Big Sound 2009 – Wednesday
For a few days back in September I got to play at being a proper bona fide photographer for a few days when I was commissioned by the organisers to be part of a three-person team of photographers covering the Big Sound conference in Brisbane. The work involved covering the panel discussions and also all […]
Brisbane Sounds 2010 Media Launch @ The Zoo
One gig that has always been scribbled in my diary for the last couple of years has been the annual Brisbane Sounds gig at The Zoo. The night is a showcase of local bands used as a fundraiser to raise money for a promotional CD sampler of Brisbane bands. You can read more about it […]
Violent Soho @ The Step Inn
Leaving the Monster Magnet show mid-way through it’s a race across town to get to the Step Inn for Violent Soho’s last show before relocating to New York. I get there just in time, although having missed all the support acts. Photographing at the Step Inn is challenging at the best of times, as it’s […]
Monster Magnet + Regular John + Rollerball @ The Hi-Fi
I find out tonight that Monster Magnet have a completely different fan base in Australia than they do in the UK, Whilst the UK fanbase is more what I’d expect, being the typical indie/rock crowd, the audience in the Hi-Fi tonight is possibly the most bogan crowd I’ve ever experienced outside an Australian music festival. […]
Joanna Newsom @ The Tivoli
I think my favourite description of Joanna Newsom (maybe from Mess+Noise, maybe from Drowned In Sound, maybe somewhere else, I can’t exactly remember) described her as “singing like a recently smacked child”. It’s a description that always brings a wry smile as I’ve always thought there is an element of truth in the description and it’s been […]
X + Sixfthick @ The Zoo
Every time I see Sixfthick I make a conscious decision that I’m not going to photograph Gentle Ben as I’ve got a ridiculous amount of photos of him and would say he’s my most photographed person by a long, long way. By comparison I have hardly any photos of Dan, and even less of Tony […]
I Heart Hiroshima + DZ @ The Zoo
Another chance to catch up with DZ, this time away from the small stage of The Troubadour, supporting I Heart Hiroshima at The Zoo. I had hoped that the larger venue, larger stage and better lighting might make it an improved photographic experience but it ends up being almost the opposite, with the band being […]
Cannot Buy My Soul: The Songs of Kev Carmody @ The Riverstage
Waiting outside The Riverstage before the gates open you can’t but get a feeling that there’s a heavy cloud of middle-class liberal guilt in the air, watching the white, middle-aged masses gather with their rugs and picnic baskets to celebrate one of modern Australia’s protest singers. But I guess I am sat outside the gate […]
That Was The Year That Was 2009
This time last year I blogged that 2008 had been a hectic photographic year, little knowing that 2009 would be even more extreme, and end up looking as follows: Stars Black Keys All Tomorrow’s Parties – Mt Buller All Tomorrow’s Parties – Brisbane Powerhouse: Fuck Buttons, Dead Meadow & Afrirampo Bon Iver Laughing Clowns Jeff Beck […]
Timothy Carroll + Mckisko + Kate Jacobsen @ The Troubadour
As I said at the time, I was very impressed when I first saw Timothy Carroll, when he supported Texas Tea at their album launch last year; a set of really nice songs, with excellent melodies sung beautifully, especially the vocal contributions of The Troubadour’s Corinna Scanlon who I didn’t realise sang up until that […]
Philadelphia Grand Jury + DZ @ The Troubadour
I put in to cover this show more for another chance to see DZ play as opposed to getting to photograph the headline act. They had their strobe out in force again so took the opportunity to play around with long exposures again, as I had when I’d seen them before. I was less lazy […]
+1 Records Showcase @ The Zoo
The +1 Records showcase at The Zoo provided a chance to catch up some local bands that I hadn’t seen for a while. Having said that, Black Mustang were one of those bands that I had never gotten around to seeing, although they had one of the best songs on the Brisbane Sounds 2009 compilation, ‘Between The Devil […]
Incremental Records Launch @ The Zoo
I made a comment in a recent blog about how easy it it to lose touch with the local music scene. When you start of photographing the usual route is to start with the local scene, build up a portfolio and  hope that it leads to bigger and higher profile opportunities but when that happens those […]
Washington + Last Dinosaurs @ The Troubadour
I know I’ve blogged previously about photographing keyboard players; it’s the worst and along with saxophonists they’re probably the hardest musicians to get really good photos of. Not just ok photos, REALLY good photos. This is possibly because, with a very few exceptions, the keyboard is the most un-rock instrument ever. So Megan Washington is […]
Flipper + Sixfthick + Vaginabillies @ The Step Inn
I guess I had an inkling of what a Flipper show might be like to attend and tonight I get pretty much what I expected; you can get a sense just from listening to their music without having to even read a single live review. It’s a bitter, angry, alienated, disinterested, discordant experience and tonight Bruce […]
Deerhunter + The Rational Academy @ The Zoo
I will admit to be an occasional Pitchfork reader. I still hate the layout and the font size is still far too small and the wrong colour, but maybe once a week I’ll remember to go and have a look and read a few reviews.  If the physical act of reading reviews on their site wasn’t […]
Wolf & Cub @ The Zoo
Tonight is a lesson in how not to photograph a gig. As it’s a Friday, a Thursday night decision is made to take my camera gear to work and go straight out, first to the Bleeding Heart Gallery‘s Knock-Off Drinks before heading onto The Zoo. However, forgetting to take my 28-70mm and only realising at 5pm that all […]
Ladytron @ The Hi-Fi
Six weeks after the opening of the Hi-Fi Brisbane to a generally less than impressed audience, Ladytron‘s second Brisbane show in less than nine months means a return to the venue. To be honest not a lot more progress seems to have been made in those six weeks; the paint smell might have gone but […]
The Middle East + Little Scout @ The Old Museum
Despite the ever-growing acclaim and apparent international record label interest, I will admit to be slightly disappointed by The Middle East‘s debut release, ‘The Recordings of The Middle East‘. However, much of this disappointment stems by placing ‘Blood‘ as the middle song on a 5-track EP, raising the bar to such a high level that it almost makes the last […]
DZ @ The Troubadour
A friend asked me a few week ago who my favourite new Brisbane band was.  I replied that I didn’t really have one; most the Brisbane bands I like have been around for at least a couple of years and when you become more ‘successful’ in photographing bands, getting the opportunity for higher profile gigs, you sadly lose touch […]
Red Riders + The Cairos + Ruby Tigers @ The Globe
I’ve always had a soft spot for Red Riders. They were amongst the first bands I saw after moving to Sydney, when they supported theredsunband at @Newtown in September 2004, with Matt emailing me after I uploaded the photos to a certain Australian music website to say that he loved the photos and since then […]
Violent Soho on Film 28-05-09
 Having seen and photographed Violent Soho plenty of times over the last few years and having photographed them recently in The Zoo car park, I took the opportunity to relax from needing to get editorial photos for publication and take a roll of film instead when they supported …And You Will Know Us By The […]
…And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of The Dead + Violent Soho @ The Zoo
When it comes to live music, I’m usually a ‘stay ’til the bitter end’ type of gig-goer. For the most part I can never fathom why people would purposely walk out of a gig after only a few songs; maybe it’s just the optimist in me that hopes however bad it is it will get […]
Brisbane Sounds 2009 on Film
As well as taking the usual digital photos at Brisbane Sounds 2009, as previously posted here, I also took a couple rolls of Ilford HP5, rating the ISO400 film at ISO1600 and then developing them for 14 minutes in ID-11 developer. The results are very grainy, as was expected, although slightly less than the photos […]
