Celebrating Ten Years as Photographer for The Suncoast Post, by Vicky Sullivan
Many people have asked me the number of shows I have photographed or reviewed for The Suncoast Post. Honestly, I don’t know the number there have been too many to count but in celebrating this 10-year anniversary I wanted to take a look back at not just the shows but the venues and people that have been a part of this amazing adventure that I am ever so grateful for.
Ten years ago, I met with the Suncoast Post Editor Sande Caplin, of The Sarasota Post, now The Suncoast Post, to talk about doing photos and music articles for the online paper. I had no idea how it would change my life and bring me to see and do things I never imagined all with the lens of a camera. It all started in November 2014, I was planning a trip to NYC and decided to apply to photograph the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade for the Post and was approved! I was as shocked as anyone that I was approved and headed to NYC. It was 35 degrees on parade day, and I was up on a press platform at 46th & 6th high over the street along with photographers from Yahoo and the Nassau Bahamas Bureau of Tourism who were covering their Bahamian Marching Band. It was all over in about an hour & half, but it was a once in a lifetime amazing experience for a kid who had watched the parade all my life and still watches every year on Thanksgiving.
After that, a whirlwind of shows started to happen all over the Tampa Bay area in venues that were willing to give us a try and a photo pass to cover national live music concerts. I spent several years prior to joining the Post photographing Sarasota and Tampa area musicians which are plentiful and so talented. Twinkle & Rock Soul Radio, Kettle of Fish, Steve Arvey, the late Dan Toler, Greg Billings, Sheri Nadelman, Tony Tyler, Billy Rice, Cheap Trick’s Robin Zander, Steve Luongo, Mike Zito, too many more to list but these musicians gave me a chance to photograph them when they didn’t even know me! Local live music venues like Stottlemyer’s Smokehouse, Big Top Brewing Company, Clancy’s Sports Bar & Grill, Tampa’s Skipper’s Smokehouse and venues like the White Buffalo Saloon and Ace’s Live Music that have sadly since closed for one reason or another.
I had been sneaking cameras into shows for years and always photographing friends and family. This was long before I really started learning about photography and there is so much to continually learn. Lucky for me, I have had some great teachers along the way giving me tips, like Sarasota’s own photo expert Thomas Bender. I have been lucky enough to meet a couple of my favorite famous photographers Kevin Mazur and Mathieu Bitton. They inspire me so much with their work! As for shows, I am hitting the some of the highlights over the ten years that that have been pinch me moments as a photographer and a music fan. At Tampa’s www.amaliearena.com, there have been so many great shows but mind-bending was Beatle Paul McCartney in 2017, which brought me to tears hearing him sing “Let It Be”. Queen & Adam Lambert in 2019 with only three of us in the pit, the whole arena was wild, and the band gave us such amazing shots. Rod Stewart, Lionel Richie, Celine Dion, Katy Perry, Fleetwood Mac, The Eagles and John Mayer have appeared at Amalie over the years. Amalie is the place for large indoor shows as they seat 20,000. Tampa Bay Buccaneer’s home www.RaymondJamesstadium.com hosts the super stadium tours, I photographed U2, Taylor Swift’s “Reputation” tour in 2018 and Ed Sheeran in 2023. The area has some smaller theatre venues that make for nice, intimate shows. At Ruth Eckerd Hall, I got to photo my fav rocker Steven Tyler’s solo “Out On A Limb” tour in 2016 and met him after show when he came out and talked to fans. This would have never happened at an arena or stadium show with Aerosmith.
Smaller shows can sometimes give fans access to their favorite artists. St. Pete’s Mahaffey Theatre is another beautiful venue for shows like the Doobie Brothers, Rob Thomas, and Todd Rundgren among other artists. At Sarasota’s Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, www.vanwezel.org, there has been everything from Broadway shows to Sarasota Film Festival events where I took photos of the legendary actress Sophia Loren, that was an incredible experience! VW is another venue for rock fans that have artists show up in the SRQ like John Waite, Kenny Wayne Sheperd and ZZ Top and shows I have been able to work at in my hometown. My most exciting photo shoot at Van Wezel was the incredible icon, the late Tony Bennett! In the summer, Tampa’s Mid-Florida Amphitheatre offers tours of many genres for the outdoor summer season. It is a hot shoot but the artists that play like KISS and Dave Matthews Band are worth it. There are even smaller venues like Jannus Live, The Capitol Theatre in Clearwater, and Tampa’s Hard Rock Event Center https://casino.hardrock.com/tampa give fans a chance to see their favorite artists up close and personal. Hard Rock seats 1,500 and has booked artists like Sting, John Legend, and Gladys Knight. These were fun shows to photo and attend with a refreshing looseness for the fans. Clearwater opened the new Bay Care Sound Amphitheatre in 2023, which adds another live music venue for the Tampa Bay area and Cheap Trick played the debut show which is always a great band to photograph!
There are so many festivals in the area Thunder By the Bay, Cortez Stone Crab Festival, Plant City’s Strawberry Fest, Paragon Seafood Festivals, Tampa Bay Blues Festival, all of which I have worked at least once or more in these ten years. I have made the occasional trip to Orlando’s KIA Center for a special show that I just have to work, and Elton John was that show in 2019. Elton is a personal favorite artist who I have listened to most of my life, and it was thrilling to photo him at his piano. Cher and P!NK also played the KIA which are always worth the drive. Billy Joel usually switches playing shows between Tampa and Orlando on alternate years. Speaking of Billy, his team gave me the opportunity to photo him at Madison Square Garden in NYC for his yearly Christmas show – what a thrill to photo in the “World’s Most Famous Arena.” Another artist who has been so generous in giving me chances to photo his shows is rocker Sammy Hagar, which is a thrill for this 15-year-old Montrose fan.
I know there are so many artists and shows I should have mentioned but I think you get the point. I have name-dropped enough in this trip down memory lane but honestly, I have been to places and seen artists I would never have been able to otherwise. I am most grateful for it all. Thank you to the artists, venues, people who have followed my work on social media, friends and family who have been supportive over the years, my camera, and The Suncoast Post readers for these amazing past ten years!
Vicky Sullivan Photos for The Suncoast Post