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!
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Homecoming gigs are always a bit special, and this certainly did not dissapoint. Despite the band worrying they might have to cancel the gig when Craig woke up without a voice, in the end it was one of those shows where you look back and wonder just how good it was. Surely not as good as you think? Well, for anyone who had overindulged at the bar I can safely say it was exactly that good.
From the rousing, anthemic ‘Borders’ and ‘Commercial Breakdown’ to newer tracks like ‘The Messiah’ or ‘Nobody’s coming to save you’ it was amazing to watch a venue go from Oasis-like passion, to the kind of dancing normally seen in nightclubs and finally end on the kindov euphoric comedown seen at Glasvegas gigs, it illustrated just how broad a reach the Sunshine Underground have. It may have taken them a few years to get round to the second record, but with a live show like this boy was it worth the wait.
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so, it’s 2010 and time for the usual reflection on the past year’s photography - 61 gigs, 9 festivals and at least 2 days of proper holiday.
it’s fair to say the past year - again - has exceeded all my expectations. Festival season was yet again a blast - from being on stage with the Killers as they headlined T in the Park and V, being on stage with the Black Eyed Peas at Glastonbury as they played a tribute to Michael Jackson, to shooting what turned out to be Oasis’s last ever gig and watching the mighty Spinal Tap, I had a great time. Despite what I felt as really flat period photographically for for most of July, I felt like I came out of V and Leeds with some of my best ever festival work.
In terms of gigs the O2 Academy Leeds once again saw some huge shows, with the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s putting on probably my favourite. Certainly one standout moment was being pulled from the pit at the Kerrang! tour gig by the singer of Mindless Self Indulgence mid-song, which was a bit confusing at the time but made for a few cool photos!
Equally, although annoying for the 90-second rule, Beyonce at Newcastle’s Metro Radio Arena was certainly an interesting gig to shoot - as was U2 at the Don Valley Stadium and Oasis’ homecoming show at Heaton Park.
Anyway, here are my top ten best music photographs of 2009, chosen from my 101 favorites that I put onto Flickr. No particular order,
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bit of a backwards post here - this gig was on Monday, and the day before I shot Glasvegas. However, due to my laziness and/or lack of time, the glasvegas edit is a work in progress (as you will see, it was very, very dark and the shots need some work) however, primal scream was a bit better, although bobby was largely in the dark the whole time. anyway, got this shot that i quite like - its an apache helicopter on the screen - kill all hippies.