some words to go with the pics

2012-01-29T11:18:00.001-08:00

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2012-01-03T15:12:00.001-08:00

happy new year.

i promise these entries will be updated v soon! :)

2011-12-15T13:17:00.001-08:00

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cant // blood orange

2011-11-20T09:56:00.001-08:00

cant is a band i didn't know much about before going to see, apart from it's chris taylor from grizzly bear's new project. and also i'd only seen the support act blood orange's dev hynes in one of his previous guises also (lightspeed champion) and i also knew nothing of his new stuff. this ended more like a double-headliner show and i loved both bands pretty much in equal proportions. dev was a surprise, in that he started on stage but then meandered into the audience, never seemingly stand in one place for long, happier it seems with his back to everyone.

more shots from the gig here. and a review (in dutch, so not by me! ;) here.

x

i like trains + stalking horse in amsterdam

2011-11-08T12:48:00.001-08:00

soon after getting back to amsterdam, it was fun to welcome my good friends i like trains back to the netherlands (at the end of october). these guys are my most frequent visitors from leeds and this would be my third time seeing them playing over here since i moved (the first gig being only a few days after i got here).

still having airwaves and reykjavik pretty much engrained in my bones (it has that effect on you), i started to think whilst watching 'the trains' that they have to play iceland airwaves. it simply must happen one day. in 2012 would be amazing. here's hoping! and for now, here's a few shots from the gig (more here). there is also one photo of a new band, also from leeds - stalking horse - who i'd never seen before (in this guise - i know all the guys in the band from their other bands' guises, if that makes sense...) and i can't wait till i get to see them again on these shores (or elsewhere, maybe also in reykjavik!) .

more shots of stalking horse here

airwaves: highlights

2011-11-02T16:16:00.003-07:00

so, here are some of my favourite acts from iceland airwaves. in the end, i opted to use video-accompaniment with this blog entry, mainly with visuals of some of the country's amazing landscape. one person not featured in this summary, who i would have included if i could find a video, is guðrið hansdóttir from the faroe islands (so instead, why not check out some great shots of her by dennis stempher, a fellow music photographer who had also made the journey to iceland from the netherlands, from the first day of the festival here).

sin fang

since getting back from reykjavik, i'd say sin fang's album summer echoes has been the one i've played most. i first saw sindri már sigfússon perform in leeds a few years back with his other band seabear and to be honest i wasn't quite grabbed by the show - not sure why, maybe it was my mood? or the fact that sindri *really* didn't look like he was having a good time. i saw him perform a couple of times at airwaves and i now think i get it. that's just the way it is. i really enjoyed his shows this time, particularly the one at hressa when i was down the front snapping. am already looking forward to when sin fang heads to amsterdam for his next gig, which this time is not allowed to clash with any other gig that night (last time he played, beirut was also in town that night)!

Sin Fang - Because Of The Blood from Máni M. Sigfússon on Vimeo.

snorri helgason

next up, snorri helgason whom i discovered unexpectedly in one of the most quirky off-venue venues (a men's clothes shop). i'd actually turned up to see borko who i thought would be playing on the store's tiny little stage surrounded by paraphenalia such as a reindeer (?) head, a shoe-shining machine, an old record player (which was used to play the between-sets background music, a nice touch that was noticed by this vinyl loving gal!) and a picture of john f. kennedy (which made me wonder, do icelanders have a similar obsession leftover from the '60s that the irish do - in many family homes in the west of ireland, a photo of jfk still sits on the mantlepiece; this link is not the only thing that both countries have in common, as the icelandic scenery is not so unlike that of county mayo, albeit with added extras such as larva and volcanoes). anyway, so snorri's album winter sun has also been played a lot recently on my stereo (aka computer) and i particularly love this video (another one from the studio of máni m. sigfússon).

Snorri Helgason - River from Snorri Helgason on Vimeo.

patrick watson

ok, so this one is cheating a bit as really i only wanted to get the video in this round-up. sadly i didn't get to see patrick playing any (rumoured or real?) sets at airwaves but i did see him playing with esmerine (a band which is made up of members of both godspeed you! black emperor and thee silver mt. zion) at harpa on the saturday night and i was wowed by (i) the most amazing instrument set-up (cello, marimba, a zylopone or two and a harp) and (ii) the song the canadian musicians played for their friend, the late lhasa de sela.

Patrick Watson - Fireweed from Patrick Watson on Youtube.

olafur arnalds

and last, but not least, olafur arnalds. he was the reason for my being at airwaves this year at all, after i saw him play an inspirational and intimate show at a festival in nijmegen a few months back (to 50 people in a 500-year-old house, see blog post here and one or two more photos here). at airwaves, i was lucky enough to catch his off-off-venue solo piano show at the city hall and could hear just some snippets of the start of his nordic house show, but it was not till his saturday night performance at harpa that i got to witness the full effect of his piano, orchestral and electronic arrangements and all i can say is, wow! (the show did seem crazily short, but at least it did leave me wanting more!) i can't wait till he next tours this way (maybe be as part of the holland festival? now that would be rather something). oh, and i couldn't find a video of olafur's music with any scenic shots, but this one does have a view out of the window of his reykjavik apartment. i think that counts. :)

Olafur Arnalds - Near Light (one of the Living Room Songs)
from Ólafur Arnalds on Youtube.

for a really good summary of a number of the bands mentioned on this post, go see chromewaves' thoughts on airwaves here. i really love the way he summarises olafur's show at harpa in particular ('...in every gentle piano note, every wavering bowed string, every stuttering electronic beat – even in the projected animated bird mobiles and flickering strobe lights'...).

iceland airwaves 2011

2011-10-23T00:36:00.001-07:00

for one week in october, i lived a dream. ok, maybe that's a bit extreme - but i have wanted to go to iceland airwaves for years and, to be honest, i couldn't believe that finally i was there! for one week, i lived in reykjavik at kex hostel and i immersed myself in all things icelandic. and it has to be said, it has had an effect on me. it seems that i was totally spellbound and, just like pretty much like everyone else who had just had their first trip to the city/country, i definitely hope to be back.

and i really do think it is true - airwaves may just be the best festival i've been to, ever! so much amazingly great music around every corner, in pretty much every nook and cranny. the off-venue gigs are almost worth being in reykjavik for even without an airwaves ticket. our hostel was one of those off-venues and it had gigs all afternoon which - for the first three days - were simultaneously being broadcast via kexp.org radio in seattle (a great station which i've been listening to since getting back, and you can check out their airwaves shows on their blog). pictured below is johan johansson playing at kex on day #2:

other off-venues included: a fair few other hostels; a tent behind the back of a restaurant (hressa) - particularly enjoyable there was the morr music afternoon showcase with borko, soley and sin fang (who by the way had the most impressive homemade guitar pedals made out of tin cans!); a rather classy menswear shop (kormakur og skjoldur) beneath a supermarket where i was most pleased to catch snorri helgason and saw a fun set by retro stefson; and even a jewellery shop for a proper diy show by porquesi, with only the band in the shop and everyone watching on the street in the rain (not that i really noticed the rain).

all of these bands are icelandic and none of them i'd seen before in their current guises - but many of i would see again over the course of the festival, if not the bands themselves then members of these bands in other bands! a special mention here goes to maggi magnús magnusson, who i saw playing four times in the course of one day with borko, sin fang and mr silla - although actually he'd played six times that day - and over the course of the entire festival, he'd have played 16 times! (or maybe that count even got higher in the end??)... he can be spied in the gallery below playing at the end day #2.

so yes, a lot of the band members seem to swop around. and everyone in reykjavik seems to be in a band (or maybe it just feels like that around airwaves time). and by far the best quote i overheard was from a festival goer chatting to a girl of around 10 years old outside reykjavik backpackers hostel after sing for me sandra had just finished: "so... are you in a band yet?"!

after the end of my first day, i'd seen pretty much 90% icelandic bands, although by the end i had get to see a fair few non-icelandic bands too and there were plenty more i didn't get to see. out of the official venues, i got to most of the big ones (including harpa, the art museum and nasa, where orphicoxtra - pictured above - was snapped), and actually i think my favourite might have been iðnó, maybe because for at least three of the nights we ended hanging out in the upstairs bar, and on one of the nights pretty much all the bands i'd seen that day were in the same room - with members from sin fang, soley and kira kira plus dustin o'halloran and haushka - even one member of sigur ros too. rock and roll tastic. and everyone was happily hanging out with each other and they weren't getting bothered by fans ('cept for one person, i.e. me, who couldn't help chatting to the aforementioned drummer!).

anyway, i think that is quite enough babbling and now here are some photos of the bands i saw (full list is given at the bottom of this post, although i didn't take photos of all these, not least cos my camera gave up the ghost after three days... who forgot to pack her battery re-charger? hmm.)

so that's me (on the left in harpa) signing off for now. maybe i'll be back with a second round of mumblings and meanderings soon. for now, i'll just say to click on this link for my full iceland airwaves set with a random selection of photos and click on the links below (to be added soon) for the individual sets.

x

...
// a to z (actually b to u) of band shots:

...
// icelandic bands seen:
agent fresco
berndsen
borko
for a minor reflection
helgi jonsson
johann johannsson
kippi kaninus
kira kira
lara runars
lockerbie
mammutmr silla
of monsters and men
olafur arnalds (x2)
orphicoxtra
porquesi (x3)
retro stefson
samaris sin fang (x2)
sing for me sandra
snorri helgason
soley
sudden weather change
who knew utidur

// non-icelandic bands seen:
de staat
dustin o'halloran
esmerine
gudrid hansdottir
haushka
jenny hval
mazes
other lives
owen pallett
oy
puzzle muteson
sykur
ter haar
team me
treefight for sunlight

and loads more i didn't get to see. maybe next year?!

....

little scream // john vanderslice

2011-10-09T12:42:00.001-07:00

one week ago today, marianne faithful was in town. she played paradiso, amsterdam. upstairs in the same venue, i went to another show. in the kleine zaal (little room), little scream and john vanderslice played to less than 50 people (the total of both gigs, not separately). this is a crying shame. i didn't think that could happen in a city like amsterdam - but i guess sunday night gigs are sunday night gigs the world over and it is one of those nights of the week when it is hard to get punters along. i dunno. but those of us who were there were treated to a fantastic evening, albeit with things slightly delayed (little scream could only soundcheck during marianne faithful's noiser songs!).

little scream
when i was about 14, i had a penchant for little screams. i'd come home from school and go into the kitchen, stand by the sink and scream. laurel sprengelmeyer (aka little scream) sure knows how to scream in one of the songs - in a very lyrical way of course. and she reminds me of someone - not in her looks or the way she sings, more in her stance/dance i think? i wasn't sure who, but then i thought maybe it was jesse stein (from the luyas) but now i'm not sure...

john vanderslice
when i saw john vanderslice play two years ago in leeds, twice in the same week i had two separate people tell me he was the loveliest person ever. and it is true. at the amsterdam show, there were some folks who'd been at the berlin show earlier in this tour and he remembered their names and whilst chatting with them merrily after the gig, he said if they were ever in california sometime, to let him know and he'd happily be a personal tour guide. and i was also extended this invite! this was after we had discussed somewhere else in california (carmel-by-the-sea) that he wouldn't actually personally recommend (too pricey). anyway, so yes the gig was wonderful. although not at all as atmospheric as the berlin gig apparently due to the smaller crowd i guess. we still did get the acoustic walkabout bit that JV is well-known for now. smiles all round! :)

x

takeroot festival 2011

2011-09-22T10:59:00.000-07:00

takeroot festival is one of the reason's i'm living in amsterdam. well, if it wasn't for cerys matthews (bbc6music dj) who played musee mechanique sometime last summer, i might not be here. you see, that started the ball rolling: i checked out online the band online and discovered they were playing last year's takeroot fest (also playing: damien jurado, iron&wine, phosphorescent, caitlin rose, wilco, etc.); so, i bought a ticket to the festival and booked a flight to the netherlands, then at the same time i managed to wangle a job interview whilst i was in amsterdam (en route to groningen) and then (after the festival) i got the job! and the rest is history...

so, yes, this year was my second time at the americana-fest that is takeroot. toes were tapped, banjos were counted, beards were compared (josh t. pearson has the longest, but on the whole, the beard count was surprisingly low), and of course moments were captured. i was at the fest with the very good folks of belmont bookings and you can find some of my shots featured in the galleries on their blog here and also a random jumbled-up selection is outlined below (linked to the full sets on my flickr). hope you enjoy!

man man
my first band of the day. can't remember much about them, 'cept they were a bit bonkers. and colourful and i loved their confetti (there were smiles all round once the crowd realised what was happening!).

matthew and the atlas
young matthew and his atlas were perhaps my only british band of the day? i dunno. i enjoyed their set but only could stay for a couple of songs....

the war on drugs
...before running into the large room for a few tunes from the war on drugs.

josh t. pearson
...and then running out to get a good seat for the next band. last year, the oh-my-gosh moment came from when i saw damien jurado in the seated auditorium. this year it was josh t. pearson. such a quiet attentive audience once again, even though the in-between song jokes were not so worthwhile being attentive too. ;)

the tallest man on earth
i was excited to see ttmoe again after having been blown away by his amsterdam gig earlier this summer. it started off well, but not sure in the end whether it topped the previous gig. still ace though, particularly the newly-wedded duet!

megafaun
my highlight of the day was most definitely megafaun! smiles and harmonies and a band looking like they were having one helluva time. what else would you want? an acoustic encore with audience participation and hand-clapping? check. how about some post-show bigging up of the brilliant brudenell (where the band had played the week before)? check. and a few hugs to end the day under the magnificent full moon maybe? check!

smiles all around and the end of another great takeroot. see you in groningen next year!

x

double dutch dose of chad vangaalen

2011-08-06T07:35:00.000-07:00

in amsterdam this week, we were treated to not one but two chances to soak ourselves in the tunes of the wonderful artist and dreamer chad vangaalen.

i had been looking forward to his show that would mark the start of this european tour ever since my friend nathan back in leeds began raving about chad's new album diaper island. and imagine my delight when i discovered that, in addition to that date, chad would be exhibiting artwork and animations in the andenken gallery here in town and would be playing a solo acoustic show to boot at the exhibition launch. so thanks to this, i also discovered about a wonderfully ace gallery and anyone in amsterdam should check out the exhibition which runs till 21st august.

chad is pictured in a couple of shots above with hyland, the gallery owner, having his first perusal of the 'zine that was put together of his artwork for the exhibition.

after wandering around the exhibition, it was time for some tunes on the 'stage' with its interesting backdrop and secret door!

and the very next night it was chad's gig at bitterzoet. a far cry from the light and airy acoustic exhibition setting, the gig was dark, sweaty and rock-out guitary. just walking into the gig i chatted with someone who'd been there the night before and i was saying how i pretty much knew already which one of the two gigs i would enjoy most. but how wrong i was! i really loved the electric chad too. and still i can't decide which was my fave.

x

olafur arnalds

2011-07-19T13:12:00.001-07:00

on sunday, i was lucky enough to be one of the 50 people that got into the intimate and magical show in a 500+ year old house on a sunday afternoon in nijmegen with the magnificent olafur arnalds, during his time as artist-in-residence at festival de affaire. it was his second ever solo show (the first being at midnight the evening before) and there was improvisation and audience participation and some bits that maybe didn't work (i didn't hear them) and lots of bits that definitely did. and it was pretty fantastic it has to be said. it was the first time i'd seen olafur in the flesh and - in a way - i'm kinda pleased it was this completely stripped down affair for my first live interactions. yes, i look forward to seeing a big (not too big ideally) show with the strings by his side soon enough but hopefully more solo stuff too. i wasn't sure if i'd have preferred to be at the spooky midnight show instead but i'm happy now that i was there on the sunny sunday, with the light streaming in the window behind giving the few shots i took a ethereal quality. perfectly wonderful it was.

more shots from festival de affair in nijmegen in my full flickr set - was very pleased to get to see the black atlantic, james vincent mcmorrow and pien feith as well - all were ace too!

UPDATE: can't wait to see olafur again - next time in reyjkavik at the iceland airwaves festival. it's now booked!

tv on the radio

2011-07-05T14:04:00.000-07:00

@ paradiso, 4 july 2011

i first saw tv on the radio at the end of their set from the back of a tent on an early sunday evening (as i recall) at leeds festival a few years back. and that got me hooked. next, i was borrowing my housemate's (or soon to be housemate anyway - thanks whiskas!) album and spinning the vinyl. i got to see them again last night for my first full gig experience... and to think i almost wimped out and didn't even go to the gig due to monday night tiredness. but with some self-determination and friendly encouragement (thanks again whiskas!) i didn't miss out.

and what i experienced was my favourite gig at paradiso yet (topping the band of horses gig from a few months back). i only mainly know desperate youth, blood thirsty babes (2004), return to cookie mountain (2006), but did manage to listen to a few songs off the new album recently. i wasn't going to take any photos but of course i could resist. just a few here for now until i sort through the rest of them. but i think my photos got particularly shaky once staring at the sun came on due to my dancing actions.

the above shot possibly being one of them... cos it is shaky/dodgy/not quite right. but i still kinda like it. and it also reminds me of staring at the sun, although i don't think it was actually taken during that song...

but after that, i thought it couldn't get any better but it did! from the opening song (young liars) to wolf like me, it was all immense. the first song of the first encore was one of my quiet faves - a method - with antwerp-based band (white circle crime club) joining tvotr on stage, adding extra beats and hand claps and cymbal hits and tambourine jangles.

tvotr. immense. i danced, i sang and at times i screamed (for more). but after the second encore they went home. and i cycled home whistling a happy tune.

x

ladies who loop

2011-06-19T15:12:00.000-07:00

i loved the whole looping thing (technical term?) when its used well. most of the acts that spring to mind at the moment who use it are 'solo' female artists. one of my favourite performers who incorporates this into their set from leeds is fran rogers.

(photo taken a couple of years ago at brainwash festival)

and in recent weeks i've seen a few more - tune-yards being the primary one (playing in leeds tonight!). here she is recording tunes on her wee guitar (?) in amsterdam recently:

there's also bachelorette who i saw playing last night at the subbacultcha night of the north by northwest in an inflatable dome across the river ij in amsterdam.

ha, well...not that you can see her in this pic, as the visuals take over a bit! i wasn't really there to shoot the band but couldn't resist capturing something from the night. her set was over all too quickly.

and i also caught the fusee doree during her set this week (as part of the enigmatic night of musical curated by pfaff) who definitely had a good looping thing going on. again, this was a night when i wasn't there to take photos officially, so i've only got a phone snapshot. great performance all the same!

primavera memories

2011-06-18T07:36:00.001-07:00

last saturday night was a primavera reunion in amsterdam in my favourite venue (de nieuwe anita) - watching bands that were there and hanging out with people that were there. it was even sunny for a bit and we had pizza outside before the gig and i was swept back to my favourite primavera past-time of spotting famous peeps. in fact, ducktails was the person i saw most times wandering around in barcelona, and who should i spot wander past whilst scoffing my pizza - ducktails himself. and then julian lynch (sans labrador). and probably big troubles, although i didn't actually recognise them.

during the gig, first up was big troubles (the supporting and backing band for the whole night) and altho i sat enjoying their set from the side of the room, i did manage to take one or two shots through the crowd (this pic is my fave of the night actually).

next up was julian lunch, who i did see play at primavera, but for some reason i was distracted during his set. so last week whilst watching, i imagined him played in sunny spain, and i finally got it and i drifted off into a dreamy summery haze.

i didn't however get any shots of the headliner ducktails alas (couldn't squeeze my way to the front). so my prima shot will have to suffice, or the set when solo ducktails played amsterdam last time.

x

indievloot festival part#2

2011-06-13T05:25:00.001-07:00

a somewhat delayed part #2 of the indievloot festival, which took place last month (part #1 is here). part #2 included the following (for individual sets, click on the band name; for a jumbled set of all of the bands, click here):

herman dune

wye oak

waters

cave singers

blues brother castro

no joy

some of these shots also feature in an OOR.nl photo gallery (see here).

x

colourful drumming: tune-yards // AND thee oh sees

2011-06-11T08:01:00.000-07:00

tune-yards
the headliner this night in the upstairs room at paradiso was all about the drums and the loops and the gutteral yelps and the beats and the smiles and the TUNES!

full set here and full BAMSHAKALOVIN here.

thee oh sees
and the band that played earlier the same night at the same venue but as part of a separate gig was this one which was all about the rock and the roll and the DRUMMING and the bouncing floor.

springtime festivals

2011-06-10T10:02:00.001-07:00

three festivals in quick succession, all wildly different and all good fun in their own right. the first was a wee festival one sunday in central amsterdam, divided over two venues (paradiso and de balie). the second at parc del forum in barcelona (woo!). and the last in various (and unexpected) venues around amsterdam oost. just a few pics here, with links to full sets elsewhere.

invdievloot
not much to say about this one, except i was glad to get to see cass mccombs, i am oak and thus:owls. plus to get to see my first ever brudenell social club t-shirt adorned in amsterdam (by dan sartain)! :)

primavera
i've wanted to go to primavera for years. and i finally decided at the last minute to jet out to barcelona, thanks mainly to the fantastic host katie with whom i stayed, and also octopus windmill for planting the seed in my head (after the luyas gig) that it wasn't too late to sort out a ticket. lots of late nights, bands and sunshine. what more could you want from a festival? (i didn't think i'd manage to play out until the first metro after the first day of music; i blame frits and tom for that!) the photos i took were snapsots (mainly on my phone) to aide my memory rather than any real gig shots, like this one of TTMOE. a photopass at primavera, now that would have been a dream come true. maybe next year?!

lente uitje
a musical tour of amsterdam-oost: not sure if i live in the lower east side of amsterdam or just the east (oost), but i enjoyed my first dutch hemelvaart public holiday by following a musical and poetrical (is that a word?) tour around my neighbourhood, the line-up of which was mostly secret right up to the last minute. along the way, we discovered performers in living rooms (the first of which we climbed in through the window, the next which was on our street and the third had a hidden oasis), plus a school and fantastic printing works, not to mention the excellent local venue which was the start and end point (deli zeeeburg). just a few shots here; for the full photo-documentation, click the link above.

it was an awesome event. great concept, creat performances, great organisation. i met loads of great people too, all of which i hope to see again soon!

x

the tallest man on earth

2011-05-24T13:53:00.001-07:00

for quite some time now i've wanted to see the tallest man on earth. he eluded me for a long while. but i finally got my chance one wednesday night in may when he played a sold-out show at paradiso. and he didn't disappoint. it was quite a show.

more shots here:
flickr
DiS

and also a plug for some other amazing shots of the show by dreikelvin, as featured on bamsh!

and a quick mention for the support band, francis (also from sweden), who were pretty darn good too. more here.

x

micah p hinson

2011-05-22T07:10:00.001-07:00

not quite as inspiring as the last time i saw him (in the holy trinity church in leeds, some words and pics here), but i was still glad i made it to this gig.

i like his apple in this last pic. and the note/writing on his guitar. can't quite make out what it says though.

a few more on flickr.
x

the doyas!

2011-05-17T14:41:00.001-07:00

this is the name affectionately given the tour mates THE DODOS and THE LUYAS (see what we did there?!) who played last friday at melkweg. i was mainly there to see the luyas again, who i'd first seen on easter sunday in utrecht. and i wasn't disappointed! :)

the luyas

the dodos

following the links above for more on flickr. also featured on:
DiS!
bamsh!
OOR!
x

deerhoof

2011-04-30T13:59:00.001-07:00

april for me had its ups and downs. one of the things that was definitely an up, were all the amazing gigs that happened - many of which were put on by subbacultcha. there of course were other gigs not documented here. including the luyas, which sees the bbblog featuring some great shots of a talented music photographer robert jung. (did i regret not bringing my camera that night? umm, yep!)

happy to have had my camera at deerhoof though. here is just one or two of the things that happened in front of the camera. there was dancing and guitars and, i think, four encores.

more shots here natch.

x

no age @ OT 301

2011-04-14T14:31:00.001-07:00

wow. this was one crazy gig, as you can see from the conglomeration of shots afterwards on the belmont bookings blog, including *that* one-helluva-shot by roel (which was captured by it seems with a lot of magic and a little bit of forward planning). also featured on their blog is one of my shots of the support band, those foreign kids. both bands also feature in my DiS photo gallery. and, just for good measure, thought i might add a couple of other no age shots to this here blog too!

"the airport is closed but it's still a party"

the above announcement fell on deaf ears. the crowdsurfing and partying continued right to the sweaty end. for more, you know the score.

x

blues brother castro : : cd launch

2011-04-11T14:28:00.001-07:00

it's only a couple of blog posts since i wrote about shooting blues brother castro. am happy to have discovered them just before their cd was released, as they seem to be playing a few gigs in town around the same time. so, i went along to see them again, this time in my favourite venue (de nieuwe anita), not really planning to take photos but just planning to have fun at the cd launch party. but once i'd managed to squeeze myself to the front, i couldn't resist snapping! it was fun and sweaty.

full set here. and more about the cd here: http://bluesbrothercastro.bandcamp.com/

x

ducktails

2011-04-03T14:51:00.001-07:00

last week i checked out a new band (to me) and a new venue too, OT 301. it used to be a film studio, then a squat, and now a cool place for film, food and music. i also got to hang out with cool people too and discovered new things like a few blogs, such as the octapus windmill site and - in a roundabout fashion - this sparkly new blog (serendipitous indeed!)... and i also had fun watching the understated ducktails man at this lovely subbacultcha gig. it was quite disconcerting, though, every time i looked through the lens (which, admittedly wasn't that often cos i hardly got an photos) and i spotted the 'push bar to exit' and all i kept thinking was, 'but i don't want to leave yet'...

(ha, but of course the sign doesn't even say that! just my mind playing tricks)

i did of course leave at some point, but look forward to heading back very soon.

x

mogwai @ paradiso, 15 mar 2011

2011-03-23T13:47:00.000-07:00

now this was a gig i really wasn't going to take photos at but then again, i was at the front with camera in hand, so why not? and it gave me something to do too whilst i wasn't being blown away by the performance (and the one time i was almost blown over by the wall of sound, was later on when i'd put the camera away).

i've only seen mogwai once before (at oya festival in oslo a few summers ago with dave and ingunn; dave mentions the gig in his report for artrocker in fact) and i seem to remember not being overly thrilled at watching them live (but it was raining at the time, so that might have dampened my memory a bit). although i'd heard lots of good reports of their recent gig in newcastle, so i was kinda looking forward to it.

in the end, i think i was a little bit underwhelmed - was it because i didn't seem to know any of the tunes they played? i dunno. was it cos i was on my own? although that never usually affects my enjoyment of a gig (and i did know someone else who was there, just that i didn't spot daniel during the gig). maybe i was too close to the stage to appreciate the accompanying visuals overhead? i did enjoy one film (whilst getting a creak in my neck) that featured a cyclist, and i liked the soundtrack to go with it. and i did also like two other tracks - both of which had quiet bits then loud bits (ha, not that i'm giving anyone much to go on there if i was trying to work out which ones they were!). anyway, that's enough babbling for now.

a few more shots here

x

blues brother castro + surfer blood

2011-03-15T11:20:00.001-07:00

blues brother castro @ melkweg, 11 mar 2011

at the weekend i discovered my new favourite dutch band, quite on the off chance. i wasn't sure about going to the gig but the fact i could check out a band at (the?) melkveg in amsterdam, another new venue for me, swayed it. and the fact it would be the first time i could cycle to a gig now i have been reunited with a new(to me) bike. so off i peddled.

glad i got there to see the support band (which in itself was nice addition, cos most times in the little room upstairs at paradiso - where i've seen most of my amsterdam gigs thus far - you don't get a support band). and now i'm hooked. i need to find out a bit more about blues brother castro - was this their first gig for a while? dunno. i did discover they have a new album out at the start of next month and i hope to check them out again soon, when i hopefully will get some better shots. i like some of the photos in the set, but most of them could have been better* (not that i'm blaming the lights but... ahem... the lights weren't that great...).

[*see earlier comment (in the band of horses blog entry) about not shooting great of late. am i out of practice or am i just adjusting to new venues? i am pretty much used to one venue in recent years...the oh so brilliantly lovely brudenell social club in leeds (my favourite gig venue for many a year), and of course the reason i hung out at the brud so much was down to the fantastic nathan for getting so many brilliant gigs. hmm.. anyway, i digress. but i do wonder which will become my favourite venue in amsterdam, i've not discovered them all yet though, so it's too early to say.]

right, anyway, here are a couple more shots:

full set on flickr here

surfer blood @ melkweg, 11 mar 2011

i think i've tried to see the main band - surfer blood - once before in leeds once but i couldn't get in cos it was too busy. so i'm glad i checked them out this time, but now i've seen them once, i probably won't be seeking them out to see again. not that i didn't enjoy the gig... i actually knew more songs than i thought i would (which after never really listening to them much online, i'm not sure how), and i thought they did a great job. loved the little walkabout in the audience too... but they just sounded a little too much like weezer for me.

full set here

x

the week of horses and bunnies

2011-03-13T10:49:00.001-07:00

band of horses @ paradiso, 23 feb 2011

busy gig week this one. first i got to see a band i have been wanting to see for years. ever since i heard the funeral back in 2006, i've been waiting to see them live. not sure why it took so long - did they never come to leeds? they did play leeds festival the first year i didn't go i think (2007?) and i remember watching them at home on the tv and being utterly disappointed by their performance (and i seem to remember discussing this fact with whiskas at the time). then, on this tour i had read a few reports from other photographers (by nick in particular) who didn't sound so thrilled at their gigs and so i wasn't really expecting much. having secured a photo pass for dis though, i certainly was intrigued to see what they'd be like. and it turned out to be my favourite gig in amsterdam to date!

it was my first gig proper in the big room at paradiso... sold out gig, tall stage, tall punters and other photographers (no pit)... i was a bit apprehensive to start with. but that all dissipated when they came on stage. not sure the photos are that great really (not sure any of mine have been that great recently), but i loved snapping away whilst singing along. and then came the song i had been waiting for, the last one before the encore. and boy what a rendition! (maybe i was swept along with it all too much and it wasn't that great... but the atmosphere was quite something.) didn't think they could top it, although the encore was not to be sniffed at. anyway, some photos from the night.

my band of horses galleries: on flickr, on dis

suuns + sleep party people @ occii, 25 feb 2011
a couple of nights later, it was the turn of suuns. this gig had been on my agenda since last november when my work pal mentioned it to me and asked me if i wanted to go along. a chance to check out a new venue in amsterdam too (occii). and to use my subbacultcha membership card for the first time. and also my first gig with bunnies. so, lots of firsts!

first up, sleep party people (with the bunnie masks). still don't know why they wear bunnie masks, but they do. and on the way home from the gig, i chatted to the only two people in the audience who were wearing home-made masks. apparently, the girl didn't know the band beforehand but wore the mask because the boy asked her to. cute.

full set on flickr here

and next up was suuns. and it was loud. i didn't mean to take any photos really, but i find it hard not to if i'm near the front. lights were red, and shots aren't up to much, but i thought i'd share a couple anyway... my fave of the set is this one featuring the drummer:

couple more here

x

the phoenix foundation

2011-01-31T13:46:00.001-08:00

my first gig of the year where i took photos was the phoenix foundation. i hadn't heard of them till a friend mentioned at our work christmas do that that there was a good new zealand band coming to town in january and i should check them out. so at the start of this month i did just that, first online (they were being played a lot on 6music at the time) and then live, at their gig at paradiso. this was my first shoot of the year also for drownedinsound, and the resulting gallery can be seen here.

more on flickerooni.
x

efterklang / vincent moon / an island

2011-01-24T14:34:00.000-08:00

amsterdam screening: 17 feb 2011

(pic: the official film poster)

after having encountered efterklang a couple of times and vincent moon's work many times (via his takeaway shows on the wonderful la blogotheque), i'm happy that one of my first musical-related events that i'm involved with this year is to organise a screening of the film which was the outcome of this collaboration between the band and the filmmaker over four days next summer.

this screening takes place in amsterdam on thursday 17 february at 18.00. for more details, see: http://anisland.cc/home/attend-a-screening/

this date also coincides with the band playing the first night of the cross-linx festival. and so this - in some way - kind-of makes up for the fact that i won't get to see the band on any of the cross-linx festival dates. although of course, no doubt it will make me wish moreso that i *had* made it to the festival... now... i wonder if there's a train that will get me to utrecht in time after the screening? ;-)

[edit#1: i decided to chance it and buy a ticket to the festival in utrecht, as it turns out it wasn't an impossible dream trainwise]

[edit#2: in the end i didn't actually make it to the festival (logistics didn't quite work out), but my ticket went with a new friend frits whom i met at the film screening, which was very brilliant by the way - the official photo of the amsterdam screening can be seen in the official flickr set here; and shots from the festival can be found online from the official photographer (dennis stempher) for the efterklang appearance at the cross-linx festival - full description on dennis' site here]

x

best of 2010

2010-12-21T14:33:00.000-08:00

so, my fave gigs of 2010...? i think i would go for the following top five...

1. wolf parade (brudenell social club leeds)

// link to original blogpost here ... woops, it seems i didn't blog about it... instead read the wee bit of babbling on flickr here

2. first aid kit (the deaf institute, manchester)

// link to original blogpost ... ummm... no... (ditto). here's the flickr link instead

3. iron & wine (take root festival, groningen)

(not many pics, but lots of lasting memories)

// link to original blog post here

4. ef (the well, leeds)

// link to original blogpost here

5. efterklang (muziekgebouw, amsterdam)

// link to original blogpost here

so, a new city/country for 2011... here's hoping the gig photos and good music continues!

x

trains in hull and amsterdam

2010-11-16T14:27:00.000-08:00

i like trains are taking over this blog it might seem. and so what if they are?! ;-) afterall, they were the first band to come and visit me in amsterdam when i moved here from leeds earlier this month. two days after i started my new job in fact. now that's commitment! pretty much just before i left leeds, i was lucky enough to be at the unique launch of their album at a real-life aquarium (in hull). and here are a few shots from each gig.

...........................................
'the deep' aquarium, hull, gb
...........................................

more here

......................................
paradiso, amsterdam, nl
......................................

more here

take root festival

2010-10-11T15:09:00.001-07:00

i had such an eventful weekend in september when i headed to amsterdam, first to meet up with my friend who was flying in from zurich (actually, first to have a job interview... and the rest is history, woo!). then we headed to groningen on the saturday for the take root festival, which was a feast of americana. i've not edited all the shots yet (and no doubt, won't for quite some time, knowing me), but here is one shot of each of my favourite performances.

for quite some years now (well, two, but only one is documented in this blog), phosphorescent have come out top on my own personal favourite-gig-of-the-year poll. and, boy, did i enjoy them at take root... but - not quite as much as usual (think it's cos i didn't know any of the new songs - or cos i loved the willie nelson covers album too much that last year's gig in manchester was just not going to be topped)...

and my favourite act at take root would have taken a lot to top. iron & wine was simply stunning. i've seen him play before, but with the full band i think and i wasn't overly impressed. one man and his guitar, with funny stories in between, really gave quite an emotional show. (i'm sure damian jurado may well taken the top spot if i'd seen his whole set - i only caught the last song and that was quite something. can't remember now who he clashed with - but i can remember this one last song, with the subsequent standing ovation. i'm thinking i know now which band i should have got the whole set of.)

x

i like trains photoshoot

2010-09-05T08:54:00.001-07:00

prior to the launch of i like train's album 'he who saw the deep', we did a photo shoot around at guy's (i believe otherwise known as 'brown ilt') house. ;-) we had lots of fun and simon (with broken foot still) enjoyed having his foot licked by roo (v. cute doggy belonging to guy and jennie). here are some of the 'out-takes' and an edited one (b&w shot as edited by guy).

this shoot is also documented on the trains' youtube blog here (in which i accidentally star!).

twas a busy day, in the afternoon we went to the party of the minska's offspring (will link to the pics if i ever get them online)...

x

2010-08-13T05:53:00.001-07:00

hbg shoot

2010-07-23T02:37:00.001-07:00

(photos coming soon)

efterklang

2010-06-30T11:33:00.000-07:00

i saw danish band efterklang a couple of years ago at the brudenell in leeds (see shots here) but the gig i witnessed in amsterdam earlier this month was something else! they performed 'parades' with the metropole orchestra as part of the holland festival. i didn't shoot the gig but managed to sneak a few snaps at the end. not great shots but great memories.

there are, however, some great shots of the gig here taken by dennis stempher (full flickr profile here).

may city fests: leeds and manchester

2010-06-01T11:36:00.001-07:00

(photos to be uploaded soon!)

photos: ef // ilt

2010-04-24T00:53:00.000-07:00

so this week, it seems there have been some coincidences in the bands that i have gone to see: (1) abbreviations; (2) post-rock; (3) subdued lighting. all good in my book (except the last one maybe, but i like how the shots have turned out so, yes in the end, all good.). i wasn't actually sure if no.2 was the correct terminology to use (genres flumox me a bit - bands are generally classed as 'noisy' or 'quiet' in my book, or a bit of both with 'guitary' thrown in).

ef

most recently it was ef (from gothenburg, sweden). am so glad i got to this gig. it was almost hampered by the fact my i-phone was stolen the day before (yes, logistics like - how will i call a cab to get home - did almost hinder my gig-going). i've been looking forward to the day ef played leeds for some years now, so i could hardly not go. [and i'm still calling them "ef" in my head, when actually they are called "e.f." (hence where no.1 above comes in, except for the fact, the 'e' and the 'f' don't actually stand for anything apparently).] and they didn't disappoint. it is such a shame though that forest of sound didn't put them on; i'd always envisaged them as the promoter the day ef came to down. ah well.

anyway, so i'll let the photos do the talking. i hope they have captured some of the essence of the gig...

march blasts from the past

2010-03-31T14:31:00.000-07:00

march was finally the month that i blasted the cobwebs from my camera and i took to the brudenell to shoot some bands. (i had a bit of a slow start to the year i guess when it comes to gigs and stuff.) this was also the month there a couple of blasts from the past, mingled in with first-time encounters with a couple of bands.

hidden cameras + milk white white teeth
first of all it was the (happy) hidden cameras (from canada). i first saw these lot some time in 2006 at joseph's well. and a happy gig it was! that gig was back in the day i was shooting film and before the time i had a blog or used flickr to display my shots. but i have discovered i have posted some shots from that first hidden cameras gig on here when i started up my blog (see here).

last week's gig at the brudenell was equally fun and had me dancing around by myself (well, along with all the other souls at the gig too). i think there were a couple people missing from the line up (hence maybe why they ended up getting a regular joe from the audience to play tamborine at one point) but there was one new addition - an wavey-chinese-cat-thing. not sure what that was about, but it got in a couple of shots anyway.

supporting was milk white white teeth (from the north east of the uk). my first time seeing them and i enjoyed them.

more pics of the hidden cameras HERE and more milk white white teeth HERE on flickr.

youthmovies + honour before glory

another blast from the past was youthmovies. this was to be there last ever gig in leeds. not sure how many times i saw these guys over the years. definitely when they played the transmission all dayer at joseph's well in april 2005 and then again in october 2006 when they played with redjetson at the brud. just looking back at my early blog post, which includes a couple of shots of them, i also saw them at truckfestin 2006! (see here) the gig was good and i'll let trev off for turning the lights down on me (at the band's request it must be said) cos i had managed to get some shots in by then. twas fun at the end of the set when they invited a couple of people up to play a guest slot - including a very smily whiskas (seen in action here).

supporting was honour before glory (the full band) and they were ace. this was my first time shooting the full band, altho not the first time seeing them (they unearthed the full line-up at a headlining free gig last month, with fran rogers and hani montoya?? - can't remember the correct name of katie's band at the mo! - supporting, but alas i have no shots). honour before glory is whiskas with pals; photos from one of his solo shows last year is here.

more youthmovies pics HERE (including a couple of old ones) and more honour before glory pics HERE.

carmymac's compilation 2009

2010-01-31T15:05:00.000-08:00

every year i talk about doing a 'compilation cd' to sum up the year-just-gone in photos. to date, i've mostly only got as far as sorting out the covers for these cds (see old blogpost here). well, for 2009, i've finally gone and done it!

photos from my 2009 compilation can be seen in this flickr set.

have i been spoilt by the brudenell?

2009-12-06T10:08:00.000-08:00

two gigs i saw recently at venues other than the brudenell social club, made me wish i was seeing them at the brudenell. now ya'd think i'd welcome a change of venue...don't want to get stuck in my ways n all that. just that when i know i'd have enjoyed the gig more if it had been at the brud, then i'm left wishing that it had been...

grizzy bear + st vincent
not that it would ever have been considered as a potential venue for this gig. but, ya know, if grizzly bear had come to leeds a little while back, i'm guessing they wouldn't have been playing leeds met. instead they'd be at a cosy, friendly local venue and it would have been one of *those* gigs you just *had* to be at... (generally, i'm equating it to having the possibility of being like that sunday night fleet foxes gig back last summer). but then, there wouldn't have been the amazing tea-lights in glass jars set-up as the lighting back drop - so i guess a bigger venue does have some plus points.

in support was the amazing st vincent. i've been wanting to see her for a while but think this was also her first trip to leeds. to be honest i can't quite remember much of this set (that's what happens when you're in the pit snapping), but dj albert freeman has written a blog about this gig over at the bcb radio music blog (see here), which will sum it up better than i could i'm sure.

more grizzly bear shots here, st vincent shots here, and a super little gallery (even if i do say so myself!) on drownedinsound here.

the antlers + yonderboy
the other gig i saw last month, really really really (times a billion) should have been at the brud. what were people thinking? it's the first gig in ages where i've been disappointed (and after looking forward to it so much as well). i don't think it was the band's fault...just the choice of venue. the band was the antlers from brooklyn, whose album (hospice) has been on my music player quite a lot recently. half way through i was left thinking, i wish i was at home listening to the album instead of at the gig. and i would have escaped too if only i could have unsqueezed myself out of the spot i'd got myself into to take photos. and, admittedly, maybe that was why the sound was so bad for me - standing in front of the p.a. probably wasn't the best idea. ah well...i hope they come back at some point, i want to have another chance to see them. the local support band yonderboy were ace!

more pics of the antlers here and yonderboy here.

oh and a band i saw last week who would never play the brudenell was julian plenti - oh but wow, how good would it be if he did! come on nath, see what you can do. ;)

x

americana gigs: damien jurado, john vanderslice, richmond fontaine

2009-11-29T08:08:00.000-08:00

a few weeks back, i had a run of americana-type gigs with bands that i'd heard little or nothing of beforehand.

first of all there was richmond fontaine. i was on a trip to zurich to visit friends and we went an ace little venue called el lokal. it is an odd shape place, but we managed to sit on the stairs and so had a good view of the stage and the lovely flower-shaped fairy lights.... a wonderful way to spend my last night in zurich. funny, though, listening to the lead singer chat between songs, cos it was like he'd never been out of his hometown before. this from a guy who's band has had 10+ albums and no doubt toured the world more than a few times...

the day or so after i got back to leeds, i could be found at my trusted 'local' (the brudenell) to see damien jurado, john vanderslice and honour before glory (no photos of his set...too busy listening; lovely new mazzy star cover added to the hbg repetoire). i had heard one or two tracks of john vanderslice on last.fm but didn't know much about him apart from hearing from two people i know during the week of the gig telling me that he's the nicest person ever. i enjoyed his set, particularly when the band came troubadour style down into the audience! lovely. (a couple of other shots on flickr.)

next up, damien jurado. one man and his guitar; little did i know as he took to the stage what affect he'd have on me. i only took a couple of shots during his set, but i think this one is quite apt, as he certainly did have an affect on my mind after the first few songs, when he started conversing with the audience. i was totally transfixed, and i was transported to some other era with the story telling in his songs. quite something. amazing gig! later on, i discovered the photos that sarah jurado (damien's manager and wife, and amazing photographer) took on the tour, which can be seen on her website here.

i love the colours in this shot. and i love the blurriness. in fact, i have just set up a set on flickr dedicated to 'blurry lovelyness' (it makes me smile) as somewhere to gather all my out-of-focus photos. it can be seen by clickety clicking here.

photos of photos: joy division, the smiths and new order

2009-10-31T09:09:00.000-07:00

ok, so this post isn't about my photos as such, but i just wanted to document the amazing exhibition i went to earlier this month featuring the work of kevin cummins. i didn't have any idea what photos would be on show. i expected manchester bands to be featured (because of his new book) but i didn't realise there would be so many iconic shots. i didn't know much about kevin cummins before and still don't really. i haven't read his book and i didn't get to the interview with him that took place in the gallery where the exhibition took place. and what a magical setting that was! the exhibition was in the roof space of salts mill, with its vast expanse and bleakness / peeling paint / rafters it was a perfect backdrop for so many super b&w shots, with even a little hidden 'theatre' will a looping film featuring more of kevin's work. the shots of ian curtis were by far my favourite ... here are some of the pictures i took to capture the exhibition (more here).

the story of how this exhibition came about was interesting. organised by the daughter of the mill owner (davina silver), it turns out her dad used to own a shop in manchester where some of the joy division shots were taken and where ian curtis bought his wedding suit. lovely.

s is for september... as well as: sleepingdog, shearwater and sunset rubdown

2009-09-28T12:00:00.001-07:00

september has been a fun gig month! and it has been a month that has been all about the bands beginning with s as it happens! (although i haven't restricted my gig-going habits to only s-bands, but they are the ones that i'm focusing on in this post) oh, and birthdays have also featured highly this month too...

s is for sleepingdog
so, first up was sleepingdog on a sleepy wednesday night at the brudenell (where most of my september gigs have happened, no surprise there really). sleepingdog is chantal acda from belgium and tonight too it is richard knox from leeds. i've been enjoying her 'polar life' album for a while now but hadn't made it to any of the house/cellar/kitchen shows she has done on her visits to leeds, so i was happy to get along to this gig (where she was supporting tiny vipers). i wasn't disappointed. the last song i recall in particular was quite something (although the creaky door did spoil the atmosphere a bit). oh and this was the first birthday gig i've been to this month (it was sam saunders' celebration, who can be spotted in this pic). chantal said nice things about sam, recalling how he made her feel welcome on one of her first visits to leeds (at a gig at the city varieties?) and perhaps as a birthday treat, his offspring william joined sleepingdog on stage (aka not actually on the stage!) for one night only. some snaps here:

and shearwater

a few days later (on a saturday), i went along to see shearwater play a joint headline gig (with clinic). fun, if slightly odd gig, shearwater were definitely the highlight of the night. (not sure if it was anyone's birthday this night or not.)

(i like that blurry one!) more shots here.

and sunset rubdown

and the very next night, it was time for my birthday gig! super-ace is a made-up s-adjective i would describe the sunset rubdown gig... just a couple of shots here. oh and a mention also to the opening act, honour before glory. ok, so the band name doesn't begin with s, but it features whiskas which ends in s! (shots here).

full sunset rubdown set here; with a gallery on DiS (featuring sunset rubdown and honour before glory) here.

more in-depth babblings about my birthday, this gig and the post-gig happenings - featuring me, the band members and the wonderful poster designed by the ace twoducksdisco - can be found on flickrooni (this, being the first time ever i had a photo of me, a super-ace signed poster, and the lead singer of the band who have signed my poster...evidence here...where you can just about see the flame that the dragon is shooting out lighting a birthday candle, ha funny!).

here is a close-up snapshot of the poster, featuring a dragon and its slayer (ooh...what a lovely link to the new album of sunset rubdown, entitled....dragon slayer!) and you can find out all about the design and print process for the poster on the twoducksdisco blog (here).

anna rose

2009-09-13T10:14:00.000-07:00

i met the lovely anna rose last month, the day after her very first gig, which unfortunately i didn't get to...but i did get to take part in her first ever photo shoot. we went for a walk through some backstreets of leeds and took some shots in a park. the plan was to get something to go in the september issue of tapes (online podcast/zine which i am very much a fan of) but it seems that matters conspired against the tapes guys doing the recording with anna and so the shots are no longer required. ah well, i enjoyed the little sunday afternoon jaunt anyway.

a couple more shots on flickr; maybe more will follow.

x

stylophone summer fun

2009-08-30T15:02:00.000-07:00

i had an almost gig-free summer this year. not on purpose, just that no bands came to town that i wanted to see. i saw a total of three bands in about three months i think, and a random selection at that (m83, woodpigeon and the bluetones!). so no gigs means no gig photos either. but i did have lots of fun with my stylophone over the summer, so here is a picture of that instead...

recently i have been getting more back into the swing of things and getting excited that there are some good gigs on next month. i saw the first ever outing of 'honour before glory' (who will be supporting sunset rubdown in sept; can't wait!) and i did a shoot with the lovely anna rose, possibly for the september edition of tapes. shots will be posted soon.

2009-06-22T14:57:00.000-07:00

the declining winter // haunt the upper hallways
a week today the new album 'haunt the upper hallways' from the declining winter will be released. not any ol' album, but a lovely 7 inch single along with a 10 track CD. i say it's lovely but i haven't actually seen it in the flesh, but i believe every word that the record label, home assembly music, says when it describes it as 'luxuriously packaged', i bet it sure will be. and i'm equally excited to get my mitts on a copy, cos it features one of my shots on the cover. snowy rooves...ya can't go wrong with snowy rooves...

a while back i did a photoshoot with the band and i thought it was an apt time to post some more of the shots from that session here now.

and one closing shot of the whole band in the firing line...

pre-orders being taken now here!

x

2009-06-19T15:18:00.000-07:00

fieldhead
i think it might be somewhat of a travesty that i have lived in leeds for almost nine and a half years now and until just under a month ago i had never been to ilkley moor. i blame this on the fact i thought ilkley moor was really isolated and thus not compatable with public transport. how wrong i was! a quick hop skip and a jaunt on a train and a ramble up a road or two and you are transported to another world, which is isolated and bleak and quite a landscape for countryside not 30 minutes (on a northern rail train) outside of leeds.

this outing was primarily for a photoshoot with the man (paul elam) behind the music (fieldhead), but it was also a chance for me to see the graffiti/engravings from 1852! wow, eh? (evidenced in the first pic here, although not sure what date the 'tom rhodes' graffiti is from). it was good to get out and have a bit of an explore. most of the time paul was up the hill ahead of me (as evidenced in the second pic).

there are gigs upcoming from fieldhead and recordings on the way too. more can be obtained from this here link here.

2009-06-10T12:05:00.000-07:00

in reverse order: phosphorescent / deerhunter / cursive / the twilight sad
in the reverse order of gigs i shot last month, that is how this post is laid out. i seemed to take photos of a few bands, even though it felt like i went weeks without a gig. i managed to squeeze a trip to stockholm in-between the music (although unfortunately there were no swedish gigs) and also a promo shoot on ilkley moor - more on that another time.

so yes, on almost the very last night of may, the penultimate night in fact, i ventured to another city and a new (to me) rather wonderful venue. the deaf institute in manchester. with bird wallpaper, lots of old speakers above the bar and the most enormous glitterball, i had heard good things about this venue and i wasn't disappointed. the gig was phosphorescent who i had seen last year in a solo show in leeds (one of my fave gigs of last year). this time there were more beards and more of a country-feel (what with a recent album of willie nelson songs). an equally amazing gig with another awsome take on cocaine nights. quite a live experience. (more pics)

the week before it was the deerhunter gig at the brudenell with stripy visuals inducing wonderful shadows. a bit of an odd gig. both times i've seen deerhunter i can't seem to remember what the music was like and i wouldn't ever be able to describe it to anyone. i enjoyed the gig - i even enjoyed the banter that lead singer bradford cox was sharing with the audience, although i did get a bit bored by the end and (disappointedly) left before he called his mum from the stage... (piczellate)

and before that was the leeds leg of the stand and dagger festival. with some top line-ups at various venues around leeds, i only got to see two bands at the brudenell. the headliners were cursive who i last saw playing leeds met a couple of years ago. shame my friends had left before the end so i haven't had anyone confirm (or not) that i heard a beyonce riff at some point...and they aren't the sort of band you'd expect to be playing beyonce, hence needing the confirmation. (want more?)

and before them at stag and dagger was the twilight sad. the full set of photos is on flickr. here are two of the shots from the gig which are red-light-ridden and i surprisingly actually like them. my fave none-red-lit shot from the gig is probably this one.

note to self: do more blogging so that it doesn't end up with a whole months of gig pics in one post again! not that i'm expecting to see many gigs to get shots to talk about this month anyway - in fact, maybe i won't even get to one solitary gig - but i will have some photo news so i will be back.

x

2009-05-11T13:14:00.000-07:00

live at leeds: blue roses, fionn regan, duels, mi mye // DiS
the first weekend of may saw a few fine performances around the fair city of leeds. alas, i saw only a handful of bands out of the oodles that were playin. but fun was still had.

blue roses
on friday 1 may was the blue roses album launch at the brudenell. blue roses is laura groves. her voice is mesmerising. and this gig was quite someting. blue roses' album was produced by marco (and co-produced by laura) in and around bradford, and i managed to get a couple of shots with laura before she went on stage with her band (which included marco for one song). this is my fave:

and just a note, that the lighthouse-pic sneaking in behind them, is the album cover taken by our own danny north (see the original photo here). and here are a few more shots of blue roses, and the support acts jeremy warmsley and 14 corners.

this gig kicked off the live at leeds weekend, with the main event happening at various venues around the city on the saturday. i only got to four (one better than last year!) out of however-many-venues, so i don't think i got a very good spread of shots covering the entire event, but i did get to see a handful of corkin' gigs.

fionn regan
first up, fionn regan in the holy trinity church. i first came across fionn a few years ago supporting midlake at the new roscoe (in leeds). and i must say, myself and my fellow gig-goers were mightily impressed. i think i saw him again glastonbury one year (that's a bit hazy... but i do remember his 'FR' on is guitar, which kept reminding me of another FR!). the church was a good venue for him (apart from the fact he was playing when it was still daylight outside, with no real spotlights on him, so he looks a bit of a deathly shade next to the colourful stained glass windows) - there were old songs and new. some dylan-esque tunes i've read others say. i don't quite recall (as is the way when i'm snapping more often than not).

i like trains
next after a quick queue was i like trains at the cockpit. am liking their new stuff (and their old of course). but i certainly was not liking the red lighting that was on for the duration of the gig. hence, i didn't get any shots to share. but you can click here for some lovely trains shots (taken by the very talented heidi kuisma) from the night before when they played in glasgow.

duels
then there was a quick skedaddle across town to joseph's well for duels. i haven't seen duels since they last played in leeds (last year at the uni?). there have been some line-up changes since then. and it was great to have them back! i really enjoyed shooting this gig, altho it was darn hot.

mi mye
the final fun of the night was to be had at the faithful brudenell. (it was fun to shoot at other venues whilst it lasted, but i'm always going to end up brudenell-bound, let's face it!) i missed mumford and sons, due to crazy queue-age (top job to nath, suzy and folks, for coping with such a mass of people). happily, i was all in place in front of the stage in time for mi mye. who made me smile, and a lot of other people smile, as they played to a packed-out room.

lovely end to my live at leeds this year. lots of other pics can be found in the flickr pool for the event HERE.

some of these (and other) photos also appear in galleries on the drowned-in-sound website as part of the 'in-photos' feature. see more at: http://drownedinsound.com/lists/in-photos. i'll hopefully have other galleries in DiS at some point in the future, when i shoot more bands. at the moment i don't have any gigs lined up, cos i'm off to stockholm very soon indeedy!

2009-04-30T15:21:00.000-07:00

the declining winter
this entry has nothing to do with the clement whether we've been having in the north of england recently (amid the rain). it's about the other band i shot this month before they headed out on their first (?) european tour (taking in parts of france, luxemburg and belgium). i got to witness (and interrupt, when i knocked a lead out of an amp) their rehearsal before they headed out on the road.

a few more shots here.

i also took some promo shots during the same session (it turns out pudsey beats paris for a photo shoot any day!) which may well appear somewhere soon but will keep under wraps for the moment.

2009-04-29T13:59:00.000-07:00

april happenings

spring has arrived. and with it, i wasn't inspired to do any spring cleaning, but i did get the d.i.y. bug - and not of the diy gig variety.... (talking of which, i wonder how emily's thesis went - wonder if we'll get a peek any time). i did manage to get to a few gigs in april, mainly quiet stuff. although it went out with a bit of a bang. BLK JKS from johannesburg. they got my toes tapping and my chops asmiling. which was mainly the drummer's fault.

what else...

i really enjoyed, loney dear + snowbird (stephanie dosen/simon reymonde) + fran rodgers. loney dear was teaching us to sing in this shot. i don't mind a bit of audience participation sometimes.

of the support acts, stephanie dosen was a bit bonkers (between songs).

and fran was lovely; her set didn't quite bring me to the verge of tears like it did last october time (very raw.... you had to be there!), but then, that's ok. i don't usually want to cry at gigs. and i do generally manage to avoid it in fact.

hmm. there was also broken records and the leisure society sometime earlier in the month (not on the same night). ok i thought, not overly blown away.

although other people are obviously impressed with TLS.

2009-03-25T13:26:00.000-07:00

damo suzuki + leeds friends

the only other leeds gig i've seen this month was almost a couple of weeks ago now - damo suzuki - once member of 1970s band can. i didn't know any of his stuff, although maybe at some point in the past i have listened to some can without quite realising, who knows?? i had heard his gigs are generally pretty entertaining, so went along intrigued to find out what it was all about. support came from napolean iiird and quack quack, the collective four individuals from both of which were to join damo on stage again later on - along with two other leeds musicians. cos that's what happens at a damo suzuki gig. a bunch of local musicians get together and play for an hour or so without ever all having been on stage together before, whilst making it sound like they play together all the time... it was quite something to behold.

admittedly i reckon i might have got bored if i hadn't been taking photos, but it was entertaining all the same. i didn't get bored with the supports - never seen quack quack before and i did enjoy what i seen. moz (on the keyboards) was most most entertaining. i wanna have that much fun!

and first on was napolean iiird who i enjoyed muchly. i hadn't seen napiiird for some time...(just checking my archives)...since may last year in fact. and i don't think i've ever seen him with two of them-there tape-things (very technical term!). i recall one of the last tunes he played - which seemed to be quite different to the rest of the set - reminded me of animal collective (well i thought so anyway). which is very apt, cos animal collective are playing in leeds this very night as i type! ha, and funnily enough, reading that archive post from last may there was also an animal collective link (if you read all the way to the end)...

more shots from this gig in f-land.

now, will i get to any more gigs before this month is out i wonder? my gig quota for march hasn't been so high. hmm. i hope it's not a sign that i'm turning into a hermit.

2009-03-22T12:29:00.000-07:00

marmaduke duke: blood, sweat and feathers

marmaduke duke are "the atmosphere" and "the dragon", plus pals. i didn't know anything about them until the day of the gig when i read about them in the metro and then i found out some friends were going, so i ended up joining them at the brudenell that night. (more background on them in this DiS interview)

it turned out to be a fun gig during which i spied blood, sweat and feathers... and coloured tights...and random masks....and lots of other stuff too. i didn't spy the lead singer's face, or much of him at all that wasn't his back.

i take it as a failure on my part that i only got one shot from the whole gig where you can actually make out the lead singers' eyes! yes i was probably on the wrong side of the stage for frontal shots, but i was a bit scared about getting covered in blood (one busted nose spied) and feathers (of which there were lots about) if i'd gone over into the scrum.

and just as he took off his mask and unveiled himself, my battery died. typical!

2009-03-18T15:24:00.000-07:00

february outings: the durutti column, crystal stilts and passion pit
february was quiet enough to start with, then i had a flurry of gigs in the second half of the month - in fact, probably more precisely, in the last week. from established bands to new kids on the block (sometimes sounding like old bands), i hadn't actually heard much music from any of these before the gigs.

the first (and most likely not the last*) factory band to play the beloved brudenell in recent times (ever?) - the durutti column - had a loyal following, plus an annoyingly young girlfriend of mr vinny riley onstage, and a slightly crazy drummer. Support came from the declining winter (alas, no shots), but there is a review of the gig here. (*rumours abound that another certain band has been booked; there's a clue there, innit!)

next came crystal stilts. droneyness abounds, which i enjoyed so much on the night i bought the album. (of which, by the way, track 7 reminds me of jens lekman...) there is a review of this gig here.

and the month was ended on a busy friday night gig, which was pretty much the antithesis of the crystal stilts gig in some ways... i missed the first band (bearhands), except when they invaded the stage later. shame i missed 'em as i heard good things about their set. the next band was hockey, who i really didn't care for. then came passion pit, who i enjoyed but have no recollection now what they even sounded like. must have a listen online somewhere.

it all got a bit wooaah crazy, in "it's the last night of our tour with one of our support bands so lets have a stage invasion with a bear" kind-of way.... and why the hell not indeed.

more shots from all the gigs, all of which were at the brudenell, on flickrooni. am beginning to wonder, will i venture to any gigs that are at other venues in leeds this year? am thinking, yes...surely at some point. i almost went to a gig in a house tonight (i really wanted to see sleepingdog) but i ended up chained to my computer.

x

2009-03-11T15:13:00.000-07:00

the national (and scandi fest memories)
the national have been on my mind a lot recently. they have curated a charity compilation album (dark was the night) that i intend to buy very soon. and i made my first purchase of one of their albums not long back and have been listening to it quite a lot in my ears on trains and buses travelling to and from different cities. i resisted the national for quite some time, after seeing them at the cockpit in leeds a while back and not really being that taken with them (for some reason or another). i then saw them last year at a festival in sweden and i had an about-turn. i'm not sure if this had anything to do with the scandi crowd being so attentive - both at the 'way out west festival' in gothenburg and 'oya festival' in oslo that's the one thing i noticed being so different to crowds in the uk - everybody seemed like really they wanted to be there to watch and listen to the bands.

of course another reason i liked the national in scandinavia last august is, because of them, i won the 'spotting famouse people in the crowd' competition that i was having with ingunn and dave. (i spotted one of the brothers in the crowd at oya the day before they played there; my compatriates can vouch for this although, as it turns out, there is no photo evidence.)

after returning from said festivals, i promised i would update on my thoughts of both. but i never did. my highlight (of the trip, and the year) was sigur ros...but also fleet foxes were pretty amazing (the crowd was going crazy for them). and seeing wayne coyne in a bubble floating over my head whilst tellytubbies filled my peripheral vision was quite something.

some photo memories here and here. and some words by dave about oya here.

will i get to scandi for any festivals this year? i'm not sure, although i heard beirut just got attend to the oya line-up, so it's tempting. i do hope to get to stockholm in may (non festival, but fun all the same i hope), so that's a start for my foreign jaunts this year!

x

2009-02-23T14:14:00.000-08:00

northerner shoot

up till now, i've not done many band shoots that have not been in a gig situation (those i have done i can probably count on one hand....) but on the eve of this 'new' year (is it still new? not sure) i went to a foggy and frosty bit of yorkshire with martin cummings - aka northerner - and we took some promo shots for his new album which is out today on home assembly music. entitled 'the ridings' it is a beautifully crafted piece of work with not one but two cds including a whole other cd of remixes by the likes of the declining winter, fieldhead and winter north atlantic. and if that wasn't enough, there is also a limited edition set of postcards (featuring a couple of my shots) available for the quickest online-orderers....

a couple more shots from the shoot on flickr.

2009-02-18T12:30:00.000-08:00

women + wonderswan

sub-heading: band names beginning with w

on sunday at the brudenell it was all about the bands beginning with the doubleyou. this got me thinking that maybe i'd never taken photos of bands that began with w. this, of course, is just twonkum though (am making up all the words tonight!) cos when i thought about it (that whould be, when i reminded myself by looking at my flickr) i had actually shot: winter north atlantic, wildbirds & peacedrums, why?, we vs. death and whoresx3... amongst others. so quite a few then.

but this was definitely the first i've shot with TWO bands beginning with said letter in one evening. anyway, not that any of this matters, except to say here are some photos of women (from canada) and wonderswan (from lovely leeds). i enjoyed this gig. sunday night gigs do indeed rule.

(i kinda like this shot even though it's blurry.) for more shots follow the links.

and so ends the story of w. next, the letter x? but first i have to find some bands beginning with x (cos i've definitely not shot any yet).

that is all for now.

2009-02-12T14:05:00.000-08:00

gregor samsa in leeds again

gregor samsa (not to be confused with some bloke called gregory or the leeds band called samsa) hail from nyc or thereabouts and i first saw them at the brudenell in 2006 at a gig with a rather superb line-up for a quiet sunday night gig in the month of may. support came from barzin, once we were, hooray say the roses and palo alto. it has to be said, i was secretly quite excited when i heard last year that they were heading back to leeds.

gregor samsa, ca. 2006:

this time around it was a friday night gig on a cold night in january, in the same venue, although not with quite the same atmosphere. the first band of the evening sketches didn't quite set the scene as well i didn't think.... (i missed the opening act). i did really enjoy the gregor band though, despite the noisiness from the back (and the lack of visuals this time).

gregor samsa, ca. 2009:

------------------------------

and just a note about the first band i saw play this year (at the cardigan arms on fri 9 jan) - the abc club. it seems i might not get to see them play again? that's a sad fact if it's true (everyone looks sad in this pic tho...did they know something we didn't?!). more pics from the set here.

2009-01-14T14:50:00.000-08:00

2008 favourite stuff
two weeks into the new year already hey - blimey, how'd that happen? better be quick with my little retrospective of 2008 then...

i was gonna just list my favourite gigs that i went to, all of which, surprisingly, i actually took photos at. usually when i take photos, i don't really listen to the songs or enjoy the gig as much. i enjoy taking the shots, but that's different. anyway, my favourite gigs (in no particular order) were:

phosphorescent (the faversham, leeds in april)
sigur ros (way out west festival, gothenburg in august)
micah p hinson (holy trinity church, leeds in september)

links to the photos given above. ok, so i didn't actually take many shots of sigur ros, or really that many of phosphorescent. glad i've got some though, as reminders. i did take quite a few at the m.p.h. gig - which certainly didn't affect my enjoyment of the gig, in fact it probably enhanced it...and all cos i was cocooned in a little bubble. i believe i babbled on about this gig here.

but thinking about it - the gig i remember for my favourite set of shots, is definitely the twilight sad gig (upstairs at the library in leeds in march). this gig was noisy noisy down the front (and elsewhere maybe) but i didn't seem to care too much as i was snapping away right next to the speaker... here are a few more shots that didn't feature in the original posting about that gig.

the rest of the set of shots is on flickr.

other favourite stuff:
crazy lighting at a gig - animal collective at the brudenell in may
before-they-got-big gig - fleetfoxes at the brudenell in june
unexpectedly enjoyable gig - these arms are snakes & russian circles at the brudenell in november
venue - the brudenell!

x

2008-11-30T15:49:00.000-08:00

darkness and light

in the last week (of november) i watched some dark gigs (lighting-wise). one in a house cellar lit by candles and fairy lights. and one in a church lit by the lights of a christmas tree (i reiterate - in november... surely too early for that kind of thing??). the first gig was with library tapes, winter north atlantic and fieldhead. the second with (amongst others) the declining winter and the amber sleep. for two gigs of a similar ilk, the venues couldn't have been more different...

cellar gig:

church gig:

more pics on flickr. x

2008-11-20T13:07:00.000-08:00

leeds / tigers that talked / james yates

i love leeds. especially the mornings as the sun is rising and the city is waking. there are some amazing skies and i often take a mental photo of the city skyline on my bus journey into town (at ridiculous o'clock) and then again on the train out of town (at slightly less ridiculous-o'clock).

and this post is about leeds. leeds bands that i have actually taken photos of in leeds (and not just mental photos). although one of them isn't actually a current resident of leeds, but let's not worry about that...

tigers that talked supported micah p hinson two months ago at the lovely holy trinity church but i only got around to sorting out their pics this month. the first time i saw them (at the faversham) i was quite taken with them and this venue suited them much better i thought. it seems they've been getting a lot of airplay recently which is all good. (i'll save the story about how they might have inspired mine and min's animal-related imaginary record label till another time shall i?)

james yates is the other leeds (non-leeds, now berlin) musician i took photos of recently, this time at the packhorse. james had a ridiculous amount of gear-related wires to sort out, of which there was a great shot as he was setting up (mental photo only). and he had a wonderful red* book with notes, presumably telling him which button to twiddle next. it all looked very complicated and looked and sounded quite amazing. (*i seem to remember it being red, maybe it wasn't.)

more pics from both nights on flickr.

2008-10-26T13:06:00.000-07:00

october time

i've recently realised that i haven't taken any shots of leeds bands in a while. not that i've not been seeing any leeds bands playing, cos i have. this month i've seen (in chronological order): dinasaur pile-up, napolean iiird, i concur, two minute noodles, forward russia, the declining winter, mi mye, fran rodgers (who was utterly mesmerising), vessels and sky larkin. not sure why my camera never made it out of my bag on any of the occasions that i was watching these bands, possibly because i wanted to take it all in and not get distracted by taking photos . . . (not in all cases, but definitely in some; in others i was just lazy/didn't have the energy to fight through the crowds)

this makes me sad cos it means i can't add any photos to the pool on flickr: http://www.flickr.com/groups/leedsmusic - it's a self-imposed rule though, cos i know other people post photos in there of all bands that play in leeds, not just leeds bands, but i don't.

anyway, i have shot a few bands this month. just not leeds ones.

more piccety pics on flickr.

2008-09-14T12:03:00.000-07:00

end of the road festival bands
i didn't get to go the end of the road festival (which is happening this weekend in dorset) but i did manage to catch one or two of the bands who are playing when they stopped off in leeds en route southwards.

the first was micah p hinson who i saw at the start of september.
i've been wanting to see him play, since last time he played this very same venue (holy trinity church) and i couldn't get entry to the gig (despite my best efforts), and i wasn't disappointed. i thought this gig was awesome, although i'm not sure if it was because of my unique experience. it was a sold out gig in this rather unusual venue (a still-used-for-worship-church), with the pews packed. but i sat on the floor at the front of the pews with my camera - the pews were high enough that i could move around and not be seen - which is kinda how i like it, so i don't disturb anyone. at times though it felt it was just me and the band and i'd sit there not quite believing michah p hinson was singing his tales of love and woe, literally, right in front of me! (and tigers that talked from leeds supported; pics.)

just over a week later, i saw wildbirds & peacedrums at the brudenell, where i'd seen them play a few months before. i also got to see them in sweden in a dark, sweaty club (see here) only last month and, i'm not sure if it's because i've seen them in quick succession, but at this gig, the duo didn't seem to have quite the same impact on me as they had the first time at the brudenell. . . it was still exceptional though. (i also saw support acts peter broderick and seabear. no photos tho.)

then this friday it was the turn of jason molina (of songs: ohia and magnolia electric co. fame). whiskas put on the gig and i thought it was quite appropriate that the only jason molina song i actually have is 'farewell transmission' (on the end of the road festival cd from plan b). anyway - so i don't have much of his stuff, and don't know many of his songs, but that didn't matter. he was mesmerising.

more shots on flickr.

2008-08-31T15:27:00.000-07:00

oya and way-out-west festivals
so i went to norway and sweden at the start of this month for the above two festivals and i had fun. two of my ambitions for this year have been fulfilled; going to scandinavia and seeing sigur ros. more thoughts and photos soon - for now a pretty rubbishy shot tried to make look a bit better. . . (but then again, no shots could have summed up the experience, so maybe it doesn't matter that it's rubbishy).

2008-08-02T13:19:00.000-07:00

seeing bands in norway & sweden
am going to be seeing a fair few bands in both norway & sweden next week at oya (for one day) & way-out-west festivals. although many of the bands are playing both, one of the only bands i'll get the chance to see twice is the mae shi.
fun fun fun!

i might also get to see lykke li at both. and iron & wine. cool. oh, and grinderman. the way-out-west line-up just keeps getting better every time i look at it! just discovered wildbirds & peacedrums are also on. and apparently i once knew that fleet foxes were playing, but i had completely forgotten. aceness!

am sad tho, cos i don't think i'll be allowed to take my s.l.r. into either festival site. so i might have to just take pictures in my head. x

2008-07-13T02:02:00.000-07:00

end of june / early july gigs
recent gigs for me have been rather varied music-wise, which is a good thing. just before glastonbury, leeds had a visitation from seattle-based the cave singers en route to said festival, which they seemed very pleased to be playing. the gig was of a similar ilk to many i've seen this year - quiet and intimate and dark (lighting). there was also spattering of unusual(ish) percussion instruments.

next up was why? at the start of july at the faversham.

and most recently the funnest gig / celebration of the bonsai kittens - for alas, twas their last ever gig. . . there were party bags, cake, balloons, bubbles and silly noses, but no human pyramids.

as usual, full sets on flickr (along with other recent photos of a wedding and a tea dance). am off now for holiday no.1 of the summer. ta ra! x

2008-06-19T16:30:00.000-07:00

fleet foxes & scandinavian festivals. . .

after almost being scuppered at the last minute (due to not buying a ticket to the gig before i went to london for a week), i did actually manage to get sorted and make it to the fleet foxes gig this sunday just gone, and how glad i am that i did! not sure what i was expecting as i hadn't heard much from them beforehand but it was a wonderful gig. great songs, fabulous harmonies and the band seemed to be having fun on stage - which i don't think i've seen for a while really.

beach house, who were on first, were mesmerising with vocals reminiscent of mazzy star/hope sandoval at times (i seem to remember). they were so mesmerising i forgot to take photos (and the lighting was a bit rubbish which didn't inspire me to snap). it wasn't much better for fleet foxes - a random shade of blue which gave the band a deathly appearance so it seems now looking at the shots; although it didn't feel like that at the time.

more photos here. obligatory vinyl was bought after the gig of course, as is usually the case with gigs i enjoy this much (although phosphorescent is still my highlight of the year so far).

this gig has got me more excited now (if that's possible) for my scandinavian trip this summer. during one week in august, i am heading to oya festival in oslo for a day and then heading down to göteborg for the way out west festival - where i will get to see fleet foxes again and some other bands i've seen recently - iron & wine and the mae shi to name but two - as well as getting to see some bands for the first time - in particular sigur ros. and have just discovered that grand archives are also playing (i think? i saw something about them on the festival website but it's in swedish so not sure what it actually says). i cannot wait!

although there are lots of leeds gigs to look forward to before then, and after then too (i have already got my ticket for micah p hinson at holy trinity church in september). cool. x

2008-06-05T13:05:00.000-07:00

bradford music week

this happened last week. some pics:

a few more from 'the hop' on 31 may and the lightspeed champion gig on 29 may here and here. x

2008-05-31T06:17:00.000-07:00

nastyfest ix (& animal collective)
two weeks ago today it was. i enjoyed it. and i saw: spodni pradlo, napolean iiird, paul marshall (no pics tho), slow club, lord auch, a place to bury strangers (not many pics due to the band playing in complete - and i mean complete and utter pitch black darkness for a lot of the set, hehe, ace!), dinosaur pile-up, no age, the mae shi and yeasayer. . . .

there's a collection of shots of all the bands here, and a random selection of shots in one tidy little set here.

most of all i enjoyed the mayhem that was the mae shi towards the end of the day. can't remember much about yeasayer after them. and i missed the madness of monotonix at the start (see pics here taken by fellow photographer gary w).
i also missed headliners in the back room pulled apart by horses who i wanted to see, which was also a bit of a mad set so i heard.

later that week i saw animal collective whose opening song (peacebone) was the the most enjoyable opening song of any set of any band at the brudenell that i've ever experienced - maybe helped along because of the crazy lights that just transported you somewhere else. i didn't shoot any of the gig, mainly cos the lights and the heat and the busyness put me off a bit. would love to see any if anyone did get any photos tho! ta. x

2008-05-16T12:42:00.000-07:00

noisier gigs on saturdays!
two weeks ago i hung out at 'live at leeds 2008' - had a fun day, although didn't quite get to see as many bands as i should have. this was a city-wide event and i only got to about 50% of the venues. . . started off with eureka machines at the well, then headed to the pit for a long sesh - napolean iiird, dinosaur pile-up (my new fave leeds band it would seem!), the debuts, mi mye, some of i concur and grammatics and then the final 'pit band for me was this et al, who were stormin! then i raced up to the fav (on me tod) to see white rabbits, who i enjoyed thoroughly.

twas a lovely day, and loveliest of all was mi mye. more shots from the day here (and more will be added when i get around to sorting them). . .

and tomorrow it is the turn of the noisy nastyfest at the faversham, where dinosaur pile-up are playing again along with lots of others that i've been wanting to check out.

the full set of dp-up pics from live at leeds is here.

so this will be nastyfest number nine. i've not been to them all - the one last november was my fave so far (some pics + ramblings here). let's see what tomorrow brings. x

2008-05-08T15:33:00.000-07:00

quiet gigs on thursdays. . .

it seems thursday is the day for quiet(ish) gigs of late. i have been out every thursday for the last three weeks, the first of which was low, at the wonderful city varieties in leeds. this is a lovely old music hall, with teared seating and ice-cream at the intervals. low was a fantastic gig. tonight it was the turn of the silver jews at the same venue - a gig which really wasn't what i was expecting. the support act was much more enjoyable than expected though (adrian crowley) - with his two violin players (and no siblings or wives on stage). . .

last thursday it was the turn of iliketrains at the equally wonderful brudenell social club. no getting up on stage for us this time (twice is probably enough!) - but we did get treated to death is not the end + choir (superb) (see here) and stainless steal (a rare treat).

but my highlight of the year so far gigwise (or otherwise) was phosphorescent at the faversham exactly two weeks ago tonight. fantastic gig after which i came away with two lots of lovely vinyl . . . (he is a vinyl kinda guy really). . . just as i'm posting this i'm listening to 'cocaine lights' (from his latest album pride) and at the end it's reminding me of haunting/tribal sounds of adjagas - one of my favourite gigs of last year. . .

more pics here.

http://www.last.fm/music/Phosphorescent

2008-04-02T11:37:00.000-07:00

the twilight sad
they were excellent last week when they played the on-the-bone night at the library in leeds. this was the second time i saw them - the first being last summer, which for some reason, noone remembered particularly fondly (the band included it would seem). i really enjoyed seeing them this time though.

more shots here. it was loud at the front. and it was good. and i wasn't sad.

i was sad the next day though (for reasons i won't go into). fair to say it was a matter of life and death. which is very aptly and chillingly and uniquely captured in this photo exhibition by german photographer walter schels. very moving.

and now back to the music photos. . . .march was a very slow month with my camera. april and may are looking good tho with lots of gigs coming up. so let's just wait and see how many i get out and shoot!