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Blasts from the past...

31 August 2008
Let's move up a gear

It's the last day of what seems to have been a relatively quiet month. Nonetheless I shot two major festivals, did a commissioned shoot in Norway, nearly went to Beirut (yup, that's right...Beirut!) and managed to tick another must-shoot artist off my list (i.e. the great Iggy Pop). September looks to be busier in terms of actual number of gigs and I have already got 5 lined up for the next few weeks as well as another commissioned shoot in Ireland. More on that later. For now I shall leave you with my Glastonbury 2008 gallery. I've finally had a chance to go through my shots and put the galleries up. Happy browsing.
View the 'Glastonbury 2008' gallery


24 AUGUST 2008
I'll be back for more next year

That's it...the UK festival season is officially over for me. Today I shot my last festival of the year - Get Loaded in the Park in sunny south west London. I don't think I could have asked for a better finish to shooting bands in bright daylight because today I finally got to shoot the one and only Iggy Pop (backed by The Stooges). Also on the bill were Gogol Bordello, The Hives (one of the best live bands on the planet), Kate Nash, Noah and the Whale, Reverend and the Makers, The Holloways and Plastic Little. Click on the links to view the various galleries.

21 AUGUST 2008
What a contradiction

"So, do you shoot as many bands as possible?" That was the question that James - who's one of the NME's most prolific snappers - asked me on Saturday at the V-Festival in Chelmsford. "No, I only shoot bands that I like" was my immediate answer. I guess, I should now revise that statement because after shooting Alphabeat on day two of the V-Festival and having one of my photos from that shoot published in the London Lite on Monday, I'd like to state for the record, that I only shot them because I was bored and my next shoot wasn't for another hour. Hopefully, my credibilty has not been damaged forever...

18 AUGUST 2008
V gehts?

When I said it was going to be a MEGA busy weekend, I wasn't lieing - but even I didn't really anticipate it to be quite that busy. I'd found out earlier in the week that I had been accredited to shoot at this year's V-Festival in Chelmsford. By the time I got the news it was much too late to find a hotel or B&B as they were all fully booked already, and I definitely wasn't in the mood to camp (I'd abandoned my tent in Glastonbury anyway). So, public transport it was...tube, train and shuttle bus (all good things come in threes). To be fair, getting to the festival was relatively painless - V really is one of the most organised music events there is so it only took about two hours door to...er...field. To list all the artists I photographed would take a bit too long as I shot 24 acts over the two days, but I really got to shoot some big names! Below are the links to the gallery pages. Happy viewing!
View the 'V-Festival 2008 - Day 1' gallery
View the 'V-Festival 2008 - Day 2' gallery



14 AUGUST 2008
This and that

Have had a nice and busy week - starting with Noah and the Whale's album launch gig at the Roundhouse, followed by taking photos of Duffy, Biffy Clyro, Pussycat Dolls, Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly. and Natty at the recording of T-Mobile Transmission (to be shown on Channel 4 some time next week) and ending the week with Kings of Leon at Brixton Academy. I have a MEGA busy weekend ahead of me so there'll be lots of new photos on here next week...
View the 'Kings of Leon' gallery
View the 'T-Mobile Transmission' gallery



11 AUGUST 2008
You spin me right round

I headed to the Roundhouse tonight for Noah and the Whale's album launch gig. Unlike every other show I had shot at the Roundhouse before, this was a seated show so there wasn't a pit. It was nice being able to move around a little and get shots from different angles instead of being confined to the pit. Check out the gallery to see the full set. Looks like it's going to be a busy week, so as usual make sure you visit the site regularly for updates.
View the 'Noah and the Whale' gallery



10 AUGUST 2008
Oh-so-SLOw

I headed to the capital of sunny Norway on Friday for a commissioned live shoot. Me thinks Norway iz not gonna be my tip for da top when it comes to travel destinations. Life in Oslo is O(h)-(so)-SLO(w)... I know people always keep shitting on about how expensive Skandinavia is, but this is taking the piss. A Burger King Whopper (on its own!!!) is £5 (US $10)! A Mars bar is £1.80 (US $3.60) and a 500ml bottle of water will set you back £2.80 (US $5.60). On Saturday morning I had a take-away single shot Latte and that was £3.30 (US $6.60) - and no, it didn't come with a free cake and a free 2-week holiday to Las Vegas.

To start with it took me over an HOUR to find a coffee bar - they've obviously never heard of Starbucks. By the time I found what I was looking for I was in a coma. Oh, and Red Bull? It's probably something they eat in Norway (just like Reindeer) but it's certainly not an energy drink you can buy in a shop. What they do have plenty of are 7-Elevens.... Anyone remember the zillion little 7-Elevens we used to have in London in the mid 90s? Well, if you ever wondered what happened to them, wonder no more. They all moved here...every single one of them.

Anyway, while life during the day is way too relaxed for me - the nightlife in Oslo is brilliant. We went to this really cool roof terrace bar at 12.30am on Friday night for some aftershow thing and it was really good. Whitest Boy Alive played a fantastic gig there so that was definitely my highlight of the trip.

As far as the main live shoot is concerned, I can sum it up this way: First three, no flash, no stage access, no light and no co-operation from the band whatsoever. Thank fuck for ISO 6400. I probably would have got zero shots otherwise. Earlier in the day I shot N.E.R.D. (it was more of a test shoot) so here are a couple of photos I took of them.

5 AUGUST 2008
One, two or three from the archive

It's a fairly quiet week for me - there are just no really good gigs worth shooting as far as I'm concerned. Fortunately, things will pick up towards the end of the week as I've got a commissioned job coming up that I'm really looking forward to. Make sure you check back for an update. Until then I shall leave you with a few extra large archive shots that I can finally post on here. The first one is the Ting Tings back in May when I covered their live show at the Leadmill in Sheffield. Before the show I took a few shots of them in the production office - as it was the only room in the venue that was vaguely suitable for a photo shoot. Will post more pictures of the band over the coming months once their are off embargo. The other two shots were taken at the Wombats' show at Melkweg in Amsterdem in March. It was a crazy show which I think is reflected in the photos. I have a lot more great shots from this show and as usual will post them once they are no longer embargoed.


2 AUGUST 2008
She ain't crazy, she's just Macy

On Thursday night I shot Macy Gray at the IndigO2 in east London. The gig I really wanted to shoot that night was Billy Idol at Brixton Academy but due to a fuck up by someone who shall remain unnamed I missed out on a pass. Thanks very much. Anyway, I didnt have very high expectations for Macy's show - after all, apart from 'I Try' I don't actually know any of her songs. When she came on, I found it quite difficult to get a good shot of her due to the fact that her face was constantly obstructed. In her right hand she held the microphone (but she held it in such a way that her hand was actually in front of her face a lot) and with her left hand she held on to the microphone stand and kept dragging it across the stage. So whatever side you stood on, you always had one of her arms/hands in the way. Anyway, all you Macy lovers, regardez les photos by clicking on the link below.
View the 'Macy Gray' gallery



Continue: July 2008 archive