go-Go festival at The Observatory in Santa Ana, this stage-level capture documents Kathleen Hanna performing with...

Documented backstage at The Constellation Room on December 7, 2021, this photograph stands as the final portrait of San Diego grindcore group The Locust...

Photographed on January 31, 2015, at The Observatory in Santa Ana, California, this image captures Davey Havok fronting straight edge hardcore project XTRMST.

Captured on November 5, 2014, at The Constellation Room in Santa Ana, California, this photo shows Geoff Rickly performing with the hardcore supergroup United...

Taken on May 5, 2013, during their annual Cinco de Mayo headline performance at The Observatory, this frame documents guitar player Steve Soto ("El...