nick pickles music photographer

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!)

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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, once again another Glastonbury dissapears before me quicker than you can say Vuvuzela. For the first time since 2003, the festival passed without a drop of rain falling, and while I now need to spend time de-dusting my kit, it’s certainly better than having to wash everything to get rid of the mud.

The day kicked off and ended on the Other stage, and I was especially happy to join headliners Orbital on stage for their set - although not without a bit of a jog!

The Joy Formidable are one of my favourite up and coming bands and they didnt dissapoint the pretty decent crowd who’d got out of bed early on the last day to catch them. I shot the later half of the set from stage, great fun although from a photographic point of view quite challenging as there wasnt much stage lighting around, so like the Courteeners on Friday I was left to try and grab the odd moment when you could see faces.

Then it was off to catch Avi Buffalo on the park stage, and very good they were too, but by then my mind had turned to the day’s alternative headline event - England v Germany. Most of the festival’s press pack were camped down there and two blokes in full George’s cross body suits got a great deal of attention (and probably didnt see much of the match through the pack of photographers waiting for them to react to every goal). In the end, it was a massive let down in footballing terms, but an interesting shoot to do alongside all the usual music shots. One portrait of a rather ropey looking punter particularly caught my attention.

After the game (well, about 70 mins in) I gave up and tredged to the bar by the John peel stage, as I was down there for Gang of Four, Broken Social Scene and Julian Casablancas. There were alot of rumours that the latter’s set would infact be a Strokes gig, so the usual chaos of trying to confirm rumours and extra access kicked in. Last year I ended up on stage with the Black Eyed peas because of the Justin Timberlake rumour, this year I managed to blag a bit longer in the pit. Which in truth was totally useless as a) there was no strokes gig (although a few strokes songs were played) and b) JC played in the dark. I was shooting at 3200 ISO and in the end most of the photographers gave up and just started using flash. By the end of the third song it was a total free-for-all. I was going to walk away, but then he came down into the crowd but as I was at the wrong side of the tent I didn’t get anything useable.

After that it was onto tea and the final shoots of the night. As covering Glastonbury is a team effort, my schedule meant I was covering Empire of the Sun’s first UK show - so I kicked off with Orbital in the pit, then on stage, then about 20 mins in ran up to the Park. I ended up making such good time that I got there with about ten minutes to spare. As soon as the first three (visually stunning if not a bit weird sounding) tracks were over it was back down the path to the Other stage, hoping to catch the end of Orbital’s set. For anyone who has been to glasto, I did Park photo pit to being on the Other stage in 9 minutes. Amazed I had any energy left but I made it to watch the last 20 mins or so - including an appearance by the latest Dr Who, Matt Smith, who joined in on keyboard for a massive version of the show’s theme track.

I’ll do a more reflective post on the whole event and pick my favourite shots, but Sunday was definitely a productive day - hectic, yes - but on the whole another good day for photos and even a bit of exercise!

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Day two. for a minute there, I……..

So, all told a much better day. Started to get my head around what was irking me yesterday, felt in a bit of a lull but things feel much more positive now. Some really challenging shoots - Jamie T was lit with a very dull blue wash, while the XX were a few spotlights away from playing in the dark. Wandered into the crowd for Muse (as much to get a shot for my the wall of my new flat as to file!) and ended up with a few nice wideangle shots. Managed to catch a few tracks of the National - including shooting the first three. The sunshine and black backdrop made for some great studio style shots, which has definitely been something on my mind. The shot of Foals frontman Yannis I particularly like as it doesnt feel like a live shot, has a crispness to it that doesnt mirror the brilliant energy of their performance. I’ve no idea whether that makes it a rubbish live shot or not, but I like it so it’s going up heh.

one day left. never enough.

(oh, and I’ve just realised I’ve forgotten to do an edit of a shot of the national, so you’ll just have to wait for that.)

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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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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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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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