pics — Steve Gerrard Photography

V Festival 2011 – Weston Park

31st August 2011 · 4 Comments

The problem with being a wedding photographer is that weddings very often clash with festivals.

Tis year I’ve had to miss most of the best festivals (Download, Hevy, Sonisphere, Glastonbury, Reading/Leeds, Big Chill) due to being booked for weddings the same weekend. I feel like I’ve missed out. A lot! But I’m happy to be so busy with weddings, so…

I’ve shot the V Festival at Weston Park in Staffordshire every year since 2006. I’ve always covered both days but 2011 was the first year a wedding clashed with the Saturday. Luckily, I was still able to go down on the Sunday, and Evelyne & Isaac came along for the day too. It was Isaac’s first ever live gig.

We started with Ziggy (Son of Bob) Marley…

KT Tunstall – On stage and hanging out with Evelyne & Isaac backstage

Bruno Mars

The ladies LOVE Olly Murs!

Lostprophets

Wiz Khalifa

No comment!

Jessie J – Still with a broken foot.

Kaiser Chiefs (yawn)

Tinie Tempah

Plan B

Glasvegas

And the headliners… Arctic Monkeys

We had a great day at the festival and I think Isaac had a little crush on KT. Hopefully next summer I’ll get to cover a few more festivals. Fingers crossed!

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Amy Winehouse RIP

25th July 2011 · 11 Comments

This weekend the world lost a true talent.

I can’t say I was a massive fan of her music. I did like it though and always knew Amy Winehouse was a gifted and unique singer.

Her music isn’t going anywhere though. Her talent lives on in her songs.

These photos were taken three years ago. I’m glad I got to photograph her and hear her voice live.

Rest in peace now, Amy.

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Bring Me The Horizon + guests @ Birmingham Academy

30th April 2011 · 3 Comments

I have to admit that I was surprised by this gig…

I arrived early on Thursday night to shoot all four bands on the bill… The Devil Wears Prada, Architects, Parkway Drive and headliners, Bring Me The Horizon.

My impression going in was that Bring Me The Horizon were actually my least favourite band on the bill and that, after shooting the first 3 songs, I’d leave and get home fairly early.

That never happened.

All the bands were great. Parkway Drive were a particular highlight for me. But Bring Me The Horizon took me by surprise.

I’ve photographed them a few times before but on this occasion they raised their game and played a superb set which saw band members giving 100% and finishing the encore climbing the Academy balcony (see last photo). 3000 people went suitably nuts.

Here’s a video of the first song of the set… You’ll see me down the front

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Justin Bieber – Live at Birmingham NIA

5th March 2011 · 3 Comments

So after years of shooting some of the coolest bands on the planet, it’s come to this….

Haha. But seriously, when some people heard I was going to be photographing Justin Bieber they thought I was mad. But I have nothing against him and, being one of the world’s biggest pop stars, I was interested to see what kind of show he put on and to photograph a gig which is completely opposite to what I’d normally shoot.

I only stayed for the first 3 songs but I have to say, the stage show was mightily impressive and the boy can dance! I’m fairly sure he was lip-synching, at least while I was there, and obviously the music is just throwaway cheese aimed at young kids, but the world will always need teen popstars and Justin does what he does better than most.

Justin turned 17 this week and already has almost 8 million Twitter followers!

I promise to have some more credible bands on the blog very shortly…

To purchase prints of these Justin Bieber photos CLICK HERE

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Parkway Drive & Friends – Never Say Die Tour in Birmingham

4th November 2010 · 1 Comment

Halloween always brings the freaks out and it was good to see many of the 2000 people who showed up for this year’s Never Say Die Tour in Birmingham had dressed up for the occasion.

The gig, at Birmingham Academy, featured SEVEN bands for just £16. That’s just over £2 per band. Good value indeed. Especially when the bill was as good as this…

Headliners were Australia’s mighty Parkway Drive, a band who have released one of my albums of the year in Deep Blue. Support came from the legendary Comeback Kid along with Bleeding Through, Emmure, Your Demise, War From A Harlots Mouth (their new album, which I’m listening to as I type this, is immense!) and We Came As Romans (who I missed due to them coming on stage before 6pm!).

My fave bands of the night were Parkway Drive and War From A Harlots Mouth but I was blown away by Emmure too. A very good night of extreme music.

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Alexa & Andy – A Rockin’ Wedding

22nd May 2010 · 11 Comments

Somewhere along the line, Alexa & Andy looked at the “rules” of how a wedding should be and promptly tore them up and laughed!

We LOVE couples who inject personality, creativeness and uniqueness into their weddings. We also LOVE couples who make their wedding as much fun as possible. Alexa & Andy’s wedding, quite simply, rocked!

Good advice me thinks.

Alexa made the bouquets and the buttonholes. Amazing!

And then there was the dress from our neighbours at The Custard Factory, The Couture Company

Alexa wore these during the day…

..and later on switched to these!

Cute alert!

They were married at Birmingham Register Office

And then headed to Tanworth-In-Arden where they held the reception at The Bell

Told ya!

And then they only went and booked our favourite wedding band… the superb Cartoon Kings

If you’re planning a wedding this cool and this much fun, we want to be your photographers!!! Please!!!

Thanks to Alexa & Andy for having us along for the ride and big thanks to the amazing Bianca Barrett for second-shooting with me

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Eric Clapton + Steve Winwood @ Birmingham LG Arena

21st May 2010 · 2 Comments

OK, let’s not kid ourselves here… These aren’t the best live shots I’ve ever taken!

Unfortunately, despite having a photo pass for the Eric Clapton gig, we were only allowed to shoot from half way back in the LG Arena, and only for the first 2 songs! That’s a good few hundred feet from the stage. Not great!

Still, this is Clapton we’re talking about here. I was still honoured to be there. And he had his mate Steve Winwood along for the ride.

Most of my shots were, predictably, very similar, so here are just a few from the gig.

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Parkway Drive + Despised Icon @ Manchester Academy

11th May 2010 · No Comments

Chances are most people reading this blog have never heard of Parkway Drive or Despised Icon.

More than likely, most of you won’t like them either! They’re both very, very heavy bands. They’re also, in my opinion at least, both amazing!

They’re also great to photograph.

Here are a few from their Manchester show a couple of weeks ago…

See my photos with a gig review on the Birmingham Live site.

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Glen Campbell – Birmingham Symphony Hall

5th May 2010 · 4 Comments

Occasionally in my job I get to photograph true musical legends.

Glen Campbell is one such artist. I was the only photographer accredited to shoot Glen at his Symphony Hall gig and it was an honour to be there to do so.

Since then, I’ve been a little concerned to speak to several people who have never heard of him!

This is the man that made Wichita Lineman & Rhinestone Cowboy the classics they are.

This is the man who has played on records for such artists as Frank Sinatra, the Beach Boys, Nat King Cole, Dean Martin, Merle Haggard, Elvis Presley, Jan & Dean and the Righteous Brothers.

He’s now 74 years old and still performing like a true star.

Here are a few photos from Friday night.

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Jemma & Andy – A Wedding at The Old Rectory Hotel, Wem

1st May 2010 · 1 Comment

You may remember Jemma & Andy’s engagement shoot. It’s one of our faves. We even used it for a sample book for our studio.

Their wedding was even more fun thanks to a great group of guests, an epic Fun Booth (on the blog soon) and, most importantly, Jem & Andy giving us the freedom to do what we do best.

Many thanks to the legendary Emma Case who helped on all levels, including amazing swirls and hearts on the light shot above

Top tunage!

One of their engagement photos made the slideshow

A few sneak peeks from the Fun Booth…

Congrats to Jemma & Andy and thanks for having us be part of such a fun wedding. More Fun Booth pics on the blog soon..

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