Photos From Hell Part VIII

Matt Pond PA was the headliner Saturday night at the music portion of Hell's Half Mile, which took place at the Masonic Temple in downtown Bay City.

Photos From Hell Part VII

I have a feeling many who saw the Michigan-based rock quartet Ghost Heart take the stage Saturday night at the Hell's Half Mile Film & Music Festival in Bay City left with a new addition to their list of favorite bands. The band, which includes my old college newspaper colleague Troy Reimink, holds a lot of promise and plans to release an album this fall. Check out the band's Facebook page here.

Photos From Hell Part VI

Backstage before the show Saturday night, Matt Pond and his bandmates goofed around, drank beers and threw soft punches at one another. Pond formed his indie band, Matt Pond PA, in Philadelphia in 1998. He left Philadelphia for Brooklyn in 2003 and has been making great music ever since. Check out the band's stuff here.

Photos From Hell Part V

One of the coolest parts of the Hell's Half Mile Film & Music Festival is the small gatherings that happen between films and other events in a small room upstairs in the Masonic Temple in downtown Bay City. Pictured in the first photo here is Alan LaFave, the festival director and co-founder, a.k.a. the glue that holds everything together.

Photos From Hell Part IV

Director and producer Ben Hickernell was on hand Saturday night in Bay City for the screening of his film "Lebanon, PA," a narrative feature about a liberal-minded urbanite from Philadelphia who ventures to the rural town of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, after his father's death and finds himself at odds with the town's conservative culture. It's a well done film and worth checking out. Matt Pond PA provides the soundtrack for the film.

Photos From Hell Part III

The Hell's Half Mile happy hour reception Friday night was hosted by Bay City attorney Ed Czuprynski at his law office on Monroe Street. Ed is a pretty interesting guy and a longtime political activist. He once attracted national attention when he went to prison for possession of 1.6 grams of marijuana. Read more about him here. That's his cat Lou.

Photos From Hell Part II

My good friend Jonah is putting me up for the weekend while I'm in Bay City. He's a gracious host — he went out at midnight last night just to buy me almond milk, and now he's making me falafel. He also is a certified ice cube inspector. OK, so the last part's not true — but I have no other way of explaining this photo.

Photos From Hell Part I

Hipsters in Bay City are celebrating "five years of hell" this weekend with it being the Fifth Annual Hell's Half Mile Film & Music Festival. I'm in half-photographer mode, half-festival-goer mode, and half-catching-up-with-old-friends mode (and half bad at math) so, photo-wise, I'll get what I get and I'm not going all out. Here are a few takes from opening night on Thursday, which included a block party downtown and a screening of the opening night film Cherry. The lead actress and producer were on hand. In my opinion, this festival is the coolest thing about Bay City and it runs through Sunday with lots of great indie films and music at multiple venues. Hope to see you in hell.