I remember playing with the Candy Snatchers back in 1994 with the legendary UK Subs in Richmond, Va., and a full on brawl broke out between our bands (I was in The Suspects). The show almost got shut down. Today me and Larry from the Candy Snatchers are friends. He works at Slash Run in Petworth, DC, and I while I visit infrequently, we always hit it off and have great time.
So, Candy Snatchers did a reunion show, 25 plus years later and I went to Slash Run to photograph it. They played with The Nuclears from Brooklyn (by way of DC), one of my favorite current bands on the garage rock and roll circuit. Honestly, I was skeptical of the Candy Snatchers reunion, but I knew The Nuclears would bring it. Not only did The Nuclears put on an incredible set, the Candy Snatchers stole the show. Everyone was wasted and I hoped my photos would document a night I could barely recall. Unfortunately, in the chaos of that show, between the spilt beers and mosh pit, I accidentally deleted all of my photos. I have no idea how this happened, but it did.
I was crushed. I thought I just not only witnessed one of the best punk rock and roll shows DC has seen in ages, but that all the photographic proof was for naught.
I have heard stories of software that could recover deleted files so I saved my blank SD card and decided to research it. It took awhile, but I finally settled on one to give it a try. Like magic, many of the photos came back from the dead. While not all of them got recovered, I definitely got more than several I am happy with.
The perils of hardcore photography.