nick pickles music photographer

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.

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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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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.

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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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Oops, amid all the election madness I forgot to blog this. Was actually a really great gig - and with support from Fyfe Dangerfield (he of guillemots fame) supporting, it was a nice, chilled out way to spend a saturday evening.

I also managed to grab a quick portrait with Fyfe, which I particularly like:

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A flying visit - in at 8.58pm, out by 9.20pm (campaign kicking off!), but clear the Courteeners haven’t given up on eclipsing the other rabble of guitar-weilding, heir-to-Oasis bands around. and in fairness, with some of the tunes they have, and from what I’ve heard of the new record, they’ve got a better chance than most of going onto greatness.

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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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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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