Ben’s Article Archive, Photo Pass Debut, & Launching Spiritual Section Soon
Ben Glanzer Article Showcase
October 31st, 2025, marked my 122nd concert — bands only, no theatre. My first show was Seether/Crossfade back in 2005. That averages out to about six concerts a year, but more than half have been in the back half of those two decades — adult money changes the math. In that time I’ve done meet-and-greets, lined up hours early for a shot at the rail, and caught enough guitar picks, setlists, and drumsticks to wallpaper a room. All those nights, I’ve watched photographers working the pit on the other side of the rail I’m stuck behind and thought, “that’s the dream job.”
I’ve been writing concert reviews for the past six months. The first one dropped on May 12, 2025 — Papa Roach with Rise Against. Wild that after twenty years of shows, the review streak is only six months old, and yet I’ve seen some of the best concerts of my life in that window.
Past Articles
Music
Theatre
Sports
The Pass
Which brings us to October 31st, 2025. A Day to Remember and Yellowcard brought the Maximum Fun Tour to Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, NE. For the first time, I was approved for a photo pass. The thing I’ve been in awe of for two decades finally had my name on it.
Lynn Higginbotham, director of marketing at Pinnacle Bank, and the other photographers (there were six others — above average, I was told) made it a perfect first experience. Lynn met me in the lobby, walked me through updates to the original contract, and printed a timesheet for pit call-backs. The Wonder Years stayed at “first three songs,” but Yellowcard now counted their intro as a song, so two songs in the pit. A Day to Remember dropped from three songs to two. She also made it very clear that if a cell phone appeared in the pit, even just to check the time, that was grounds for removal. No pressure.
The Wonder Years
We chatted in the conference room about past gigs, outlets, and how long we’d all been at this — good nerves killer — then got staged by the deck to wait for The Wonder Years. When the lights dropped and the pit moved, it felt weirdly familiar. Angles, light, timing — instincts kicking in like I’d done this before. I’m not saying these shots are going to cure diseases, but for a first run, they turned out better than I hoped (check out the full concert review here). After our three songs, we stashed gear and were cleared to watch the rest of the set, which was exactly what I needed to burn off any leftover jitters.
Yellowcard
Halloween called for a proper intro: a Stay Puft Marshmallow Man lumbered out with a Ghostbusters crew firing T-shirts into the crowd, followed by Yellowcard hitting the stage with quick solos from each member before the first song. Any disappointment about being limited to two songs vanished — shooting that intro was a blast. They followed with “Only One” and “Lights and Sounds,” and trying not to sing along while shooting was its own challenge. Time was up in a flash; we were shuffled out, then able to catch the rest of the set. I love taking pictures, but live music will always be number one. Doing both? Speechless.
A Day to Remember - ADTR
Heaviest sounding artist assignment of the night. They opened with their biggest crowd-igniter, “The Downfall of Us All.” The energy was immediate, and the band played to the cameras like they knew the clock was running on us. Two songs went by in seconds, and we were ushered out. We’d barely taken twenty steps when the confetti cannons detonated to kick off “Right Back at It Again.” The reason for the two-song cap was suddenly very obvious. Nobody wants a confetti cannon liability. Respect to safety.
The Drive
After enjoying the rest of ADTR’s set, I had a three-and-a-half-hour ride home to think. If I could tell sixteen-year-old me that after that first concert I’d one day be in the pit taking photos, I would’ve laughed. And yet, here we are.
Verdict: My first experience with photo pass access? I could get used to this.
New Weekly: Spiritual Section
Alongside the live music coverage, I’m launching a weekly post that follows my walk with Christ and the church community I’m part of at Connection Church — Sioux Falls. Each week I’ll recap the Sunday service, share notes from my Bible study, and highlight any meaningful spiritual moments from the week. I hope you’ll join me there — none of the work I do would be possible without God, and this new section is where I’ll try to honor that.