Goldfrapp
Goldfrapp was at her costumed best when I photographed her show at Brisbane venue The Tivoli. Her costume was used to its full effect too, movement deliberately created in her costume by having a small industrial fan pointed at her from the floor infront. It’s always nice for photographers when performers explore the details within their live performance, not just the music but the visuals too.
Although Goldfrapp poses well for the camera and is full of visual interest, her tendency to move towards and away from the crowd, fully utilising the depth of the stage she is on, makes it difficult to achieve reliable focus while she is on the move. The easiest way to counteract this under normal circumstances is to increase the aperture and therefore have more depth of focus, however this is a luxury not afforded in live music performance. It’s probably one of the most difficult obstacles to deal with in live music shooting, far more so than saturated red lights or dodgy microphone shadows. I found that a lot of my frames were slightly out of focus from this back and forth movement, and really the best way to deal with it is to try and try again.
Beth Incognito
Beth Incognito is one of my regular make-up artists and wanted some shots to document her new hair. It was an impromptu shoot but due to some good costuming choices, well tied in make-up, and the simple fact that Beth’s hair is awesome, we got some good shots.
For the shoot I had 3 flashes (gelled with different colours) pointed towards the camera (2 left 1 right) at differing heights to create some drama in the background. We had a fog machine shooting into the backdrop and I would take the frames when the smoke drifted in front of this set of lights. Front lighting was provided by one seriously overworked 580EXII flash bouncing into a Softlighter 60 (a very big umbrella).
Also in the gallery below are two photos of Beth’s newly decorated Fender. It’s pretty.
Go-Betweens Bridge Concert
The Go Between Bridge (Which I am calling the Go-Betweens Bridge as that is how it should be written) was opened on Friday the 25th of June in a manner most befitting of a bridge named after one of Queensland’s most famous musical entities.
Robert Forster of the Go-Betweens stole the show and was ably assisted by a line-up of the John Steel Singers, Bob Evans, Yves Klein Blue, Josh Pyke and Angus & Julia Stone.
There were a few logistical errors made on the night, which included photo pit being too small, which meant that the photographers were kicked out of the Yves Klein Blue set early as crowd members needed to escape through the pit to escape crowd crush. The lack of easy access from the pit area to any form of food and water was also a significant problem. Given that the location was a bridge it did compact the crowd which added to those issues.
The lighting however was a real highlight (no pun intended), with nice bright spots illuminating the lead of each act, backed up by multicoloured background lights shooting through a decent supply of fog. This is how I think lighting should be done. Colour washes are all well and good but only when the mood of the song is amplified by the lighting, not for the hell of it.
Staging a music concert on a bridge could have been a great opportunity to do something really unique, however I feel that was probably diminished as the location felt closed in. I also think the risks associated with having a huge crowd on a bridge probably influenced the layout of the event significantly also, with the sides of the bridge having large fencing and patrols.
Overall, the music was great, the lighting was quality, but unfortunately the event failed to capitalise on its location fully.
Youngcare Benefit Concert 2010
Bernard Fanning (joined by Clare Bowditch) continues his great support of the Youngcare charity organisation by curating a lineup featuring a who’s who of Australian Music. Throughout the night, which was hosted aptly by Julian Morrow of TV show ‘The Chaser’, various mystery guests were unveiled.
Being the cheeky person I am, I noticed that all the microphones were labeled, and worked out early on that two of the four mystery guests would be Tim Rogers and Missy Higgins. Not bad at all. Later the crowd would experience some great circus performer with juggler Joel Salem, before the crowd were treated to the full lineup of Bernard Fanning’s band ‘Powderfinger’.
The light was all pretty good as there was a video camera team that it had obviously been set up for. Most of the lighting had a strong fill that was fairly colour neutral with multiple back lights.
Bacardi Express 2010
Bacardi (Rum) sure know how to throw a party, putting together a great lineup with La Roux, Art Vs Science, Yves Klein Blue, Miami Horror and Cassette Kids tearing up the Tivoli.
The bands were all solid, with Cassette Kids being quite impressive to someone who hadn’t seen them before, and Yves Klein Blue keep getting better every time I see them. Infact I’ll probably be saying that the next 17 times I see them too, their stage prescense and ability to inject energy into their show has come a long way and they now put on one of Brisbane’s best shows.
The light was fantastic with some nice fill light being complimented by LED backdrops and spots installed for the event. La Roux had some interesting light, and was a bit more of a challenge, with the whole stage being fogged out with saturated colour washes over the top. To battle this I switched lenses to the 70-200 2.8 IS USM which I have found has a better ability to cut through fog and take images with clarity in tough conditions.
Promoters should also take note of the way Bacardi, although obviously financially well off, treated the photographers. Although shooting rules were standard we were given 2 drinks on the house and I made my way from the venue with a free inflatable penguin in tow. Who doesn’t want a free inflatable penguin?
RocKwiz
Shooting a well known music based TV quiz show was a change of pace, while still a familiar task in photographing the two secret guests performing their most well known songs.
The light was solid, with some nice fill from the front and plenty of lights shooting in various directions in the background. Due to having to shoot from the sides of the theatre I couldn’t catch this backing light in the close up shots too often, but in the wider shots they definitely help to create the picture.
Adalita from Magic Dirt was the first guest, performing ‘Dirty Jeans’, the second guest was John Paul Young who performed ‘Love Is In The Air’.
The Mars Volta
Shooting Mars Volta at the Tivoli would usually be a great night. Unfortunately we weren’t given much to work with. One song, and as I made my way to a position slightly right of the lead mic, I was tapped on the shoulder and told to get behind the easily missed pink tape that had been stuck to either side of the photo pit. Essentially meaning we were now shooting side and front of stage, rather than making any use of the pit.
I took a peek at the set list to see if the news would get any better. Inertiatic ESP, not a bad song if you can only shoot one. The sound was energetic and powerful, but sadly the movement and presence was not. The Mars Volta are a band known for their wild stage antics, unfortunately there were none for the camera in what was a very tame performance of a great song.
Sunset Sounds 2010 – Day 2
I had been looking forward to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs since as long as I knew I would be shooting Sunset Sounds, them and Editors of course. Neither act disappointed and both retain their place as personal favorites both in album and live.
Karen O did not take long to demonstrate to the crowd (one of the thickest crowds I’ve ever seen in the Riverstage, possibly only followed by the epic Muse performance in 2007) why she is one of the most badass front-women in rock. She moved about the stage with reckless abandon, crying out with a satanic rock tongue. In her quiet songs the devil tonsils subsided to reveal an angelic voice. Perhaps strepsils could jump on this for an advertising campaign?
Vocals aside Karen O and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are fantastic to shoot, there is no shortage of energy, colour and drama. I was also blessed on the day with seeing one of my favorite bands Editors. To be frank I was so absorbed with the photographic process I don’t recall many details about the first 3 songs played, however once out of the pit I quickly joined the crowd to watch the rest of what was an incredibly impressive performance. Favorites such as The Racing Rats, Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors, Bullets and Munich were performed with a power and clarity that was absorbing.
Front-man Tom Smith I found quite interesting. While watching and photographing him perform I very quickly got the feeling that his movement on stage reminded me of autism, and in some instances, echolalia. I thought this was somewhat odd of me until discussions with another photographer revealed they thought the exact same thing. There is autism in my family so it is something I am close to and very familiar with.
Other performances I photographed on the day included a stellar performance from The Temper Trap, Hungry Kids Of Hungary, and the incredibly fun King Khan & The Shrines.
Sunset Sounds 2010 – Day 1
Sunset Sounds day 1 was headlined by Moby, who took me by great surprise with his energy and level of performance. I was expecting to see a nerdy looking bald guy, chilled out, and mixing tracks with some laptops. What I got was a Moby who played primarily as a lead guitarist, full of aggression and determined to put on a memorable performance for the massive crowd at the Brisbane Riverstage.
Although Moby sings himself in a few tracks and definitely adds to the banter with the crowd, he allows others to do the vocal heavy lifting. It works incredibly well live and allows him to focus on keeping up energy levels and ensuring the spectacle is visual and audible.
Throughout the day I was also lucky enough to photograph lots of other talented bands; Dappled Cities, Datarock (always great to photograph), Emiliana Torrini, Kaki King, Hilltop Hoods and Seasick Steve. Kaki King in particular created one of my favorite images of the day, giving her best impression of a New Yorker being encouraged to dance. Beyond impressions you have likely heard that she is an incredibly talented guitarist (Dave Grohl believes her the best right now in-fact) and that would be correct. Jump on youtube and check it out.
