Ok, so let’s get one thing straight…

My music taste is extremely varied. I love my punk & metal. I love mellow singer-songwriters. I used to be a house DJ and I listen to some pop music too. I’ve seen Michael Jackson, Madonna, Kylie & Prince live but my musical tastes do not reach as far as Peter Andre! Sorry Pete.

I do think he’s a genuinely nice guy though and he’s obviously a major celebrity, at least in the UK. So when I got the chance to photograph his Birmingham gig this week, I was happy to do so. I only got 2 songs to do my thing but managed to get a few good shots…

This is Pete’s brother, Michael Andre who acted as warm-up DJ and did a good job too.

And then the screams were deafening as Pete appeared… The audience was predictably 98% female!

Last night one of Birmingham’s most popular bands, Ocean Colour Scene, played an intimate gig in the back room of The Rainbow pub, around the corner from our studio. It’s always great to see big bands in small venues and I was surprised to find out I was the only photographer to be issued a pass for the gig.

Here are a few photos from the gig. You can see a full review on the Birmingham Live website.

It’s been a week of photographing musical legends this week. Not just a Sex Pistol and Depeche Mode but also a super group featuring Dave Grohl (Nirvana/Foo Fighters), Josh Homme (Queens Of The Sone Age) and John Paul Jones from LED ZEPPELIN!

For those that don’t know, the band is Them Crooked Vultures. They played Birmingham on Monday night and here are a few photos from the gig…

This man played on “Stairway To Heaven“! Nuff said.

This man played on “Smells Like Teen Spirit“. Nuff said.

If you asked me to list my life-changing albums, one would be “Violator” by Depeche Mode. Never before had I heard electronic music that had the same impact on me as all the rock bands I loved. I’ve been a huge fan ever since.

I’ve seen Depeche Mode live a couple of times before but this week I was down in the photographers’ pit to shoot the gig. Such an honour and a privilege. Here are a few faves from the gig…

You can see my review of the gig on the Birmingham Live site.

This week has been a busy week for shooting bands. Placebo, Sunn O))), Your Demise and the amazing Yeah Yeah Yeahs. And on Sunday I’m photographing one of my favourite bands of all time, Depeche Mode.

I always knew Yeah Yeah Yeahs would be a great band to shoot and Karen O and the boys didn’t disappoint. Here’s a few from Wednesday’s gig…

FAVOURITE!!!

See a review of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs Birmingham gig on the Birmingham Live website.

As great as it is to photograph the huge stars on an arena stage, I have to confess that the place where I get the biggest buzz is when I’m shooting a sweaty little gig in some dive bar. The energy and intimacy of these gigs adds an extra element to the event and you get the feeling that anything could happen.

One such gig happened on Monday night at The Rainbow pub just a couple of minutes walk from our studio in Digbeth. Headlined by Brighton hardcore mob The Ghost Of A Thousand, this was such an amazing gig! The bands could hardly stay on the stage, seemingly preferring to mingle with the audience or climb the rafters. My 24-70 lens gave up on me just as I was about to start shooting (I’ve now bought a brand new one) so I shot the whole gig on my 50mm 1.4 lens but I love the results.

This is Sharks, one of the support bands, taken outside the venue just after their set.

And main support, The Computers, who were extremely entertaining.

And the main event… The Ghost Of A Thousand.

Tom Lacey hits the roof (almost)!

I feel that last image captures the essence of the gig. Energy, passion and interaction. Great gig. Great bands.

Dave Matthews Band are probably the biggest band on the planet that most of the UK population have never heard of! Having sold close to 35 million albums they are listed in the Top 100 highest selling music acts of all time.

Last night I was lucky enough to be one of just 3 photographers to shoot their gig in Wolverhampton. I also reviewed the gig for Birmingham Live which you can see HERE

It was my first time seeing the band I I have to say I was exteremely impressed. Here are a few of my fave images from the gig…

I can hardly believe I’m actually getting to post this… Anyway, let’s start with a little history…

When I was 12 years old I used to go to school parties (usually at somebody’s house) and some kids would bring a few records so that the host had a variety of music to play. I remember plenty of Duran Duran, Adam & The Ants, Human League and quite a lot of The Smiths (who I hated at the time but now love). I would usually turn up with two albums – Highway To Hell and If You Want Blood… both by AC/DC.

Two years later when I was 14 I went to my first ever concert – AC/DC at Manchester Apollo. I counted the days up to the concert and it blew my mind! Since then I have been to hundreds of gigs but I still have that ticket in my bedroom as a souvenir.

Roll forward almost 3 decades (!) and last Thursday I was one of just seven photographers invited to photograph AC/DC on their current Black Ice Tour as they hit the LG Arena in Birmingham. To say it was an honour is such an understatement. This was a dream come true! You can see my friend Toni’s review on the Birmingham Live! site but here are just a few shots from the gig. A million thanks to Marina from Sony Music…

I’m a big fan of Biffy Clyro, especially their latest album “Puzzle”, so I was pleased to get a call from Rock Sound magazine asking if I could shoot their Birmingham gig on Thursday night at the Academy.

My friend Dave Musson was covering it for Birmingham Live… or so we thought. His pass had been arranged through the support band and, on the night, he was informed he couldn’t shoot the headliners. I felt awful for him but it was lucky that I was there too as it meant we still had some images of Biffy for the review.

The band were spectacularly good and came on all guns blazin’ with some of my favourite tracks played while I was down the front photographing them.

This is almost certainly my last live gig of 2008 and was a great finale. I’ll be posting about my highlights of 2008 here soon but for now here are just some of my pictures of Biffy Clyro…

Being a music photographer in Birmingham means that I get to shoot bands on a regular basis and it’s a part of my job which I absolutely love (actually I love most parts of my job). Occasionally I do get to photograph bands which could be seen as iconic and, when I do, it’s an honour to add them to my portfolio.

Oasis are undoubtedly one of the most influential British bands of recent times so I was pleased to be one of only four photographers who got to shoot their gig at Birmingham NIA last night.

The atmosphere inside the venue was intense! Oasis fans are passionate about their heroes and many had indulged in a few light ales before the show and were in high spirits as Liam, Noel and the boys hit the stage. I got to shoot songs 2, 3 and 4 and came home with some great images, including one of Liam giving me his trademark snarl. Mad fer it!