Buble and more...

Hi Guys

Been a busy few weeks culminating in shooting Michael Buble at the O2 on Sunday (surprisingly the only photographer on the night though saturday was a bit mobbed by all accounts). Got some great shots despite having to balance my enormous 400mm on my left knee (it's the lens you see at most sporting venues supported by monopods, it's bloody heavy!) the results of which are on the web site. Buble and his band were on particularly good form and much fun was had by all. The bugger of being a photographer is missing songs having taken shots through the three allocated songs, this time Mack the Knife was breaking out as I left the arena to hand in my kit and was long gone by the time I found my seat. Home was performed in the middle of the enthusiastic crowd and the whole set was a demonstration of skilled musicianship behind that smooth vocal. The acapella based support band Naturally 7 were fantastic too.

Did two Glen Campbell shows at Southend and The Royal Festival Hall - the guy is ageless and voice and guitar skills remain virtually untouched despite his advancing years. He was supported on this tour by a band that included three of his children, a very talented bunch they are too. Two of the kids Ashley and Cal (along with two other band members Ry Jarred and Siggy Sjursen ) are also in Instant People, who entertained us with a very skilled set before joining Glen on stage for the main event. The old favourites were wheeled out and delivered with a relish and panache under the direction of T.J. Kuenster who first joined Glen in the early seventies. The best surprises are from his recent album which convert with a refreshing air to stage - so Foo Fighters, Tom Petty and U2 covers are given the Campbell re-interpretation and all work remarkably well. Daughter Debby completed the line-up and if (I sincerely hope they do!) they do return to these shores put some time aside as it is a great night's entertainment.

Another O2 show was the Aussie Pink Floyd which was somewhat spoiled from a shooting point of view by latecomers blocking or hindering my view. Three songs go remarkably quickly when people are in your way. I had to shoot from the front of the mixing area a long way from the stage so the results are what they are - wouldn't call it ny best show, I certainly enjoyed the NIA shows of the last couple of years more as I was given licence to stroll around the arena and shoot from anywhere. Apart from that the actual show was a triumph - these guys do interpret Floyd's music to perfection and the lighting show is phenomenal. lots of little in-jokes with kangaroos, etc add to the sense of fun.

Write soon
Les

Jethro Tull, etc

Hi All
Just had the pleasure of covering Jethro Tull's two London nights, the first at the charming and 85db bound Union Chapel, the second at Croydon's Fairfield Halls. At both I was bound by having to take shots from the side of the arena rather than the front of stage so the big kit came out of the dustbags. Actually it is quite intriguing to do this type of shoot as more thought has to go into what angle you want to get, etc as you are likely to be tied to one spot (one note, can audience members take their seats before the main band take the stage please!!!! One a***ole took about thirty seconds to get in his seat right in front of me which is fine if you aren't a photographer limited to two songs). Tull were supported by French songstress Saori Jo, a name to put in your memory bank as she has a Kate Bush like voice and a good collection of songs to boot - worth seeing given the opportunity.

I actually printed a few of my shots from past shows and got the boys to sign them which was nice (Martin liked one shot so much that I had taken at The Festival Halls that he pinched it - with a kindly note I should add!!! He is more than welcome and is still a great guitarist as this show emphasized). Tull lean more on their musicality nowadays providing ian's voice with a welcome rest between vocals, they remain a superbly tight outfit and are undoubtedly still some of the most talented musicians out there treading the boards.

I also recently covered the marvellous Bootleg Beatles at Southend - and noticed that several of my shots had made it into their brochure which was nice to see. Speaking of which, i was contacted for some of my Glen Campbell shots to appear in his new brochure, which I consider quite an honour - the guy is a legend. Gearing up now for Tangerine Dream at The Royal Albert Hall on Thursday if I survive Arsenal's quarter final tie with Barcelona - am i concerned re: Messi, Henry, etc - well yes actually.... write soon - Les...

Football and all that

Well it's been a while since my last blog so thought I'd write again. Been deliberately quiet since Christmas as the day job has slaughtered me, inundating me with meetings, long hours and ten thousand documents to prepare or that's how it seems any way. But needs must and I ventured back into the game at the Ebbsfleet v Forest Green Blue Square Premier match - now this is obviously deeply different to the Concert and Promo work I am accustomed too and takes a totally different mindset and a bit of fiddling with the cameras too but hopefully got there in the end and managed to get a super shot of the winning goal flying in (a Leon Crook header in added time too). It was a bit of a thriller actually ending 4-3 to Ebbsfleet so plenty of opportunities for good shots... the results of which are in the miscellaneous section on the site... Hoping to do more soon and have just applied for a Conference Licence Number so here's hoping.

Starting to line a few things up on the gig front and am now looking forward to another year of photography, another year of lugging all that heavy kit around, another year of traipsing through rain sodden fields, another year of drudgery - that lot was a joke to lighten the mood...

A friend, Steve Butler, and I are also embarking on starting up a photographic agency - the holding web page is www.gr8-images.co.uk - Steve is an experienced toggy, all round nice guy and old school friend. We are hoping to cover news, sports, concerts, etc in the south east and its surrounding areas so hopefully more on that soon...

That's all for now - blog you soon as they say in internet circles...

This past month

Has been a fairly quiet month but have done some more shots for the very versatile and talented Katy Setterfield & her very good backing band and singers (including my old friend Al Vosper). Katy of course won the BBC talent show The One and Only with her pitch perfect Dusty Springfield interpretation - she has since toured a show highlighting that. This latest tour shows a bit more of her vocal talent as she also appears as Annie Lennox, Cher, Tina Turner and herself and does an exceptional job in each case - this is a highly entertaining show and well worth a visit if you can grab a ticket.

I've also had the great pleasure of photographing Paul Young and Los Pacaminos again. This marvellous bunch of musicians rip through a Tex Mex repertoire that is a joy to behold. They have an absolute ball on stage and that fun is reflected in the night's entertainment which in this case teetered toward the excellent (despite the fact massive hangovers were apparently being fought off!!!). Smiles a plenty in both band and audience are once again why I would highly recommend thsi show - just don't expect any of Paul's singles to be heard (as a few girls along the row from us did!), that isn't what this show is about at all - pack your tequilas and take your shots...

Speaking of Al Vosper earlier, he and another old mate Ray Brown (one time of The Illegal Eagles) are making fortnightly sojourns to The Cricketers Pub in Southend (on the A13 next to Club Riga) and this is one of the best free shows you could hope to witness, two excellent musicians and exceptional singers covering every genre of music you could imagine - get yourself down there if you can, no regrets guaranteed (the last show saw songs by Crowded House, The Everly Brothers, Free, Michael Buble, Frank Sinatra and The Eagles).

Meanwhile more weddings are dropping into my calendar so the suicide pills are likely to creep out soon though one formal occasion did give me great joy this month as my lovely baby grand-daughter Abbie was christened. I am biased but she is one beautiful girl. Did a couple of other kiddie shoots and a couple of dog shoots too so the versatility is obviously growing - now if only i could get some stunningly sexy ladies to model for me I might forget about the bloody weddings.

Write again soon....

More Kit and Weddings

The thing I most like to do (with obvious exceptions too profane to mention) was achieved this week when I added to my range of kit with two more Canon lenses - one of which was put to immediate use at one of those events I least like to do (a wedding). This was for a long-term mate of mine Chris and his lovely wife Simone so was a freeby from me and the pictures look great, he modestly states, so all is well. I must berate his planning though - arranging a wedding that I am photographing at the same time as the first Arsenal home game of the season is not the work of an intelligent person and means me hunting around frantically for someone to take my season ticket. No gigs this week - it's all very quiet and the day job is cutting a swathe under my ability to seek out some as I am managing numerous projects at the moment.

Recently very proud to have my work featured on the official John Barrowman site (http://www.johnbarrowman.com/fanzone/galleries/concerts/uktour09/gallery.shtml). He certainly knows how to work an audience - women screaming at a gay man always makes me smile - and his show is a highly entertaining experience which hopefully I captured, that was the intention for sure (more shots in my own concert section here). I also had a shot featured in Classic Rock of Airrace which I took a while back at The Twist in Colchester - now this is a band worth checking out, their shows have been getting better and better and they are some of the nicest people in rock too so all the more worthy. They are back together after a long time apart and sound better than ever - far rockier than the original album. I've also covered them at Islington and The Cambridge Rock Festival and hope to continue to do so in the future.

Then there was the great pleasure of recently shooting the Jack Bruce, Robin Trower, Gary Husband show at Shepherds Bush Empire - all were in great form and Jack can still launch those vocals despite being two years into the pension period (66 for those who cant be bothered to work it out). The majority of their material was drawn from their recent album Seven Moons but it was when they ventured into Cream territory that the crowd erupted into life with an 11 1/2 minute epic take of Sunshine of Your Love being the highlight of the four Cream tracks played (run close by the wonderful White Room it must be said). Another highlight of this show was the support act, a young lady called Joanne Shaw Taylor, who absolutely rocked the joint with a tight blues set led by her own majestic guitar playing. A couple of my pictures from this show were apparently going to appear alongside a Sunday Times review (23/8) of The Seven Moons album, but I couldn't get a copy anywhere late on Sunday, the first chance I had, so I don't know if it went in? Does anyone else know?

Cheers for now
Les