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.
Q150 Proclamation Day Concert
What better way to celebrate 150 years of Queensland being a state than to hold a concert curated by Queensland’s most famous band of recent times, Powderfinger. For a mere $25 dollars the concert became one of the best buys of the season, allowing punters to view not only Powderfinger in full flight but also The Cairos, The Middle East, Yves Klein Blue, and even more excitingly, a once only reformation of the revered Brisbane band Custard. As if that weren’t enough concert goers were also treated to a copy of Powderfinger’s new album, which would cost $25 in any shop anyway.
As a fan of Custard’s upfront and often witty rock I was there to see them, and they delivered busting out plenty of crowd pleasers including the classic ‘Apartment’. The band didn’t miss a beat, frontman Dave McCormack exchanging banter with other band members like they had been playing together every day for the last 10 years. One musically uneducated older crowd member (clearly there for Powderfinger) quipped that the band must think they are Nirvana! Not a comparison I have ever heard before or since, but amusing none the less.
Part of me as a music photographer looked forward to seeing Powderfinger as I had noticed some elaborate lighting equipment set up on the outskirts of the stage for the special show. Bernard Fanning is also a very charismatic front man, which certainly makes a night of shooting go by a bit easier.
The light itself was fantastic with strong washes of colour pigmenting lucious smoke with good fill light provided by strong lights up front. Personally I think this is the best way to light concerts as the backdrop provides colour and a visual interest that compliments performance, where as the fill light fills the features of the performer, allows for a higher shutter speed to freeze action, and prevents any background colour washes from contaminating the performer’s too heavily, which may result in some pretty ugly combinations.
