Monday 1 April 2013

The Vaccines, Tim Burgess, The Courteeners and more...

2011 came and went in a blur...


Its almost New Years eve and I've been a little neglectful of my blog. November came and went, and before I had chance to reflect, December was upon us.

Towards the end of October the Night & Day Cafe asked me along to photograph The Selecter for their website. I remembered watching Pauline Black in my youth and never ever thought for a moment that she would venture in front of my lens.

November 1st and I was off to Sound Control with my partner in crime Jill Coleman (Jillcolemanphotography.co.uk) to photograph and review my favourite band of 2011, The Chapman Family. The set was energetic and Kingsley fell in love with the 'Transporter Bridge' blue pillar that held up the ceiling. Kingsley rocks!

November 2nd... was an official night out. No camera. No pen. My OH and I went off to the MEN Arena to watch the Arctic Monkeys. A fabulous performance and I love Alex Turners new teddy boy rock look :)

November 3rd... and a trip with my OH and BF to see Author Anthony Horowitz at Manchester Town Hall. Anthony has been commissioned by the Arthur Conan Doyle Trust and just written the new Sherlock Holmes Novel, he red an except and signed books afterwards.
Jenni Murray from BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour was also there, I bought her book 'Memoirs of a Not so Dutiful Daughter' (I'm glued to it) and she signed it for me #icollectsignedbooks

November 4th... another Night out with No Camera. No Pen. This time to the Night and Day Cafe to watch the Stone Roses and Oasis tribute bands - and I have to say they were excellent.

November 17th... and I find myself at the Manchester Academy and I've got the best seat in the house for The Vaccines gig.
An unusual shoot, when I got there I found out it was the usual first three songs, but flash for the first song???
It totally threw me. It was my Sigma 17-35mm wide angle lens' debut - so the challenge was on.
What was even more challenging is that the Vaccines have notoriously short songs, so we only had just under six minutes to shoot!
November 20th and its OH's anniversary prezzie (from me) to go and see The Fall. Luckily I'd seen Mark E. Smith rehearse with the Gorillaz, so I knew what to expect. 
He was all over the place. he twiddle with knobs on the equipment and he generally mumbled his way through the set.
Tim Burgess (The Charlatans) was there doing an interview with City Life Manchester. And yes... I know who the 'excited stranger' is!
November 27th... Another night out with OH, my camera and my special pen. Little Dragon were performing at the Ruby Lounge and it was a gig I'd been looking forward to. I first heard of Little Dragon when she collaborated with Damon Albarn and the 'Gorillaz' and after seeing the Gorillaz rehearse last year and reviewed Damon Albarn's Opera (Dr Dee), it was a great to see Yukimi Nagano performing on stage, let alone have the privilege to photograph her.


December 8th and OH and I are off into town for TWO shoots tonight. The first is Tim Burgess from The Charlatans at Fopp, where there was a Tim Peaks Diner listening party (those on Twitter are in the know here ) to raise money for Treckstock (Teenage Cancer Charity).
It was fabulous, There were official Tim Peaks diner mugs and T's on sale and huge cupcakes! Tim was signing cartoon strips and he signed my camera bagtoo - cool :) then we raced across town to see another of my teenage favourite stars 'Gary Numan'.
I finally got to meet photographers Ben Bentley and the amazing Ed Fielding (Official Photographer for Gary Numan).
Unfortunately, I didn't get chance to speak to Ed, the stage guys had overdone the dry ice a bit and I lost him in the fog the ensued, although I did get to see his photos online the next day.

December 9th and it's the Apollo to photograph and review the Courteeners and what can I say?
...That crowd was the craziest I've seen so far. And I got covered in some form of liquid.
Luckily it was cold, so I assume it was lager?
But what a spectacular performance and a band I'll be going to see again!

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