Rudimental @ NCS concert, Gorilla, Manchester My favourite shot of current drum and bass chart-hoggers Rudimental from today’s NCS (National Citizen Service) gig in Manchester. The other acts were The 1975, Clean Bandit and Goldierocks. NCS provides a unique opportunity for teenagers around England. Visit NCSYes.co.uk for more info.
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Rudimental @ NCS concert, Gorilla, Manchester

My favourite shot of current drum and bass chart-hoggers Rudimental from today’s NCS (National Citizen Service) gig in Manchester. The other acts were The 1975, Clean Bandit and Goldierocks.

NCS provides a unique opportunity for teenagers around England. Visit NCSYes.co.uk for more info.

The Script @ Capital FM Arena, Nottingham The Voice UK is back on telly tonight. Here’s a shot of judge/mentor Danny O’Donaghue doing his day job at the Capital FM Arena a couple of weeks back. Shortly after this he came down to sing to the front rows and at one point put his glittering, stardust-flecked hand on my humble, tired shoulder. I will never wash that jacket again. I’ve never washed it before, to be fair.
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The Script @ Capital FM Arena, Nottingham

The Voice UK is back on telly tonight. Here’s a shot of judge/mentor Danny O’Donaghue doing his day job at the Capital FM Arena a couple of weeks back. Shortly after this he came down to sing to the front rows and at one point put his glittering, stardust-flecked hand on my humble, tired shoulder. I will never wash that jacket again. I’ve never washed it before, to be fair.

Olly Murs @ Capital FM Arena, Nottingham Haven’t shot enough live music recently, so it was nice to get back into it with something glitzy like this tour show at the Capital FM Arena.
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Olly Murs @ Capital FM Arena, Nottingham

Haven’t shot enough live music recently, so it was nice to get back into it with something glitzy like this tour show at the Capital FM Arena.

Kagoule - shot for LeftLion magazine in Nottingham I’ve passed this derelict clothing place every time I’ve gone into Nottingham on the bus and always wanted to shoot a band in front of it. When LeftLion gave me a band whose name is an item of clothing and who didn’t want to be posed (just wanted to hang out somewhere kind of grimy), I realised this was my chance. Only problem was - it’s a busy road and people were just leaving town after the Christmas lights switch-on. I had to shoot from the other side of the road, with intrepid assistant Dave Parry keeping an eye on the cars/buses and jumping out with lighting gear every time we got a break in traffic. It was also very, very cold - but that’s par for the course. Big thanks to Dave for the help with this one. Go see his own photography at www.davidparryimaging.com Kagoule are @Kagoule on Twitter and they’re also on Facebook here.
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Kagoule - shot for LeftLion magazine in Nottingham

I’ve passed this derelict clothing place every time I’ve gone into Nottingham on the bus and always wanted to shoot a band in front of it. When LeftLion gave me a band whose name is an item of clothing and who didn’t want to be posed (just wanted to hang out somewhere kind of grimy), I realised this was my chance. Only problem was - it’s a busy road and people were just leaving town after the Christmas lights switch-on. I had to shoot from the other side of the road, with intrepid assistant Dave Parry keeping an eye on the cars/buses and jumping out with lighting gear every time we got a break in traffic. It was also very, very cold - but that’s par for the course.

Big thanks to Dave for the help with this one. Go see his own photography at www.davidparryimaging.com

Kagoule are @Kagoule on Twitter and they’re also on Facebook here.

Akarusa Yami - promo shot A shot from a recent promo shoot for Nottingham-based industrial metal band Akarusa Yami. The band were after something simple and clean - and had a pretty clear idea of how they wanted to set this up. It’s rare I shoot in studios - I tend to shoot bands on location - so the controlled environment made a nice change.  You can hear the band on their Soundcloud page.
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Akarusa Yami - promo shot

A shot from a recent promo shoot for Nottingham-based industrial metal band Akarusa Yami. The band were after something simple and clean - and had a pretty clear idea of how they wanted to set this up. It’s rare I shoot in studios - I tend to shoot bands on location - so the controlled environment made a nice change. 

You can hear the band on their Soundcloud page.

Mastodon @ Leeds Festival 2012 I will do a full post about Leeds Festival at some point, but for now here’s a ‘Tumblr exclusive’ shot of Troy Sanders from Mastodon (aka The Greatest Heavy Metal Band On The Planet) tearing up the NME/Radio 1 stage on Sunday. 
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Mastodon @ Leeds Festival 2012

I will do a full post about Leeds Festival at some point, but for now here’s a ‘Tumblr exclusive’ shot of Troy Sanders from Mastodon (aka The Greatest Heavy Metal Band On The Planet) tearing up the NME/Radio 1 stage on Sunday. 

REFUSED at DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL 2012: fanboy photograph Proper Download blog post coming soon, but for now here’s a fanboy shot I took from way back in the crowd of reformed Swedish hardcore legends Refused being absolutely, mind-blowingly immense. (I wasn’t shooting them for Rock Sound, I just went to watch.) Refused, Soundgarden, Metallica, Lamb Of God… I saw some unbelievably good bands this weekend. See www.rocksound.tv for mine and Carla Mundy’s photo galleries.
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REFUSED at DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL 2012: fanboy photograph

Proper Download blog post coming soon, but for now here’s a fanboy shot I took from way back in the crowd of reformed Swedish hardcore legends Refused being absolutely, mind-blowingly immense. (I wasn’t shooting them for Rock Sound, I just went to watch.) Refused, Soundgarden, Metallica, Lamb Of God… I saw some unbelievably good bands this weekend. See www.rocksound.tv for mine and Carla Mundy’s photo galleries.

TRASH TALK at DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL 2011: shot for Rock Sound I’m off to Download Festival once more tomorrow - again shooting for Rock Sound. Looks like being very wet, very windy, very muddy and quite a challenge - especially as I’m shooting the main stage, so will be exposed to the elements for every band. But, as a photographer and rock music fan, the fact that I will get to take photos of Black Sabbath, Metallica, Soundgarden and the like is pretty bloody exciting. Stupidly so, actually. I’m not sure that huge photo/safety pit for the main stage will yield anything like this up-close shot from one of the tents last year though. It’s Lee Spielman from Trash Talk passing some Handy Andies to a girl on the front row who’d been damaged by his relentless interaction with his crowd. If you’ve ever seen the insanity of a Trash Talk gig, you’ll know what I mean. Nice to see he cares though. Okay… Download 2012. Waterproofs, boots, camera rainsleeves and indeed Handy Andies packed. Wish. Me. Luck.
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TRASH TALK at DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL 2011: shot for Rock Sound

I’m off to Download Festival once more tomorrow - again shooting for Rock Sound. Looks like being very wet, very windy, very muddy and quite a challenge - especially as I’m shooting the main stage, so will be exposed to the elements for every band. But, as a photographer and rock music fan, the fact that I will get to take photos of Black Sabbath, Metallica, Soundgarden and the like is pretty bloody exciting. Stupidly so, actually.

I’m not sure that huge photo/safety pit for the main stage will yield anything like this up-close shot from one of the tents last year though. It’s Lee Spielman from Trash Talk passing some Handy Andies to a girl on the front row who’d been damaged by his relentless interaction with his crowd. If you’ve ever seen the insanity of a Trash Talk gig, you’ll know what I mean. Nice to see he cares though.

Okay… Download 2012. Waterproofs, boots, camera rainsleeves and indeed Handy Andies packed. Wish. Me. Luck.

CRAZY ARM at HIT THE DECK FESTIVAL, NOTTINGHAM: personal shot. Yesterday I shot Hit The Deck festival in Nottingham for Rock Sound. Devon-based rootsy punk crew Crazy Arm were not on my shot list, but RS writers Amy Bangs and Pete Withers enthused about them so I went for a look. I could only stick around for a few songs but it was probably the best thing I saw all day - gutsy, melodic songwriting with a bit of Thin Lizzy harmony guitar action thrown in and a full-pelt live delivery. A total surprise to be honest, and I’ll be checking out more of their stuff. Worth taking a photo of too… 
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CRAZY ARM at HIT THE DECK FESTIVAL, NOTTINGHAM: personal shot.

Yesterday I shot Hit The Deck festival in Nottingham for Rock Sound. Devon-based rootsy punk crew Crazy Arm were not on my shot list, but RS writers Amy Bangs and Pete Withers enthused about them so I went for a look. I could only stick around for a few songs but it was probably the best thing I saw all day - gutsy, melodic songwriting with a bit of Thin Lizzy harmony guitar action thrown in and a full-pelt live delivery. A total surprise to be honest, and I’ll be checking out more of their stuff. Worth taking a photo of too… 

DRY THE RIVER at Rescue Rooms, Nottingham: shot for the band. I had a great time last night hanging out with Dry The River at the Rescue Rooms. There was champagne. And beer. And Quality Street (sort of). There was a LOT of Michael Jackson (on an iPod, not in person, obviously). There was the promise of Genesis, Rush and Whitesnake in a DJ set (which I had to bloody well miss because of work commitments this morning). On top of all this, there was a great gig - Dry The River have just arrived back from a huge US support tour and their live show is amazing - a much grungier take on the alt-folk sound of the last few years. They have impressive vocal harmonies but they’re not afraid to hit the gas too - as you can probably tell from the photo. Intrigued? Go check them out. I’m going to try and catch them again in London on May 2.
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DRY THE RIVER at Rescue Rooms, Nottingham: shot for the band.

I had a great time last night hanging out with Dry The River at the Rescue Rooms. There was champagne. And beer. And Quality Street (sort of). There was a LOT of Michael Jackson (on an iPod, not in person, obviously). There was the promise of Genesis, Rush and Whitesnake in a DJ set (which I had to bloody well miss because of work commitments this morning). On top of all this, there was a great gig - Dry The River have just arrived back from a huge US support tour and their live show is amazing - a much grungier take on the alt-folk sound of the last few years. They have impressive vocal harmonies but they’re not afraid to hit the gas too - as you can probably tell from the photo. Intrigued? Go check them out. I’m going to try and catch them again in London on May 2.