Never judge a book by it's cover!

Seeing a lineup such as the Kerrang! Tour of 2013 is hard to resist applying for and shooting a bunch of bands that I usually wouldn't listen to. The sort of music Kerrang has slowly evolved into is more into the new age rock of the 21st century which mainly consists (of what I would call) 'screamo' music. I still stand by my guns with that and won't suddenly begin to like it but after witnessing the Kerrang! Tour I can say that the main headliners The Black Vaile Brides were a great bunch of performers and entertainers! To say the least....

First up was Fearless Vampire Killers who I was late to shoot as I was trying to sort out a photo pass that had been misplaced... however I managed to quickly snap a few photos in the last 10 seconds of the 3rd song haha. I was then quickly ushered out of the pit and into the sweaty crowd of teenagers. The following band Tonight Alive were a band from 'down under' and I must say I really enjoyed shooting these guys, they were great with the crowd and the toggers; pointing and gesturing to the crowd all sorts of actions to engage them with their music.

Chiodos was the penultimate band to perform and this is sort of band that would usually make me cringe as all I hear really is a deeper voiced Jaba the Hut but with a really bad cough... not my sort of thing but again I can't judge a book by it's cover as they were actually really good. They entertained the crowd and had such a high level of energy on stage.

 

The main act of the night, Black Veil Brides, hit of their set with a bit of a bumpy start as lead singer Andy Biersack injured himself on entering the stage causing the first song to be put on hold while paramedics tended to the frontman. Not what they had in mind! The guys were great fun to shoot, giving the toggers in the pit everything they wanted, the poses, the outrageous moves and the exaggerated playing styles. Grabbing as many action shots as I could the time in the pit went quicker than any other gig I have shot and would love to have the chance to shoot them again. Again not really my sort of music but they were great!

 

 

Hopefully more gigs will be coming my way this year including Journey, Whitesnake, Lawson, McFly and maybe a Kasabian charity gig at Doncaster sports hall!

  

First gig of 2013... FIANLLY!!

So after being deprived of shooting any sort of live entertainment for almost a whole month (the last thing I shot before this being the Human League at Sheffield City Hall) I am finally back in with the togging action and have a lineup of artists to shoot left, right and centre, and it all kicked off with having a pass to shoot up and coming country guitarist Jake Bugg at the Sheffield O2 which was a real challenge in more ways than one!

Not only was it Jake Bugg that would take to the stage at the O2 but Hudson Taylor and Little Green Cars would also share their music with Steel City's crowd that had shown for the night. Hudson Taylor are a 3 4 piece band from Ireland and Little Green Cars being a 6 piece band from Ireland. They both performed well and kept the crowd entertained for few hours while Bugg was being pampered and groomed backstage ready for his first night on his headline tour. Only at the age of 18 you have to give him credit of his achievements. Having already toured with Noel Gallagher and Snow Patrol he has achieved so much in the time he has been around.

Hudson Talor and Little Green Cars were a good warm up act for Jake but I wouldn't think they would have their own headline gig for a while, not until they come up with more interesting material at least. Trying to tease the crowd and get them to sing along is good, but you need to know how to work the crowd and I hate to say it but Hudson Taylor didn't deliver. Doing the old "we say... you say..." didn't really work when they tried it out. It might have worked if the O2 venue was more than half empty (not half full haha). Little Green Cars were a little better than Hudson Taylor and got a few members of the crowd having a groove and jive, I can see them going far especially since they have such a talented vocalist.

Hopefully I get a few more gigs this year than last I am now more equipped with contacts and already have a bunch of potential gigs lined up for me including The Darkness at Sheffield's City Hall at the beginning of March, I really hope I get this show as Justin is such a frontman and would be such a icon to photograph live on stage. Till then...................