Zef!
I had applied for a Die Antwoord photo-pass but knowing my luck, I sure as hell was not expecting to secure one.
Surprisingly, I got the pass and I was eagerly awaiting this gig as I have been a fan of the band for a while and felt that it would be a kick ass opportunity to photograph a band that is going to be HUGE in a couple of years. Mark my words!
The gig was at the Prince Bandroom and I have only ever photographed here once before when I snuck a camera in to Rowland S. Howard’s final gig a couple of years back.
Tonight was to be the first gig shooting at this venue with a pass so I wasn’t sure of what rings the venue would make us jump through.
First of all, you couldn’t enter without a driver’s licence so I got carded… for the first time in my life(!)
The photographers were then instructed that we only had 2 songs to shoot and the encore.
Not sure how that was to work out. The venue was packed to the rafters so it would have been quite an ordeal to shoot your two songs, leave and then try and fight the crowd to get back in the pit for the encore. Huh?
Anyway. Ya can’t argue with the rules. In the pit with minutes to go before Die Antwoord were to hit the stage, the security informed us we had three songs. Great. No problem. Awesome.
A couple of minutes later, we were told no, just two songs.
Seconds before showtime, it got changed back to three songs.
Confusion all around.
The pit was tiny. Squashed with about 10 photographers and bouncers – there was no where to move.
I decided to shoot the entire show with my 50mm tonight. I wanted to put it through its paces whilst I am waiting to buy the new Canon 24-70mm. Maybe not the wisest of choices tonight as the band were only a couple of feet in front of you. I didn’t want to switch lenses midway so I just persevered.
The show was intense and at one point as I was chimping down at the camera to check my settings, Yo-Landi sprayed a mouthful of water over me. I was drenched!
Annoyingly, security counted the intro tape as one song so in reality, we only had two tunes to shoot. So damn frustrating.
The songs were over in a flash and then we were to be escorted out of the venue. Fortunately, my girlfriend and I had bought tickets to the show so I then had to cloak my camera and then be able to head back in.
I wasn’t too comfortable with leaving $10,000 of gear with a freaking impromptu cloak but whaddya gonna do?
What a farce.
The crowd was so intense, there was no way I could make it back to my gal so I just watched the rest of the show from the rear of the stage.
Die Antwoord were simply magnificent and as the show went on, they got more and more intense, physical and crazy. God it woulda been great to have shot more!
Amazingly fun and awesome band!
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