Jeff Beck @ BCC

When I photographed G3 a couple of years ago I crossed a couple guitarists from my formative teenage music years off my list of guitarists to photograph. Jeff Beck playing Brisbane means the list can be updated, along with a few other names I’ve added in the meantime:

The List
Yngwie Malmsteen [x]
Joe Satriani [x]
Steve Vai [x]
Jeff Beck [x]
Jimmy Page [ ]
Dave Gilmour [ ]
Pete Townsend [ ]
Edward Van Halen [ ]

The one name I’ve always wanted to cross off is Eddie Van Halen – I’ve had the pleasure of at least seeing (if not photographing) Messers Page, Gilmour and Townsend play live – but I just know it’s never going to happen and even if it did it’s just not going to be the same as it would have been seeing him back in Van Halen’s 1980s heyday. Time waits for no man, not even Dave Lee Roth… Interesting Eric Clapton was touring the country at the same time but didn’t come anywhere near Brisbane (although, to be honest, I’ve never been much of a fan. Plus he makes you photograph from the mixing desk, although sadly I think Van Halen make you do this these days as well).

Photographing guitarists is always a fascinating experience, getting to observe guitar nerds in their home environment, and tonight was no different, with plenty of fans coming down to the front to pay homage and check out his guitars rack at the side of the stage and his pedal board. It was interesting to see that less than five minutes before the start of the show the white Strat that he used (at least for the first two songs I saw) was in two pieces and unstrung; nifty work from his guitar tech to get it set up so quickly.

Tonight was a two-song affair before being escorted out of the venue – with the songs being ‘Beck’s Bolero‘ and ‘Pump‘, neither of them particularly long songs. The photography wasn’t helped by BCC’s rules to photograph kneeling in the aisle, so not to block anyone’s view in the all-seated venue. This meant photographing from a very low angle and losing Jeff behind the stage and the fold back speakers. However, the most annoying aspect was that I was on the wrong side of the stage, with Jeff facing the rest of his band during those two songs meaning I got to see far more of his back than I really wanted to. A shame but got a couple of reasonable photos.

A few more photos on flickr.

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