Thursday, March 26, 2009

Top Tips

Well, did the red carpet thing last night, and got to photograph a selection of people I've never heard of. I think there are times when you know you've made a bad decision in life - I think the point at which I couldn't feel my hands and was taking a photo of Antony Costa with his arm round Coleen Nolan may in fact be quite the new personal low.

I present this image not out of pride, but as a cautionary lesson.

Monday, March 23, 2009

C-lebrity

Asked to do a red carpet shoot on Wednesday, which is a bit more Heat Magazine than my usual thing, but I'll give anything a go once. I wasn't at all nervous until realised that Brian May and Roger Taylor will be there, and I'm a bit of a Queen nerd...

Friday, March 20, 2009

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Say You, Say Me

Tomorrow, I shall be saying Hello to someone quite famous. If things go well, I will, naturally, be Dancing On The Ceiling.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Into The Chaos



An unexpected appointment with Howling Bells on Tuesday over in Liverpool. Another set ruined by quite astoundingly harsh stage lighting for all three songs. The stage was bathed in red light throughout - they threw us a bone for about twenty seconds in the second song.

The support act, who I hadn't come across before, The Joy Formidable seem well worth watching out for.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Saturday, March 14, 2009

The Fear



Woken by the postman bringing me my new lense, a Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 Macro which I'm happy to see, given that I'm shooting Lily Allen and hopefully La Roux tomorrow at the Academy. Am hoping having slightly faster glass will give me a bit more to work with. So far all I've done with it is have a quick roam around the garden, so it'll have to be tested live in field...

Equally scary is that the agency had a choice between a pass for London or a pass for Manchester but decided to give me the shot at it. No pressure, then.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Smooth Criminals

I read this article in the Times today about the actions of the promoters for the Michael Jackson shows, and it reminded of two things.

Firstly, that the music industry isn't called an industry for nothing.

But it also reminded me that they don't hold all the cards, not by a long shot. So what I propose is simple.

Now, I couldn't give a damn about Michael Jackson, and some of his fans don't seem to be playing with a full deck, but I don't like watching people get screwed, so what I propose is this - let's, as music fans, start organising. Let's call it the National Union of Ticket Buyers Against Ridiculousness(just for the catchy acronym, obviously).

We have every ability to force a promoter's hand, we just choose not to, and that's crazy, especially in this economic climate. If a large enough scale internet boycott of tickets for the shows is organised, that is to say, no purchase of any tickets above face value (so no Ebay, no packages, no Viagogo) then good old fashioned supply and demand kicks back into play.

Which of these is more likely? Promoter leaves the first 20 rows empty and has to sheepishly explain to the artist why they're staring out at a sea of empty seats? Or they put them on sale at a more reasonable price to save face?

So it seems to me like all people need to do is organise and mobilise, and between fan sites (and I would imagine he has a few of those), Facebook, Twitter and everything else, it's entirely an entirely feasible proposition. Shame anyone who bought one, deride them as a gullible moron. Deconstruct the content of the packages compared to what you'd get elsewhere for the money. When did you last hear anyone say "Ooh, a buffet and parking! And only £150 extra!"?

Music fans *can* say no, and now's the time to start doing it, because if you tolerate this, then your band will be next...

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Stuck on repeat



Despite my cynicism over Ms Boots "next big thing" status, I'm pleased to report that her show last night at the Night & Day was actually fantastic. She's a proper pop star and isn't afraid of it, talking about collaborating with Phil Oakey and doing a Giorgio Moroder cover pretty much nails your colours to the mast on that front. She suffered a technical problem mid-track, resulting in the mic cutting out - her reaction, which was to stand on the front of the stage, carry on singing, get the audience clapping along and generally play it without missing a beat, despite the presence of a film crew and a couple of photographers was downright commendable. One to watch, then.

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Next big thing...

Off to photograph Little Boots at the Night & Day tonight. I've got a terrible headache, so the prospect of some noisy support act in a cramped venue doesn't much appeal, especially given that she's not on until almost half ten, so a pretty short headline set expected...

Hopeful that the lighting won't be as bad as I imagine it, but we'll have to see. Hoping to come out with *something*.

Monday, March 2, 2009

I predict minor civil unrest

Kaiser Chiefs tonight, then. Such a high stage, not really happy with what I got. Ho hum.