Well this was a very welcome surprise…

I’ve been badgering the Editors’ management for three months now trying to get a photopass confirmed, and it’s finally paid off — I got word at lunchtime that I had a pass waiting for me at the Ironworks for their gig that evening. Rock-climbing can wait…

But all was not plain sailing. I was given the pass to shoot only the main act, and not the support acts. Normally, this isn’t ideal, for various reasons (and it makes for a nice photo-tip for beginners too): The support is an ideal time to get the camera dialled in to the correct settings so there’s less faffing about when it’s important to get the shots right, and it can also lead to getting some good shots of a band on their way to stardom. Where are newspapers and magazines going to get photos of the hottest new bands? From you, that’s who.

Of the two, The Strange Death of Liberal England would be the better of the two bands, but the songs didn’t exactly leave me feeling like I just had to go out and buy their CD. They’re lacking something, and unfortunately I can’t put my finger on what exactly. What they do they do well, but I think they need to start sounding less like other bands and try to develop an identity of their own.

On the other hand, Cold Cave were quite frankly awful. Given the choice of shooting them again, I’d jump at the chance — but I’d be using a Smith and Wesson rather than a Sony A700. In the past, I’d always thought that whenever there were lots of people enjoying something I hated I was the one in the wrong; this time, I know there’s something seriously wrong with the locals…

Anyhow, on to the Editors. They were fantastic, put simply. Although their newer songs are lacking a bit of punch compared to what’s on The Back Room, they went down very well when played live. In addition, the band (and Tom Smith in particular) are very expressive and are a joy to shoot. They’re not usually on the tip of my tongue when listing bands I like, but I’d very much like to see them live again sometime soon.

As usual, more on Flickr!

What a night, and not for the best of reasons. If you don’t like moaning Scotsmen doing what they do best, just look at all the pretty pictures…

Was working yesterday on the normal 9:00am to 5:30pm yesterday, and unfortunately since I can’t drive yet my only means of getting to and from my job is to use buses. Buses which, thanks to Stagecoach being complete and utter morons, seem to come and go at the most inappropriate times. Seriously, who the hell thought it would be a good idea having a bus leave town at twenty-five past five when all the shops close at half past? Why force us to wait another thirty minutes for the next one? And why cut it to one bus an hour after half seven?

Sorry, you’re right, it’s a photoblog, I forgot. The long and short of it is that because of the way the bus times work, there was little point in me heading home; I’d just have to pack up and leave again as soon as I walked in the door to get to the Doll and The Kicks gig at Mad Hatters on time. The alternative is to wait at work (since there were people there to talk to until 8pm), head to the venue when they left, and then hang about in the pub downstairs for an hour or so before the gig, the route I opted to take.

It’s then I find out nothings happening until 9:30 which actually, would have given me enough time to head home for a nice meal and a shower. Hindsight’s a bitch, huh?

10:30 comes along and only now do the support act take to the stage, playing to a near empty room. Apparently, Little Buddha have just about enough pulling power to attract one super fan (to say he was a little bit weird would be in the same league as describing Katie Price is a “little bit annoying”) and a few stragglers from the bar down the stairs.I must admit, if I were to put it kindly I would say I’m not a fan of their music. I’m going to leave it at that.

I was, however, looking forward to DATK. I’d heard some of their tracks on their Myspace page before the gig to get a flavour of what to expect, and it was exactly the kind of music I like — a kind of indie/art-rock/pop hybrid that works very well for the likes of Franz Ferdinand, The Sounds and Deluka, for example. Thanks to all the delays before though, they only took to the stage at 11:15pm — precisely 10mins before the very last bus back home. Roughly, that works out at 2 1/2 songs and an embarrassingly sharpish exit…

Needless to say, I’m going to be investing in some driving lessons and a car very soon, and I’m most definitely going to be looking out for DATK for any other gigs in the area in future, a prospect that doesn’t look very likely due to the abysmal turnout that night. They’re a fantastic band and they deserve a better reception than they got last night.

More on Flickr as usual.

Hello kid’s, Happy New Year and all that. Back to the hard life of a gig photographer…

I’d never been in Mad Hatter’s before last night. In fact, I didn’t know where it was, despite me having lived in this area all my life — it’s only very recently I found out it was the second floor of Hootenanny’s in Inverness. The inaugural Rawk Night was held over a year ago at the Ironworks and although it wasn’t my first stab at live music photography, it was the first in a proper, purpose built venue. It was the night the bug was bitten.

Fast forward a little while and we have a change of venue, but the band’s are virtually identical with Stolen Order and Ketimine Deco taking to the rather small stage (The Xylophone Race are absent this time). Mad Hatter’s, as it turns out, isn’t a patch on the Ironworks for lighting and size but it certainly betters it for atmosphere.

Some fairly standard challenges to contend with here — and some weirder ones too. Because the stage was so small, microphone stands and cables were everywhere and it made it incredibly difficult to get good clutter-free shots. Worse were the speaker’s to the side and the lack of illumination on the periphery of the stage — unless someone was in the middle, they were not possible to photograph! Still, I managed with that.

Weirder was crowd members oohing and aahing at the photos as I quickly checked them between songs, or the young couple getting me to model their hat’s as I crouched in front of them. A good response mind you — I’d get pretty pissed off if I had some pillock running about in front of them while I’m trying to enjoy some music…

So, that’s the warm-up done. Keep your eyes peeled in February for the main act, coming soon to a web-browser near you, and while you’re waiting you can see the rest of the shots on Flickr

Well hello again, long time no see?

I’ve been neglecting my site recently, only visiting to get rid of some of the spam that’s been building up. Between the new job and Modern Warfare 2, I’ve been kept pretty busy. I did manage to sneak in one gig, and one which surprised me. Let me explain.

I’ve photographed The Xylophone Race once before — they were playing at the Ironworks in Inverness sharing the bill with a few other bands — and I couldn’t help but be very impressed. It’s very rare seeing such a young group playing the kind of funk/rock hybrid, and even rarer seeing it played was well as they do. So when they asked if I could shoot a few more shots for them at the Loft in Dingwall, I jumped at the chance.

What I didn’t realize is that Dingwall isn’t really like Inverness when it comes to gigs. Where I expected reasonably sized crowd, with varying lighting and the good ol’ photo pit, I found a room barely bigger than most people’s living rooms filled with beanbags and other soft furnishing in the loft space of a local shop… Oh, and by the way, did I say it was acoustic?

That threw me big-time, and I’m blaming that for the lack of decent shots that night. The lighting was simple to say the least which although made it easy to work with, it didn’t lend itself to good gig photography conditions, and with the small space it was very difficult to move, so I landed up holding my ground nearer the back so I could get access to my gear and not get in everyones way. Unfortunate, because I really enjoyed myself that night — whilst funk rock played acoustic doesn’t sound like a good idea on paper, The Xylophone Race pulled it off, and well.

This was the first ever gig at the Loft (Above the Greenhouse), but it certainly won’t be the last.

Update — Due to the quite frankly ridiculous amount of spam I seem to be receiving for this particular post, I’m closing the comments. Apologies for any inconvenience!