Mon The Biffy!
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…
Oasis in Birmingham
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!
Anarchy in Birmingham
In one week I have gone from photographing Liza Minelli to shooting the Sex Pistols!! In fact I was the only photographer that got to get photos from last night’s gig at Birmingham Academy. I had to shoot from the balcony but I had a great spot because…. are you ready for this??!!…. I was the warm-up DJ at the gig!
Ok, let’s backtrack 31 years here. When I was at school the first single I ever bought was The Sex Pistols’ “Silly Thing”. I sent my mom into town to buy it cos I was too young. I’m not sure how appropriate my mom thought it was for a little boy to be listening to the Sex Pistols but anyway… I even managed to have my mom deliver me on Sid Vicious’ 10th birthday! That’s commitment!
And here we are in 2008, all somewhat older, and, as there was no support band for the gig, I was asked to DJ before the band. I even managed to get a few singalongs from the crowd when I played The Clash and Sham 69 
It wasn’t all old punk stuff though, I managed to drop in some Cancer Bats, The Bronx, Gallows and a little Jane’s Addiction too. Oh, and Frank Turner.
You can see my review of the gig on BrumLive.com but here are my fave pics from the gig…
This weekend I get to photograph another musical legend when I shoot KISS on Friday night. I’m hoping for a classic Paul Stanley or Gene Simmons image for the studio wall. Wish me luck…
Exile on Sesame Street
Here’s a YouTube video that just HAS to be shared with the world..
Speaking of extreme music, my wednesday evening was spent in the company of the immense Dillinger Escape Plan down at birmingham’s Academy 2. You can see my review on BIRMINGHAM LIVE! but I can honestly say it was one of the best gigs I’ve ever witnessed. And after seeing several hundred gigs over the years, that’s quite a statement. Here’s a few photos from the night…
Last night Evelyne and I enjoyed a rare night off and plonked ourselves down on the couch with a glass of wine and some Mistresses. Not quite as sordid as it sounds but it was a treat to have some down-time after being out every night.
Jimmy Eat World
It’s great being out every night photographing bands but I do miss having a night in front of the telly occasionally. This week I only have Thursday night free and Terrorizer wanted me to go down to London to shoot Mayhem despite the fact they’re playing Birmingham next week! I declined and will be photographing them in Birmingham instead!
Last night I went to the Academy where Jimmy Eat World were playing a sold out show before 3000 people. Surprisingly I was the only photographer there. Also surprisingly I enjoyed the gig far more than I expected to after listening to their new album. I’ve reviewed it for Birmingham Live! HERE
I’ve done a few pre-wed shoots recently and it’s good fun getting pictures of couples as they normally are before photographing them all dressed up on their wedding day. Many couples have never had a professional photograph taken and it’s a great way to show them that it’s not the awkward, scary thing they may have imagined. All couples enjoy the shoot and we get some great images from it. Here are a few of my recent favourites..
Also this week I made the effort to meet up with a group of fellow bloggers from the Midlands. I know how nerdy that sounds and that’s exactly why I nearly never went. I’m happy to report however that it wasn’t nerdy or geeky at all and I got to meet some genuinely nice and interesting people who are all out there making things happen rather than hiding in their bedrooms behind their monitors. A few people were genuinely interested in the Birmingham Live! idea which was great and others had their own forward-thinking projects in the pipeline. Watch this… and their… space!
Shooting The Chiefs
Friday night Evelyne and I managed to blag our way into an invite-only gig at the Barfly where Kaiser Chiefs were playing to around 500 people. It’s always good to see huge bands play in intimate venues and, although I’m not a big fan, the Kaisers put on a great performance, with Ricky Wilson obviously loving playing to such a small crowd. I’ve reviewed the gig for BIRMINGHAM LIVE! and here’s some of my fave photos from the gig..
On Saturday it was off to Somerford Hall near Stafford to shoot the wedding of Susan & Neil, a lovely couple who had a very relaxed, fun day with a great group of friends and family. My good friend Lisa Gault helped me out on photographic duties as Evelyne was looking after Elliott, and between us we got a fantastic selection of images for the couple. I had so many nice comments from people about how we worked at the wedding too which is always good. No weddings now til March 8th but plenty of gigs to shoot, including Jimmy Eat World, Megadeth and one of my favourite bands, the Dillinger Escape Plan all coming up this week.
Irena
Lithuanian pop singer, Irena, contacted me about having some photos done and, although she originally wanted to do them all inside, it was such a lovely day I convinced her to have some outdoors as well and we got her a great variety of images all in the space of about an hour.
Icons and Anniversaries
My “to-do” list has been steadily getting more and more out of control of late. It’s a good thing really. Work is busier than ever and we’re getting regular bookings for the year ahead, with wedding bookings confirmed up to August next year already.
On the music photography side I have a few projects on the go as well as regular gigs for mags like Rock Sound and Terrorizer. Shooting Despised Icon in Nottingham last week was a particular highlight for me. A fantastic small venue and a rowdy crowd for some extreme metal shenanigans. Despised Icon were amazing live - one of those bands that you have to witness on stage to truly appreciate. They’re from Montreal like Evelyne and we had a quick chat about the scene over there. Who knows.. I may even end up moving there some day.. Here’s a few pics from the gig:
Another gig last week was Bullet For My Valentine in Wolverhampton which I was reviewing and shooting for Rock Sound. Not my favourite band by any means but they had 2 good supports in the form of Skindred and Still Remains. My friend Lee Allen and I were the only photographers there and had plenty of opportunity for good shots.
I’ve spent some time this week setting up a new blog especially for reviewing local gigs. I’ve named it BIRMINGHAM LIVE! and added a few recent gigs just to flesh it out for now but I’m trying to encourage photographers and writers in the Midlands to get involved. A lot of people ask me how they can get into shooting gigs and it can be tricky getting photo passes for gigs unless you can show that the pictures will be out there for people to see. Hopefully this site will help people get their work seen, help them get passes for gigs, support local music and let people see images and reviews from gigs they may have been to. You can see the work-in-progress site at www.brumlive.com. There’s also a FACEBOOK GROUP
Being so busy with everything means I need to make a proper effort to schedule in some days off. Sunday was Evelyne and my first wedding anniversary (from the first registry office wedding for those that are keeping up!) so the computer was switched off and we headed out to Wales on what was a gorgeous sunny day with my newly dark-haired wife, our boy Elliott, our 2 dogs and, of course, my camera. We stopped off for a picnic by the canal and made it to Aberystwyth beach just in time for sunset…
A Wet Weekend
Billy Connolly once said “There’s no such thing as bad weather, there’s just the wrong clothing”. That may be somewhat true but unfortunately, when it comes to photo shoots, the people in front of my camera don’t necessarily want to be wearing overcoats and wellies. Especially when you’re the bride!
This weekend was very wet and that meant certain challenges as I undertook a fashion shoot in the woods, two band shoots and a wedding but in the end we just got out there and had fun, trying to avoid the worst of the weather whenever we could. Here are some of the results…
Claire & Dave’s wedding in Warwick was great fun with a fantastic bunch of people. The bad weather wasn’t allowed to dampen people’s spirits one bit and we got some great pictures for them. They’re in Canada for their honeymoon now and we’ll show them a slideshow of their day when they return. After that I’ll be able to post my favourites here.
Movin’ on up..
The new issue of Live 24-Seven magazine came out and, apart from featuring some of my photography, also features a 2 page spread on our wedding! It’s quite amusing but also a really nice momento of an amazing day…
Back behind the camera things have been busy again after New Year and my first job for Terrorizer Magazine saw me down in London to meet with industrial metal band, Prong. A great band who I last saw live at the beginning of the 90s and I’m glad to say they’re still a fantastic live act.
The shoot was at Camden’s Underworld venue where I met with vocalist, Tommy for a quick portrait before sticking around to shoot the main gig.
While I was in London I popped over to the Rock Sound offices to meet everyone there and came out with a handful of great albums for my trouble, including Biffy Clyro, Bloc Party and Converge. It’s good to put a face to the people who I’m working for.
The big news for us this week though is that, since viewing the space in the Birmingham Jewelery Quarter for a potential studio for Steve Gerrard Photography, our friend Claire Evans contacted us to say she’s leaving her studio in the Custard Factory in Birmingham and would we like to take it over when she leaves? The Custard Factory is a great little area (originally the home of Bird’s Custard) with a very creative and funky vibe to it. Claire’s studio is already decorated nicely and pretty much ready for us to move straight in. We’ve met with the people concerned with the space and it’s all looking good for us to launch our first studio space just before Easter.
It’s an exciting time and Evelyne and I are already throwing lots of ideas around. It’ll be so much better to invite clients to the studio rather than meeting them at home or the local pub. And it’ll mean we can separate work and home a lot more which can only lead to a better quality of life for the family. Hopefully things will go smoothly and we’ll be in there by mid-March. Then we need to have a little launch party!