I Like Gigs

Arcade Fire - Enmore Theatre

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 12:30:00 +0000

Arcade Fire finally made it to Sydney, it's been just under a year since I last saw them in the UK, and they did not disappoint in the slightest. Probably the second best performance I've seen them give (the best being the first time I saw them in London). I was up the front, in the middle surrounded by other friendly, borderline obsessive fans so everyone was very happy.

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Great lighting, but no photo pass for me tonight, but to be honest I was very happy where I was. I can't wait for tomorrow night when I do it all again.

Patrick Wolf - The Metro

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 12:30:00 +0000

Patrick Wolf returned to Sydney with his full band in tow. It was a much more energised show then the last time he was here. Costume changes, much swanning about on stage and even jumping into the crowd at one point. He's a great showman, an incredibly talented musician and in a live situation his voice is stunning. I'd be very surprised if he isn't playing a much larger venue next time he's here.

It was a bit of a popfrenzy showcase tonight with great support from Mist and Sea and Paper Scissors.

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The lighting is never phenomenal at the Metro, but luckily, a kind soul at popfrenzy sorted me out for a photopass so I was able to get in to the pit and duck between the other photographers to get my shots. I'd also like to give Patrick Wolf a hug due to his no-flash photography policy. They almost always look crap anyway.

Young and Restless - Evelyn Hotel

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 23:30:00 +0000

I was down in Melbourne visiting a friend and wound up at the Evelyn Hotel where Young & Restless impressed the pants off me. It's been a while since I've seen a band who just (and you'll have to excuse the cliché) rock out on stage, and Y & R definitely do that. Singer Karina jumping all over the stage, into the crowd and starting a mosh pit before crowd surfing her way into the encore.

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Small venue, but the lighting was great, quite crowded up near the front of the stage, not a lot of room to move around, and once the mosh started I moved back a bit to avoid injury

Where's Jerome? promo shoot

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 18:00:00 +0000

I was asked to do promo shots for up and coming Sydney band Where's Jerome? (myspace). It was my first attempt at this sort of photography and luckily I'll get another go at it at their upcoming gig on 15th Oct at the Hopetoun Hotel. I've learnt that next time I do this it'll be much better to shoot closer to sunset (or sunrise) as light can be incredibly harsh in the middle of the day. Either way, it will be fun. There's a nice little review of their first EP here

Maximo Park - Metro Theatre

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 23:30:00 +0000

Maximo Park were last in Sydney a little under two years ago and somehow I ended up standing in almost the exact same place at the exact same venue. Their frontman Paul Smith is very much the heart and soul of the band, jumping around the stage like a mad man, gesticulating wildly - I don't think I've seen so much finger pointing since Jarvis Cocker was last in town. Everyone (band and audience) had a great time.

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I didn't snag a photo pass for this one but managed to get into the front row, I managed to talk my way into the photo pit only to be stopped for entering when the security guy who said he'd let me in was moved elsewhere in the venue and his replacement was a little less flexible when it came my missing photo pass. I was stuck off to the left of stage with no room to move so there's nothing too fantastic here.

Hot Chip - Metro Theatre

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 23:30:00 +0000

A couple of years ago when I was living in London and going out to indie clubs way too much, Hot Chip were a name err... hot on everyone's lips. A couple of years later they're selling out decent sized venues on the other side of the planet. They're a great live act - although five dudes sitting behind keyboards/synths/sequencers isn't the most exciting thing in the world to watch (or photograph), they had the crowd going crazy.

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Hard to photograph these guys as they're all perched behind their keyboards etc, especially from down low in the photo pit, but they had some nice colourful lighting so I managed to get a couple of OK shots.

Patrick Wolf - The Factory

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 23:30:00 +0000

I kept missing Patrick Wolf while I was in London, so I was happy to hear that he was coming to Sydney. He did two acoustic shows, one on Friday night at The Basement and a Saturday night show at The Factory. It was quite low key, Wolf playing with either his violin, a troublesome ukulele or piano. I was expecting a bit more of an energetic performance, but it was still a damn good show (despite his obvious jet lag). He says he'll be coming back in September with his full band, so that should be a whole lot of fun.

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It was reasonably crowded up at the front of the stage, and I didn't want to annoy any of the hardcore fans by blocking their view for more than a few seconds so I didn't get anything amazing. Lighting was quite simple too so there isn't anything too dramatic here.

King Brothers at Spectrum

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Sat, 28 Apr 2007 23:30:00 +0000

Insane Japanese punks. I couldn't understand a word they said/sung, I'm not even sure if they were singing in English or Japanese. Spectrum is not a large club but these guys didn't really care. They put on an awesome show and I was lucky to be there, before the end of the night one of their guitarists was dropped VERY hard while crowd surfing and a friend of mine sustained a mild head injury

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As always, not the best lighting at Spectrum, but it'd be virtually impossible not to get a great shot of these guys. Their bass player especially was the king of rock star poses. The venue wasn't packed so I had pretty free movement on either side of the stage.

Wilco - Enmore Theatre

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 23:30:00 +0000

I'm a relatively new Wilco fan, only getting into them (at a friend's constant urging) a few years ago a bit after Yankee Hotel Foxtrot came out. It's a been a while since they've been to Sydney and they rewarded their fans with a set in excess of two hours tonight. The set list was amazing, although it did get a tad self indulgent towards the end, but when they're this good it's quite forgivable. Anyway, if you want a write-up from someone who can write, click here.

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I couldn't get a photo pass for this one, but luckily there weren't any camera restrictions so I was able to get in and shoot to my heart's content. The only downside being that I was stuck in the middle of the crowd and had to shoot between people's heads (hence the occasional shadow in some of the photos). The lighting was fantastic and I would have loved to have been in the pit.

Jarvis Cocker - Metro Theatre

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 02:35:00 +0000

I lucked out as Jarvis decided to grace us with his divine presence at a side show thanks to the V Festival. He played a great set at the Metro. There were some hardcore fans out tonight and the line to the front entrance went all the way down the street before the doors even opened. A few people shouted out for Pulp songs during the set, but Jarv didn't comply. Playing most of the tracks from his new album plus a couple of b-sides (Big Stuff and One Man Show). At one stage someone threw a pair of Holeproof Underdaks up on to the stage, much to Jarvis' amusement. He closed the encore with a great cover of Bruce Springsteen's State Trooper.

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He had the same blue/purple lighting effects happening during the first few songs, but as I was in the front row and security didn't seem to mind about me taking photos I managed to get a few more shots through the set when the lights changed.

The Arcade Fire - St John's Church (2nd night)

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 23:30:00 +0000

Again at St John's Church and lining up for a few hours, but this time I was at the front of the queue and one of the first people into the venue. The band opened the night with an rousing acoustic version of The Clash's Guns of Brixton right in the middle of the crowd, I was too far away to even see it but it sounded amazing. Once they were on stage I spent the gig about 3 feet from Win Butler's rather large army boots but was able to avoid a wrathful stomping by only taking the occasional photo rather than snapping away constantly through their set. Although the set list doesn't show it, they closed it off with Tunnels which is possibly my favourite track from Funeral.

It was an amazing way to end my gig going in London, especially as I'm moving back to Sydney for good this coming Sunday. Bye London!

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The lighting seemed a bit dimmer this evening, it was all very basic indeed. Still, I think I managed to get a few good shots - I'd be embarrassed if I didn't at that range!

The Arcade Fire - St John's Church

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 23:00:00 +0000

I arrived in London just under two years ago and went straight from the airport (and a 24 hour flight from Sydney) to this particular gig. I was exhausted, but it still stands as one of the best shows I've ever seen. I'm flying home to Sydney for good this coming Sunday and was surprised to hear that The Arcade Fire were returning to play a series of shows during my last week in the country, even moreso when I realised that I missed out on tickets to every single show and saw tickets going for up to £500 per pair on eBay. No thanks. Still, I wanted to bookend my stay in London by seeing the most amazing live band in the world...

Luckily, the band decided to release 50 tickets per day at each of their London shows. From 12pm I waited outside the venue for the ticket release (it did have it's benefits though), I was #12 in line. Eight and a half chilly hours later I had my ticket and the band filtered onto the stage and it was all worth it. It was absolutely amazing, the band were in fine form playing songs mostly from their upcoming album Neon Bible, and filling out the set with songs from their first album. Oh and did I mention that they played in a church?

The gig ended with the band carrying their instruments outside through the audience, onto the church's steps and performing Wake Up with the whole crowd as backing vocals. It was definitely worth the wait.

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The venue was seated (no one sat) and I was about six rows from the front, so I spent a fair bit of time trying to shoot over/around/between waving hands and heads, so all of these photos are heavily cropped. There was no photo pit and the professional photographers were relegated to an upper balcony. I'm hoping to get into the first or second row when I do all this again on Wednesday and Thursday...

I'm From Barcelona - ULU

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 10:25:00 +0000

I wasn't too sure about this one before I went in, the album's got some nice pop songs on it but it does tend to get a bit cheesy at times. Luckily, 29 piece band I'm From Barcelona (actually from Sweden, details schmetails) are fantastic fun live. It was more like a big party than a concert with audience members helped onto the stage by the band more than once (including at one stage, a kazoo playing quintet) and the show ending with a dance version of We're From Barcelona playing over the PA, about 150 people from the audience on stage, the band mingling in the crowd and security not quite knowing what to do. Definitely one of the more fun gigs I've been to recently.

They're like The Flaming Lips and The Polyphonic Spree had a low budget baby.

I was an idiot and in my rush to get to the gig left my quick lens at home as I'd spent the morning running around taking pictures of snow (I'm Australian, it's allowed!). So these photos aren't as sharp as I'd like, but the lighting was pretty good, the crowd was friendly and a good time was had.

Jarvis Cocker at the Roundhouse

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Sun, 17 Dec 2006 11:59:00 +0000

I've been an enormous Pulp fan for years and years. They only toured Australia once (back in 1998) and I was lucky enough to catch 2 of their 3 shows in Sydney. For this gig, a very lovely friend of mine at Playlouder managed to get a photopass for me, and to say that was deliriously excited would be an extreme understatement. Not that I'm prone to hyperbole or anything.

Jarvis didn't disappoint, playing material exclusively off his brilliant new album and throwing a couple of new songs as well. He's been away for a while, but now he's back and he's still got his amazing signature dance moves, that if performed by anyone else would look positively stupid. He had the crowd eating out of his hand within the first 5 seconds. Absolutely phenomenal. End fanboy rant.

I've never seen so many photographers in a photo pit (there must have been at least 20 of us), and as it was only the second time I'd been in one it was a tad intimidating. Many of them had multiple camera slung around their necks with enormous lenses, whilst I had my stub nosed 50mm lens. Once Jarvis was on stage the nerves went away and I just concentrated on trying to get a few decent photos whilst avoiding being in other photographer's shots. It was awesome.

These photos now in use by Playlouder for their review.

Drowned In Sound Xmas Party

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 23:45:00 +0000

Drowned In Sound held their Christmas party at Kings College this year, the line-up included Laura Groves, Jeremy Warmsley, GoodBooks, Guillemots, Courtesy Group, Acoustic Ladyland, and The Bellagios. I stuck around for the first four acts but had to head home after I started feeling more than a bit ill.

Lighting wasn't always ideal, but it was good enough to get a few decent shots. I was told there was a three songs/no flash rule but the other photographers there seemed quite happy to ignore it, security didn't mind either. I'm using some new gallery software too, have a look at the photos!

Hot Puppies - Water Rats

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 23:30:00 +0000

I first caught the Hot Puppies supporting The Grates a couple of months ago, they were pretty damn good then and it led to me tracking down their album, becoming addicted to it and then impatiently waiting for their next gig in London. They didn't disappoint tonight. Incidentally, their guitarist looks exactly like Morrissey. Scarily so.

It was a small and dimly lit venue with very little room to move around, but I think I managed to get a few decent shots. Using my nifty fifty meant that all of the shots are pretty tight, under the lighting conditions my stock 18-55mm just couldn't cut it.

The Flaming Lips - Hammersmith Apollo

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 23:00:00 +0000

No photos taken at this gig due to my laziness in obtaining a photo pass. Got a t-shirt though! The Lips were brilliant as usual, it's the fourth time I've seen them and the first time I haven't been within a few metres of the stage. It was a bit odd watching them perform from up in the balcony area, a bit like watching someone else's birthday party; but even so it was an amazing night.

Gryff Rhys from the Super Furry Animals did a solo spot as the support act which was a nice bonus. Next time I see them I'll make sure I'm right down the front, it's a much better experience.

Calexico

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 23:21:00 +0000

Calexico at Camden Roundhouse was my first time in the photo pit. I was actually there to see Beirut, but to a scheduling mix-up wound up missing them completely. They were OK, they seemed to be part watered down Wilco, part Mexican cantina band.

It was fun being in the pit for the first time, having complete freedom to run around and snap (three songs, no flash) was great. I'm trying to line up a photo pass for Jarvis Cocker's gig there in December. Fingers crossed.

Metric - Kings College

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 22:03:00 +0000

Metric at Kings College marks my very first assignment with a photopass, as provided by the lovely people at Drowned In Sound. First support act was David Sugar playing his guitar along with a backing track provided by his GameBoy. It was kind of fun at first but the novelty wore thin. Scissors for Lefty were second on and were actually pretty good. There was a bit of wait before Metric came on, but they didn't disappoint, fantastic from the get-go.

I thought I'd staked out a great position, but it turned out that I had a keyboard blocking pretty much most of my shots. Emily was pulling off some fantastic moves and I was a bit disappointed that I get what you see here. Hopefully I'll get another chance to shoot them in the future.

The Grates - Blow Up: Metro

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 00:16:00 +0000

The Grates again, this time with my new camera. They played to a sold out London Metro (I overheard someone saying that they were at 150% of capacity) and it was very crowded in there. When you're in a tiny venue you can only hope that people will be at least a little bit considerate of the crap conditions and not turn into jerkholes. Pity that a few people thought moshing and shoving would be a good fun idea. I spent most of the gig with some jerk dry humping my back. Either way The Grates were fantastic as usual, they just need a bigger venue.

I was shooting again with the new camera, it's brilliant so far and I managed to take a few decent photos despite being shoved in the back almost every time I brought my camera to my eye (reminding). All in all it was a fun night, and some jerk behind me went home with an elbow sized bruise in his sternum.

Voxtrot at state 51

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Wed, 16 Aug 2006 23:29:00 +0000

Voxtrot played at state 51 last night, they played in the basement of Play Louder's warehouse/office. It was a pretty good show, the venue was rather full but I managed to get a good position right up the front, maybe a little too close. I was about a metre from their singer, and as there wasn't a stage it felt a bit weird.

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On a brighter note, I've bought myself a shiny new Canon Digital Rebel XT (350D) - I haven't quite got a handle on it just yet and I've got a lot to learn. I did the best I could with it, hopefully there'll be a drastic improvement in my photos over the coming months as I learn how to be a better photographer.

Expatriate - London Metro

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Sat, 12 Aug 2006 22:04:00 +0000

Expatriate at Blow Up at London's Metro earlier this evening, it's the first time I've seen them in almost a year and they've just finished recording their album in Seattle (due out on Dew Process at some point in the future), and it was a pretty good show. They had a decent sized crowd for their second ever London gig and it sounded like they've padded out their sound a fair bit too. Am definitely looking forward to the album and seeing them again when I get back to Sydney.

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Lighting wasn't amazing there - it never is, so I opted for classy B&W photos the majority of the time. The rhythm section was pretty much shrouded in darkness for most of their set. I think I'll definitely have to make the move to a digital SLR in the coming months.

Divine Comedy - Somerset House

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Thu, 06 Jul 2006 23:46:00 +0000

Divine Comedy were a perfect choice for this years summer series at Somerset House (I had a great time there last year) An absolutely flawless performance, aside from Neil missing his que on Mother Dear of course. Oh and the song dedicated to the wasp that landed on his tuner. Aside from that it was absolutely amazing, the band were superb. It was a perfect night. Also, I caught Neil's pick when he threw it into the audience. Woo!

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The fiance and I got there nice and early and were lucky enough to be on the barrier, just off center. The lighting was awesome for photography about 90% of the time so I managed to get a few shots that I'm really happy with.

The Grates - 93 East

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Wed, 14 Jun 2006 23:30:00 +0000

The Grates The Grates! The Grates! I've taken photos of these lovely people many many times, but it's been over a year since I posted anything new, and as it was their UK album launch tonight I thought it was about time I did so again. The venue was absolutely packed, not sure if it was sold out or not though, the band was in great form. Patience (the singer) seems to have eaten about 5 bags of sugar before she went on stage tonight. Every song was greeted with deafening applause.

As it was so crowded I had to bustle my way to the front and some very kind people let me in front of them for a few songs to snap some photos. The lighting wasn't amazing, poor John seemed to spend a lot of time in the dark so there weren't any decent shots of him tonight.

Mates of State - The Garage

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Tue, 23 May 2006 23:30:00 +0000

Mates of State are husband and wife duo who write some of the catchiest tunes you'll ever hear. If you like great melodies and fun vocal harmony you'd probably quite like them. They were fun and friendly and were flawless performers so I went away rather happy.

I was in the front row RIGHT in front of the drum kit. Being a two piece meant that the drums were right up at the front of the stage. I could literally reach out and grab the bass drum if I wished. Unfortunately from where I was standing the mic was on annoying angle and I had to wait for Kori (on organs) to move her head away from it to get a decent shot!