Leeds has always had a special place in the circuit for me - the first festival I (very badly and entirely without success) ever attempted to climb the fence at, the first festival I went to as a punter (the year of the riots) and the first festival I worked at. Not to mention being fifteen minutes drive from my flat!
This year’s event was set to be a big one for a host of reasons - from the Libertines reunion to Guns N Roses - and it didnt dissapoint. I was incredibly lucky to have such a great view of proceedings and I hope I did the event justice with my shots.
Another neat idea, another Radiohead project. This time they’ve given an audio rip of a live show to a collaborative project which has basically made a gig DVD from fan footage. The team behind it had a hell of a job on bringing all the different camera feeds together and keeping it so tightly synced, and while I’m sure the quality won’t have the corporate types worrying too much, it’s an interesting sign of the times. How long before the quality of small cameras catches up with what you can now get on a 5D or a D3s and we’ll see much sharper efforts? Axl Rose probably won’t like it, and Metallica will probably sue video camera companies, but it potentially opens up a whole new world of opportunities for creative projects. Once again, it’s nice to see a band (not for the first time being Radiohead) putting something out there as a creative project without seeing it as a revenue-generating tool.
On stage as the Libertines perform at Leeds Festival 2010
What can I say? I missed the Libertines the first time round, but it was pretty hard not to get swept up in the magic of the occasion and to shoot some frames from side of stage was just amazing.
It’s often joked that the reason you never see any atmosphere photos from V Festival is because there isn’t an atmosphere. Well, once again the adage proved true - but in some ways, it’s not a bad thing, not least allowing me to focus on shooting bands, filing photos and getting a decent night’s kip.
The line-up at V is usually a mix of radio-friendly big names and random pop acts. Inspiration is rarely drawn from either, but it’s got to be said there were a few great festival moments to be found, buried beneath the pile of dross topped like a cherry (made of solid shit) by Daisy Dares You.
So, for the first time in a while I got to cover a festival I’d not been to before! I must admit this was a bit of a last-minute job, but with a lineup that included Thom Yorke (rumoured to be performing with his band ‘Atoms for Peace’) M.I.A, Massive Attack, Patrick Wolf and lots of acts I’d never heard of, I set off with a fair degree of excitement.
Sadly, and much to my surprise, the resounding feeling of the weekend would be shaking my head in disbelief at some of the epic fuck-ups and ridiculous situations that emerged. The best moments were saved for the nightime photohunting on Thursday night with Glastonbury-atmosphere-photo legend Leon Neal and the merry gang of Tim, Tom and Tommy and a counter-surveillance operation involving body painted naked people that Andy McNab would have been proud of.
Alas, all this had to wait. Despite managing to get from Leeds to within 2 miles of the festival site in very good time, the final two miles were pretty monumental. We’d planned to arrive at 3pm, with gates opening at 2pm. We eventually got onsite aroun 6.30pm. It seems some genius had the idea to put all the traffic (artists and event staff aside) through one traffic gate. Which was a single track road. Resulting in massive lines of cars not really going anywhere, for a long time. I dread to think what time anyone would have got on site if they’d joined the que after leaving work.
Eventually on site, the tent went up and beer in hand I caught up with a few other photographers and discovered that on Sunday morning there would be a big art project by Spencer Tunick, famed for his installations of naked people. I remember being invited to one in Gateshead at the Sage (as press!) but declining to take up their offer of a 4am cooked breakfast.
Last year at Kendal Calling I managed to explode a tooth and catch swine flu, so it’s fair to say I approached this year’s event with a degree of trepidation.
After a slightly random comission from the local paper, I headed up looking forward to not having to wire any shots over the weekend. Heaven forbid I could actually grab a beer, sit down and enjoy the bands!
While it’s fair to say I’m not a fan of Calvin Harris’ music, he certainly did a good job kicking the festival off although my personal highlight on friday was shooting Pulled apart by Horses for the first time. Mental atmosphere, no photography restrictions (although the melee of their set did mean they introduced them for every band afterwards!) and some kick-ass tunes made for a very fun set.
Over the weekend it was great to catch some fantastic bands I know and love - the Futureheads’ closing song ‘Man Ray’ nearly cost me my voice for the rest of the weekend, while a typically epic encore of ‘There goes the fear’ and ‘Space Face’ reminded my why Doves are such a great live band. The combination of that, a small site and very little rain added up to a cracking festival.
I would do a bigger review but I need to finish my Big Chill edit!For the full set on Flickr, click the linky.
It’s been too long since I saw a Field Music show properly (Glastonbury I was stuck at the back of the tent) so to see them playing a tiny theatre in Harrogate was the perfect tonic to festival season, when everything can feel a bit rushed and impersonal for the bands lower down the bill.
Complete with interval and very old man to hold the auditorium door open for you, this was about as perfect a venue as I can imagine for Field Music’s unique melodies and carefully crafted pop gems. Running through tracks from all three of their records (although no ‘In Context’ sadly) it was a joy to behold a 100-year old venue being filled with such sonic delights. And I got a comfy seat too, reet civilised.
Ahhh - back so soon. And this time we got 4 songs you know. Although the lighting was pretty rubbish this time, the spotlight guy seemed half cut as he was missed John by a good foot.
Yes he still swigs brandy from a bottle before spitting it into a bucket, and yes I only took about 2 frames of the other members of the band, but there’s not really many others quite like John Lydon. A true legend.
Then again, it’s equally true to say that given the choice, the thought of paying 30 quid to see PiL scares me. (Especially considering there was no support!)
Where do the days go? Doesnt seem like five minutes since this gig. Not a huge amount to report, both Regina and her support act, Nicole Atkins, were pretty static to photograph, with equally static lighting. A chance to give the 85mm f1.8 a run out as the benefit of people playing the piano is you know where they’ll be sitting, and so can set up accordingly.
Regina’s songs are still as delicate as they are powerful, while Nicole Atkins has a folksy-charm that is difficult to pull off without sounding twee.
But yes - I was still knackered from latitude and so headed home early for the sake of an early night. Special mention should go to Regina’s photo release form which stated we should only use our most “flattering” shots. Sadly they failed to describe from what perspective they were flattering so I’ve no idea if I’m going to get sued or not.
After giving it a miss in 2009, I returned to Latitude with some apprehension, mainly due to having not camped for ages, and very little prep time. Other than knowing the headliners and that The National were playing, I had no real idea what was on offer - not helped by being at T in the Park when I found out I had a pass. Having said that, the great thing about Latitude is you can wander off and see all sorts of random stuff - not least a bit of theatre in the woods. I’ve no idea who was performing, but the above shot is one of my favourite of the whole festival.
I ventured down on Thursday, mainly because Tom Jones was scheduled to play an intimate set in ‘The Woods’ at midnight. Also this meant I had some time to sort my tent out, which had never been out of the box I’d bought it in on Thursday morning.
Click on to read more, or for a fuller set of photos click here.
