The huge amount of general busyment I've had to contend with over the past few months has meant I haven't had time to keep this thing updated at all.Hopefully I'll be able to remedy the situation once the festival season's over, but in the meantime I will still keep my website and flickr page up to speed with my latest work.
While I'm here, I may as well point out some of the highlights since my last update:
ATP - Weekend One, curated by the Dirty Three
It was my first ever ATP, which I photographed this for DrownedinSound.com (read the write-up here).
ATP festivals are great! If you've never been to one, I strongly recommend it. Held in a Butlins holiday camp, the atmosphere is incredibly relaxed, and the stages are excellent. Plus, staying in a chalet certainly beats sailing a tent down a waterlogged hillside anyday.
ATP - Weekend Two, versus the fansAbout a fortnight later and I'm back in Minehead (again, for DrownedinSound.com, read the write-up here) for my second bout of ATP goodness. This time the line-up is part chosen by the bands, and part voted for by the fans.
The line-up was immense, and the atmosphere no less relaxed. Even the chips from the chippy seemed better this weekend!
Somewhere in between all this I also shot 65daysofstatic at The Plug, with Josh T Pearson and Rolo Tomassi (who I really, really enjoyed) in support. As per usual, 65dos were buggars to shoot, but one shot must've struck a chord, as they've nicked it for their myspace, no less (I'll get back on the subject of thieving Sheffield musicians later).
Download Festival - Donington ParkThis was the big one I've wanted to have the opportunity to shoot since starting out in this music photography malarkey. After receiving news that my pass was confirmed, I was very excited indeed.
Just one look at the line-up, and anyone who knows me would understand my excitement: Megadeth, Dimmu Borgir, Dream Theater, Turisas, Korn, Dragonforce, Lamb of God, Machine Head, Napalm Death, Porcupine Tree, Priestess, Maiden (of course) and Slayer!!!!
DrownedinSound.com were again furnished with pictures after the event to accompany a write-up by someone who would rather stay in their hotel bed watching Hollyoaks than see any of the above leviathons. I camped. How good am I?
Hove Festival - Arendal, NorwayNorway is amazing. Pretty much everyone I met there is friendly and good looking. Returning home was like being slapped repeatedly across the face with the kipper of reality, even though it chucked it down solidly for most of the entire week.
The line-up was a mixed bag, but a good one nonetheless. What other festival do you know with Slayer, Mastodon, Gojira and Amy Winehouse (definitely not a typo, I assure you) on the rosta?
Even though alcohol is hideously expensive over there, those of us residing in the DrownedinSound house (yes, we had a house!) consumed more than our fair share, unperturbed. I especially ended up a little worse for wear after an encounter with a litre of Jager of the first night. Never again, never again.
Non-music highlights of the weekend include rushing into the moshpit after photographing Slayer, to be greeted with a friendly headbutt from an over-zzealous Norwegian metalhead, talking about gout, the free gruel, and 'Party with beer' on the TV. Surely, a classic in the making.
For the musical highlights, you're probably better off reading the full DrownedinSound account of the week, as I fear I wouldn't really do it justice not being a wordsmith or anything.
Phew. well how do you follow that? I'll tell you how I followed it, with a few gigs here and there, getting stuck in Nottingham for an evening and then a few more gigs.
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club performing at the Leadmill in Sheffield was one of these gigs. I can't say they managed to bowl me over musically, but I did take some cracking pics (well, I'm happy with them!). Looky hereThat's pretty much all for now. :-)
