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Wicked Game

It’s always a treat getting to shoot a band you absolutely adore! Having been a huge H.I.M fan for quite a few years now, I was greatly anticipating the opportunity to photograph these guys.

Which is saying something. Earlier in the day I won a pass to go and see the incredible Faith No More but I surrendered that ticket to my cousin. Couple that with the fact that also, Meshuggah were doing a show elsewhere – I decided to stick with Ville and the boys and finally get to photograph this truly incredible band.

The Impossibility of Reason

Tonight was one of the hardest shoots I’ve had to endure.

The allotted three-song limit was quickly cut down to half a song as the frantic security in the photo-pit alongside me – had their hands full within seconds of the band hitting the stage. Seconds!

All Hail Satan!

With the near-encounter with Rotting Christ yesterday in the streets of Melbourne, seriously – what better way to kick off 2010′s gig photography with a nice touch of Black Metal evilness?

I was scheduled to shoot both Rotting Christ and headliners Dark Funeral at Billboard tonight – one of my fave venues to shoot at by the way – for Heavy Metal website and all round cool dudes, Metal Obsession.

Corner Hotel Nu Metal

Even though I had secured to shoot this gig several months ago, I very nearly didn’t go to the show tonight as I was bordering on exhaustion. With a long week at work coupled with some late nights shooting and editing photographs – had all but taken its toll on me.

Never let anyone tell you otherwise, this is hard work. Granted, it is fun and always an eye-opening experience… but when one works a normal job during the day and then does rock photography purely for love, by night – the day’s do tend to get long, tiring and fatigue inducing.

Images & Words

With the past couple of gigs I have shot being two of the most rewarding experiences in the fledgling attempt at a career – a bad night was just around the corner.

I had never shot at the Palais before. This was to be my first night so I knew not what to expect. Although she is a gorgeous, classic venue and pretty much right in my own neighbourhood, I didn’t know what would be in store for me photographically.

Booneville Stomp

I was running so late tonight, that I thought I would miss the start of the show and of course, my allotted shooting in the first three songs. I barely made it by the skin of my teeth and by the time I got into the photo-pit – the lights had dimmed and Les Claypool and his masked cohorts had hit the stage.

Guardians Of Asgaard

I’ve lost track of the number of gigs I have seen throughout the course of 2009. Trust me, there has been a few. One of the perks of shooting live music is that you get to see the gig for free so with that in mind, one does become a little complacent. It seems, at times, that one gig just rolls into the other and at the end of the day – it can get all rather stale.

Not tonight. Not tonight boys and girls. Amon Amarth were simply fucking phenomenal. For me, this was the gig of the year such was the power and ferocity that these guys utterly impressed and blew me away!

Damnation And Deliverance

I had never shot at the Palace before so it was to be a night of firsts. I made my way to the front of the stage 20 minutes before Opeth were to kick off their set. I wanted to familiarise myself with the front of the venue and get a feel for the place – as you do.

With 10 minutes to show time, I made my way into the designated photo-pit and sternly checked my gear again and waited for the band. Several other photogs made their way to the pit.

Anthems Of Rebellion

I heard about Arch Enemy’s tour of Australia back in June. I’ve been a fan of the band for a while and last saw them at Festival Hall a few years ago in support of Megadeth. I definitely wanted the opportunity to photograph them so I decided to email the band via their website. When the promoter all but ignores you – cut out the middle man and go straight to the source.

Pop Crimes

Bit of an impromptu gig tonight. My girlfriend happens to be a very big fan of Rowland S. Howard. So much so when we bumped into Rowland at the Nick Cave exhibition a year or so ago, he knew her by name. I recently bought her Rowland’s new album Pop Crimes for her birthday – but tonight, she bought us tickets for tonight’s album launch gig at the Prince Bandroom.

Core Meltdown

I’m not usually a fan of the Metalcore genre. For the most part, it’s raucous nature and somewhat pretentious technical stylings leaves me scratching my head. It sounds like each individual band member is playing a different song.

But I wanted to photograph such a gig and in the end, I was pleasantly surprised with Poison The Well’s set which was injected with melody throughout. I will definitely be checking out some of their discography as frankly, I really liked what I heard tonight.

3 Minutes, 1 Song, & 1 Spilt Beer

Back in 1996, I was as big a Marilyn Manson fan as you could get. The band, having signed to Trent Reznor’s label ‘Nothing Records’ – had released a couple of classic albums, ‘Portrait of An American Family’ and the magnificent ‘Antichrist Superstar’. A couple of records I played to death. Matter of fact, I still listen to them today.