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.
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.
I was asked to do a short talk on my music photography by the lovely folk at bettakultcha recently, which I agreed to, forgot about and then really enjoyed. Not much to say really, other than apologies for the two swearies and yes I ruffle my hair when nervous.
Surprisingly good fun though, if not slightly terrifying following a guy who did a presentation on ‘how to save safe sex with robots’ !
Anyway, here’s the video and another demonstration of why I prefer print interviews.
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.
Second festival, and my fourth T in the Park. Still as mental as ever, 85,000 scottish folk on the booze - a very unique atmosphere!
It’s hard to describe T this year - my first time shooting Muse, Eminem’s first european gig for five years and being on stage with one of my favourite bands, Editors, all great experiences. There were some incredible moments, including a *huge* version of ‘God is a DJ’ by Faithless, Tom from editors running towards me screaming during ‘Smokers outside the hospital doors’ and another epic Mumford and Sons set, but something didnt feel quite right.
It was probably due to the rain that battered the site on Saturday, and a distinct lack of sleep, but I also wonder whether it was down to a lineup that lacked any real unique moments of greatness.
It was a buzz shooting Eminem, but it isnt my kind of music and the consensus seems to be it wasnt exactly a stellar performance. Many of the bands playing are doing the rounds, something affecting lots of festivals this year, and there wasnt much variety on the bigger stages.
T is still a great festival, with an incredibly passionate crowd and a great setting, but I think they need to rekindle the kind of variety that brought Brian Wilson and a whole host of acts who were ‘one offs’ to the various stages.
On the upside, Im incredibly happy with some of my shots (below) so I must be doing something right!
Yes, contrary to many’s belief that they had indeed banished themselves from the airwaves, the Kooks are still going.
From memory, the last time I saw them they were pretty dull to photograph, so I was a little pleased that the singer decided to move around quite alot - unfortunately with barely any light on him it made the photographs pretty pointless. Fair play for trying to liven things up though, the songs aren’t going to do it. Although his shouting ‘come on’ at the crowd did seem a bit, well, crap.
I would say these guys rock, but apparently that’s a massive insult to them as (in the words of Danny North) they’re more metal than metal. So - I’ll leave it at that.
Needeless to say, by the time this gig finally came around - having been rescheduled twice - I was slightly complacent about what to expect. As someone who will happily admit that metal isnt my scene, I’ve never really heard much of Slayer and had no real grasp of the band’s history. That was soon remedied after seeing a good mate Rowan in the pit (at his request I won’t disclose who he was shooting for!) and hearing his tales of seeing the band over the years, complete with musical scene timeline.
Aside from some slightly bizarre lighting - LED mixed with parkans, with random intermittent strobe and white light killed by red wash before you’d got the exposure right - it was a cool gig to shoot, with each member of the band offering very different (but no less *metal*) shots.
Also, special nod to this shot which I’m really pleased with. It’s a bad habit but when I’m shooting a band I’m not personally a fan of, I often tend to drift into trying to take shots that make me smile, rather than perhaps capturing the essence of the performance. So, with Slayer I started trying to get shots of the band smiling rather than screaming, or capture some warmth rather than the sheer agression of the performance. This shot came about trying to create some intimacy around a guy who was very, very in your face on stage, and I hope it works.
I’ve been trying to catch Delphic since I last saw then in 2009 supporting Orbital and finally manged to at Leeds Met. Even better, they were supported by Everything Everything, another cracking band from Manchester that bridge the divide between indie and dance with some really terrific songs.
Even better was being asked by Delphic’s lighting guy to get some shots of the full lightshow from the back, which was far easier than trying to balance the LED strips and smoke from the pit. As songs like ‘Counterpoint’ and ‘Halycon’ morphed into full on tunes, the lights came to life and I was as happy as a photographer with good lights. And that’s very happy.
