At Shot In the Dark Thursday night, it got back to me that the sister of a local musician who passed away a few years ago was there, and asking if someone at the paper had taken any photos of her brother onstage. Nine photographers were displaying pictures they had taken of concerts for the Houston Press (mostly this blog you're reading right here, Rocks Off), anywhere from four to a couple of dozen.

Unfortunately, we did not. It has been a little while since her brother died, but it happened after I moved to Houston, which means it has still been less than five years. (God.) Concert photography was not unheard of in the Press back then, but very rare.

So it was a little humbling to browse each photographer's work Thursday, not to mention gratifying. There were probably 100 photos in all, and almost all of them had run on this very blog. And within the past year, too, since the first Shot In the Dark at Warehouse Live.

I doubt the Chronicle has published that many live-music photos in the past three years, maybe even five. (Even online.)

I am very proud of everyone who helped make Thursday happen. A very big thank-you to all nine photographers who showed their work Thursday: Marc Brubaker, Mark C. Austin, Groovehouse, Jay Lee, Jim Bricker, Jody Perry, Jason Wolter, Marco Torres and Craig Hlavaty. All of them have a distinctive style of photography, and all of them do excellent work. Almost all of them who were there sold at least one of their photos.

Thanks also to Houston Press Art Director Monica Fuentes for the cool laminate logo, as well as Marketing Coordinator Adrienne Joseph and her staff, who made the event run so smoothly. Plus everyone who came out...and stuck around. Sponsors Red Bull, Bud Light, Effen vodka and DJ Mega Karaoke, thanks for kicking in, too.

And especially War'Hous. Looking at all these photos, framed and mounted, in a true gallery setting, was an underline that what we run here on Rocks Off every single week, sometimes several times a day, is art, not just photography.

See you next year.