My friend Alex’s band played a great set at Monto Water Rats at Kings Cross back in December. All shot on Canon 50mm f/1.4 without flash.

I used to do a lot of gig photography, it was always good to go see bands for free and take photos at the same time. I haven’t done so much since moving back to Oxford, but I still do the odd gig. One of the guys I used to ride bikes with is now in a band asked me to do some gig photos of them and some shots of the band.

The venue was the Oxford 02 academy, a venue I have been to a lot before but never to take photos.

The lighting as usual seemed to involve vast amounts of red light and not a lot else… I have tried to show the more interesting, differently lit shots on here, but I have hundreds of pure red shots from the night.

I will be putting up the band group pictures in the week, we had a really cool location to shoot them at so can’t wait to put them up!

Oxjam used a photo of mine as part of an information pack which is both in print and an online PDF. Oxjam (part of Oxfam) run a great series of gigs to raise money for charity. The Oxjam events are a good way to raise some money for a good cause, and get to see some great local bands at the same time!

I had heard of Duffy’s name, but not her music so was quite excited to see if she lived up to the hype! I wasn’t disapointed, I was truly wowed by it. Only got to do two songs in the pit instead of the usual three, there was a lot of blue light too!

It was amazing to see such a small dainty girl produce such a rich rounded voice, well worth seeing even if it’s not your usual cup of tea. She had a cool dress too! It is great to go and see acts who I wouldn’t normally consider seeing, and finding something new.

Still at SWNS in Bristol having a good time chasing after various people and hanging out on the beach… Will put some of them up in the next week or so I expect. Adam Gasson is now the king of all papers, having conqured even the Guardian double page spread, well done Adam!

Dan le sac vs. Scroobius Pip shot to fame last year with their track Thou Shalt Always Kill, receiving NME praise despite denouncing it along with the Smiths and Nirvana mid song. They aren’t your average Barfly indie visitors, their first song dealt with why you shouldn’t slash your wrists. Why? It’s harsh on your sister. Their on stage furniture; including a TV and reading desk add to the feeling this isn’t just a group, but a statement. All this done in good humour with eyes half open and bottle of wine in hand of course.

Dan le Sac speaking his mind

The crowd knew exactly what to expect and couldn’t have been happier to indulge a 6 foot bearded man preaching to them about the darker points of life, electronic samples pumping out in the background. The tiny stage of Barfly was host to a TV broadcast from the reading desk, shown on the television whilst the show continued, both members taking breaks to relax in the armchair when it all got a bit too much to handle. A different take on UK hip-hop if that’s what it is, less guns and bitches, more home truths; a refreshing change! Their debut album Angles is out on May 12^th.

Scroobius Pip tuning in the TV

Photos and review from the Cardiff Barfly on 24th April 2008. More pictures below:

This article also appeared in Quench magazine, my first published review! First of many? Only time will tell…

It was the first time the guys had played acoustically live apparently, but they seemed to do a good job. I will be looking forward to seeing them play in Coopers field in the summer.

I also have a photo shoot coming up to promote the ball, more details soon, it should be fun! I will also be taking photos at the IMG awards ball tonight (Wednesday 30th April).

On Saturday 25th Febuary 2008 Sum41 played Cardiff University Great Hall, they are not a bad I have followed particularly closely in recent years. My only real memory of them was in my younger days listening to Fat Lip, alongside Blink 182. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when I turned up for the gig, but it turned out to be one of the more musically enjoyable gigs. Oh yeah and they also had the best lighting setup I have seen at the union. So good to see a band who have really made the effort with lighting, way better for the crowd, and more importantly better photos!

They were supported by Sound and Fury, and also Reuben.

The crowd were loving it, a surprisingly varied age range too!

The lighting for Sum41 was truly stunning, I just hope I have done it justice because it took my breathe away! Props to the lighting guys for making the show something really special. So often the lighting can really let a show down, I guess I notice this more than most due to my work relying on it, but sometimes the stage is so badly lit you can barely see the band!

This was my favorite shot from the night, so difficult to get any kind of interaction with the band sometimes, so nice when you can capture a moment like this. Sum41 definitely know how to work the crowd too, I guess years of touring helps with that!

All in all a good night, who knows I might actually listen to Sum41′s new material.

Reuben bass player

Fun bands to take photos of. Got a couple more gigs coming up in a few weeks, more details soon!

What’s up with bands with such long names? Above singer from Does it offend

The headliners The Cribs the took to the stage.

Drummer shots rarely get into publications but I always like to get a couple, sometimes they work out. Perou originally gave me the inspiration to look beyond the lead singer and guitarists! It’s always a challenge to get focous on the drummer amongst the kit, but it worked out here.

Can’t remember too much of the gig, and forgot to write anything down at the time, hence the sparse wording! A couple of these appeared in Quench issue 64.

The Cribs are are actually quite listenable

The great thing about shooting gig photography is that exposes you to a lot of music that you would otherwise not listen to. I don’t tend to listen to the radio a whole bunch due to not wanting to listen to the rambling of most DJ’s and the lack of fresh, good music. Sometimes you can miss a band which you really like.

Monday 18th February 2008 saw Gallows return to Cardiff, they are one of the biggest up and coming bands in hardcore punk scene at the moment, the sea of black jeans were worked up and ready to fire. I got there just after the first warm-up act SSS.

Luckily there were another two to go, and the hordes of fans were getting into it. The second support band, Fucked Up (a band from Canada!) was fronted by lunatic of a guy who wasn’t afraid to get involved with the crowd, and the crowd were in no position to argue.

Nothing really stuck out about the Set Your Goals for me, here’s one of the lead singers.

The headliners, Gallows hit the the stage up and put on a good show, not taking ginger comments from the crowd lightly! This shot was used in Quench issue 64.

They seemed genuinely amazed to be there, only this time last year they had been supported for My Chemical Romance at the very same venue.

Frank Carter getting into it

Even bigger things are in-store for Gallows, it’s nice to see a band who can still really connect with their fans.

I have lots in the pipeline at the moment, couple of portfolio shoots coming up and going to be photographing at the new bi-annual Cardiff fashion week, on Sunday night this week. It is going to be held in the Hilton and will hopefully be the start of a long string of them in Cardiff.

Not the usual setup

Support was provided by Alexander Tucker, a one man band of a modern variety! Whole songs with multiple tracks are layered and created in-front of you, quite something!

Took a while to get this update done, just been super busy. Lots more photos to come in next few weeks, have quite a backlog of stuff to put up hopefully will find time!