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Into Second Death

The less said about this debacle the better. In short, no photopit. No room to move. No fuckn lights (at least for the headliner who may as well have been lit by candlelight).

A total waste of time and effort.

Don’t laugh too hard at the ‘photos’.

Are You Ready For Some Darkness?

When Turbonegro are in town, you know from the outset it is going to be a big night. A big fuckn night! With the Hifi Bar long sold out for this gig, a classic night of bonafide hard and fast Punk Rock was set to be delivered to Melbourne’s branch of the Turbojugend.

The denim jackets and sailor hats were plentiful at the Hifi Bar long before Turbonegro hit the stage.

Up The Irons!

Back in my musical formative years, Iron Maiden (along with Judas Priest & Black Sabbath) were one of the first Metal acts I truly got into. And I’m talking 1980/81 here when Paul Di’Anno was at the helm and Maiden delivered a couple of their finest moments – the debut album and the classic ‘Killers’ a year later. Albums which to this day, get plenty of rotation and are probably, along with ‘Number of the Beast’, Iron Maiden’s definitive work.

So it was a little on the surreal side getting to see the frontman of those two albums, Paul Di’Anno, live for the very first time – even if he had been on these shores several times before.

Fear Is The Mind Killer

You prepare hard for a photo shoot at any given music venue. No two venues are the same and now that I have been doing the Rock photography for several years, you begin to know the intricacies of each venue and pretty much know what you will expect from the get-go.

Having said that, Melbourne’s Hifi Bar is always a venue I have struggled in. The lighting is the worst you will have to deal with so it is a given, it will be a hard, frustrating shoot almost always. In the rare case the ‘lighting’ guy actually uses the front lights and (shock, horror) lights the stage, it can be a fun venue to shoot in. But those instances seem to be few and far between.

Fire In The Head

The Tea Party have always been a phenomenally successful act here in Australia with a rabid and loyal following which crosses a variety of musical genres. I found out confirmation I was to be shooting them at the very last minute and that pleased me greatly.

Making Monsters

Honestly, I hadn’t heard too much of Combichrist’s catalogue but what I had heard, I did like. Add to the fact that they were a highly visual act, which would hopefully make for some cool shots, that left me in high anticipatory mode for the show! Oh yeah, I’m easily excitable!

A few days before the gig I prepared somewhat, looking over some YouTube videos of the band just to see exactly where they all stood and what sort of choreography I could expect. As far at YouTube clips go – yeah, they looked totally cool so I got a feel for what I would expect tonight.

The Devil’s Rain

It was with great excitement and anticipation that I got the call up to shoot The Misfits. Whoa dude! The Misfits! The band hasn’t toured these shores for the better part of 5 years and they were always a band whose name I had hastily scribbled onto a natty piece of paper and ceremoniously dumped into the old bucket list of bands I’d love to shoot!

With or without the mighty Evil Elvis Glenn Danzig, the Misfits still are a classic legendary punk band and I for one, was super excited about the opportunity to be in their photo-pit tonight.

Illud Divinum Insanus

Arriving at the Hifi Bar a good hour before headliners Morbid Angel were to hit the stage, I noticed a couple of things almost immediately. One, the venue was absolutely packed to the rafters and two, the light show bathing openers The Amenta looked fucking phenomenal. I turned to my fellow photog Anwar and said, “Dude, check out the lights tonight! I think we’re in for a ripper!”

Now I say this because for the most part, I really hate shooting at the Hifi Bar. Reason being, the lighting is mostly woeful on the many occasions I have had to photograph here and subsequently, that makes it darn hard work to get a decent shot.