nick pickles music photographer

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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So, turns out I had an extra gig before festival season!

Last time I shot a gig at LCCC was Coldplay last year, and if I’m honest that was one of the worst gigs I’ve shot in a while, so I was slightly aprehensive heading back. Things weren’t helped when it turned out we’d only have the first 2 songs, there were a ton of photographers and I didnt notice I had my camera on manual focus and briefly panicked that my 200mm lens had died.

In the end turned out pretty well - despite it being a sunny evening, I managed a few nice frames of the crowdsurfing fan and Billy Joel with the sky and crowd behind them. Also grabbed a nice clear shot of Joel with an england flag behind his head.

Not a bad warm up for Glastonbury, but now it’s onto the main event…..

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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.

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Bit of a tough gig to shoot this - one of those occasions where there was so much light, but it never quite fell right.

Not a bad band, they did sound a bit samey and the vocals didnt really cut through. Having said that, I was half asleep so I can’t claim to be the most objective critic. Then again, not sure I have ever claimed that. The joys of the internet!

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Some bands come and go in a buzz of media excitement, others fall into producing records to please their record company execs, and very few can carve their own path through the choppy waters of the music business.

BRMC are, in this photographer’s humble opinion, one of those bands. From the first time I saw them back in 2001/2 (I can’t remember when) I’ve been a huge fan, mainly because they were one of the few bands around who made dirty rock n roll music that didn’t compromise. Then, when things went a bit mad, they ditched their major record label, wrote a country-influenced acoustic record that dealt more with god than drugs, sex or rock’n'roll, and then reappeared weilding Gibson 355’s and screaming ’suicide’s easy what happened to the revolution?!”

They may have lost, then reacquired, then lost founder drummer Nick Drago, toyed with an expanded live line up and struggled to propel their latest effort, Beat the Devil’s Tattoo, into the mainstream, but frankly this selfish fan doesn’t want them to be mainstream.

Not since Nevermind has being bleak been this f**king cool.

Oh, and I’m pretty pleased with the photos too…

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So, another artist I’m not that familiar with but I’d been tipped off would put on a good show. Well, if you count wearing a fruitbowl as a hat, a bloody good show it was too. Not a huge fan of the music - fairly bland and seemingly a more mainstream version of amy winehouse (without the drugs, doesnt go down on Radio 2 dontchya know) but she gets an A+ for effort for the stage. Comically pulling a punter onto the crowd for the third song was a novelty, particularly given the first half was singing about a bloke, but the second half of the song involved trying to make said punter dance with her - and being massively let down!

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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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A while back I did a post on ‘the knowledge’ for festival photography, after reading Leon Neal’s terrific guide for photographers working in London (He’s onto version 3 now - linky).

Tomorrow sees my first gig of 2010, and before things ramp up and I don’t have time to do this I thought I would do a gig version, with some of the random thoughts I’ve picked up over the past few years. I resisted putting ‘be nice to the house photographer’ in there, but you should be!

1. The darker the lighting is for the first three, the brighter it will be for the fourth song (Unless it’s Echo and the Bunneymen in which case just don’t bother)
2. Shooting on burst and taking 400 frames per song doesnt mean when you get one good frame you’re a genius
3. You can watch the crowd as long as you like - the pint that hits you on the head won’t be thrown until you turn around
4. The gig you forget your earplugs - and security run out - will not be an acoustic folk singer
5. However ‘crazy’ the fourteen year old girls on the barrier look, it is *not* OK to take photos of them for ‘atmosphere’ when you’re over 19
6. If you insist on standing in the same spot infront of the singer for two and a half songs, don’t expect everyone else to move for you instantly
7. Be nice to security guards - you’ll never know how close crowdsurfers are to your head until you offend the guy who is catching them
8. Always carry a flashgun - the gig you don’t, the singer will go into the crowd
9. Don’t wear your rucksack / shoulder bag in the pit. Its 2 feet wide for fecks sake
10. If you start with a 70-200 on, the singer will sing ontop of you
11. If you start with a 17-55, the singer will sit at the back of the stage on the drum riser
12. Trying to get a shot of the singer spraying beer onto the crowd from directly infront of them will not result in better photos and will result in getting you and your kit covered in beer
13. If you’re using a compact, don’t stand with it at arms length over the monitors, you ruin great photos. (see here)
14. If you’ve agreed to cover the gig for 20p and a credit, don’t expect any sympathy when you complain you can’t afford a 2.8 lens
15. The arctic wind flows have the unique ability to change direction according to the time your pass isn’t on the door

Feel free to add your own below!

Yes…that’s it! The last gig of 2009. Feels like it’s been a long, but successful year. 9 festivals, 61 gigs and ending with a new D3 - I guess I can’t really grumble.

Shed Seven, well, the lighting was a challenge, but I got a few nice frames out of it, and then I headed home for sleep.

I’ll do a best of 2009 shots at some point, but for the time being I bid you a happy new year!

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I can’t deny I was really pleased when I found out PiL were playing the academy. Well, I say PiL - I mean John Lydon. While they may have been before my time, I kindov see PiL in the same vain as the Style Council - bands of the 80s that I’m aware of, but decided to skip to the beginning and listen to the Sex Pistols. (and The Jam). It’s a decision I’ve never really regretted, as both original bands made some really great music.

One challenge was not taking the generic ‘john lydon looking mad’ photos that I’d seen from the rest of the tour - I wanted to capture some of the humour, and indeed sincerity, on stage. While it may have proved harder than you’d think, I was reasonably happy with the results. In particular, the first shot below the ‘continue reading’ line has much more human expression in it than the more on-stage persona shots.

While PiL may have some tunes, and Lydon is still as enigmatic on stage as, well, a very enigmatic but middle aged ex-punk come butter marketeer, I can’t say I felt all too enthused at this gig. Still, at least I didnt have to pay the 36 quid the crowd did. ouch.

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