Tag Archive for "The Zoo"
Any chance to be in the same room as one of my musical heroes since forever is not something to be passed up on and why I find myself at The Cribs‘ gig at The Zoo tonight.
I photographed Johnny Marr when he played at Falls Festival with Modest Mouse back at the very end of 2006 and found it to be a frustrating experience; he tends to play head down, looking at his fingers, but every time I ‘gave up’ and looked to use my three song allocation to photograph some one else in the band he would pull out some rock move and hold and play his guitar vertically. And of course by the time I’d moved the camera back around to focus on him it was too late. Plus it was just about the only time I’ve ever felt in complete awe of someone I’ve photographed and I couldn’t help but stand there in the photo pit and just watch him play, something that didn’t help the photographic experience either.
Photographing him tonight is again a frustrating experience but at least I’m not hindered by the 3-song rule, although I still don’t really get the shot I want of him. I do, however, have to photograph from the second row, with the people up against the stage having claimed their prize spots within seconds of The Legend! finishing his support slot, and get to witness the modern phenomena of people in the front row watching a gig that’s happening mere centrimetres from their noses through the LCD screen of iPhones held above their heads (and naturally in my frame).
There’s a completely different atmosphere at The Zoo tonight, with a strong/possibly drunk English contingent, who are REALLY into the band, something that you tend not to see that much at The Zoo for Australian bands that usually play there; like Biffy Clyro they’re one of those bands that are a lot bigger in the UK and play much bigger venues than The Zoo. One of the night’s non-musical highlights is when a girl not only jumps onstage but also stage dives off it. Talking to her afterwards she’s disappointed that I didn’t get a photo of her doing it so I had to tell her that everyone was a bit amazed that she did it, especially as the place was only about half full and not exactly packed down at the front.
Although I don’t really know many of The Cribs’ songs I liked a lot of what I heard and saw tonight; I’d hate to tar it with the ‘Brit Pop’ brush but it is very English sounding, with a touch of glam and a smattering of punk. And Johnny Marr’s playing always manages to sound Smiths-like and is always thrilling to see up close. However, somewhat depressingly, there’s only about 250 people at The Zoo tonight when every indie guitarist in the city should be in attendance to pay homage and enjoy watching and listening to him play. Hopefully it won’t be too long before he’s back in Brisbane again in some shape or form.
More photos on Flickr.
Apparently this was a really good gig; it just completely passed me by as I was still in Soundwave euphoria and having already photographed 23 bands that day, by Number 24 I was very much in autopilot mode. It sounded nice enough; very old school 1980’s twee British indie but I was too busy rehydrating after a day in the sun with a couple pints of lemon, lime and bitters to go with the very-bad-of-me Mighty Angus meal from McDonalds (my first meal since a bacon sandwich for breakfast) I’d had on the walk up to The Zoo. Not sure why but there was no review either in Rave or on their website, so you’ll just have to ask someone who was there and hadn’t been to Soundwave what it was like.
A few more photos on Flickr.
It isn’t often that you get a “three songs, no flash” instruction at The Zoo, the only ones I can remember were for Amanda Palmer and We Are Scientists. It didn’t really make much difference for WAS but was very annoying for Amanda Palmer, considering all the amazing theatrics throughout the show. I think I can remember reading somewhere that Camera Obscura’s Traceyann Campbell doesn’t like being photographed, which is fair enough and tonight the restriction doesn’t really affect being able to get a photo to be used to accompany the review. The more annoying and slightly insulting aspect of the media accreditation was finding out that the Tour Manager needed to see my camera before they’d give me a photo pass, although in the end this didn’t happen and no physical passes were actually given out.
The photos aren’t great and with no photo pit they’re almost all from the same position; I did run around to the other side during the third song, taking the long way around the back of the mixing desk, but only had time to take two shots before the song ended.
It’s the first time back at The Zoo since got back to Brisbane from the UK and another one of those hot, sweaty summer nights at the venue that I’d forgotten about. The conditions seemed to take it out on both band and the audience, with a lack of energy from both sides. The band look like they are dressed for a Scottish summer, which can’t have helped. Although there a few good songs played tonight, a lot sound samey and there are no real peaks to their performance. From the audience-side, it feels like they’re more causal and inquisitve rather than rabid fans, and although each and every song is greeted with polite applause, they never become fully animated and energised.
A few more photos on Flickr.
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 and buy the CDs here. My blog posts from the 2008 and 2009 gigs are here and here and I also broke out a roll of film at last year’s gig.
The Brisbane Sounds 2010 CD was launched last Wednesday at a media night at The Zoo and I had a vested interest in attending as I was exhibiting a dozen photographs of local Brisbane bands, a number of whom are on this year’s CD, as part of a joint exhibition. The photos will also be on display at the gig night on Saturday 27 February.
In addition to the exhibition, the launch night also had live performances from Tara Simmons and Grand Atlantic, an interview between the Courier Mail’s Noel Mengel and Brisbane Sounds’ Blair Hughes and a really interesting panel discussion, chaired by Andrew McMillen and including a number of Brisbane musicians and music industry stalwarts, talking about some of the issues affecting the local scene at the moment. There are a few more photos from the launch night on Flickr.
The Brisbane Sounds 2010 gig night is on Saturday 27 February 2010 and promises to be another great night of local music, with the bill featuring The Gin Club, The Cairos, Grand Atlantic, The Coalition Crew, Lion Island and Dirtybird. Photos and a blog post from the night as and when.
Tara Simmons
Noel Mengel and Blair Hughes
Discussion Panel
Grand Atlantic
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 and Fred, and always plan to spend my time concentrating on them. However, this decision, like tonight, usually lasts about 30 seconds before I’m adding more shots to the Gentle Ben archive, always aiming for that perfect image of him in full flight.
When you photograph a band a million times, like I have with Sixfthick, you start to wonder how you can get different looking photos and so with I played around with some of tonight’s photos using different actions in Photoshop, moving away from the standard editorial type photos. At first I really liked the effects in some of the finished photos but then on second thoughts decided they were a bit rubbish and not as good as I’d initially thought.
X are a disappointment tonight. There’s no swagger, despite bassist Kevin McMahon and drummer Cathy Green’s efforts, and they seem very flat and tired, with much of this seeming to emanate from singer Steve Lucas, who, despite the very rock star attire, gives off the air of a man who doesn’t really want to be there.
After finally getting to see them play in Melbourne in 2008, really enjoying it and understanding why they;ve got the reputation they have in Australia, they don’t do justice to themselves tonight in front of a crowd that seems smaller than the one that was watching Sixfthick and which seems to empty the longer the night goes on. It’s a shame as they can do so much better.
A few more photos on Flickr.
X
Sixfthick
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 swallowed up by the much bigger stage and the strobe light having much less of an impact in the smaller confines of The Troubadour. So I stuck with shorter shutter speeds and didn’t really try to get any of the multiple exposures that I had done before when seeing them at two Troubadour shows, a headline 1am show and supporting Philadelphia Grand Jury.
Tonight’s show is the launch of ‘Shakeytown’, the first single from their second album, ‘The Rip’ and it’s a great little pop song and a really cool and clever video clip.
However, the video highlights the most annoying thing about photographing the band, with Susie providing all the focus and Matthew and Cameron both shoegazing with their eyes shut most of the time. I did manage to finally get a few of Matthew giving some eye contact at the start of the last song but guess will have to wait for another time to get something from Cameron.
A few more photos on Flickr.
I Heart Hiroshima
DZ
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 And The Deep Blue Sea‘. As it’s the only song of theirs that I know it’s the obvious highight in their set.
The Blackwater Fever disappointed me when I saw them last time at Brisbane Sounds 2009, mainly because I think there are better two-pieces covering similar ground. Tonight they frustrate me by playing in near darkness with no front lighting and very little back lighting, meaning that their set becomes an exercise in trying to second guess when there might be an occasional flash of light in which to take a photo.
I can’t remember the last time that I’d seen Mexico City, but have a feeling that it might have been at The Rev, a venue that became an R&B club at least a couple of years ago. There’s been a change in their line-up, with Tanzie from Giants of Science now playing bass for them and they seem to have a lot harder sound than I remember them having but maybe I wasn’t paying full attention, concentrating on trying to get some decent photos at the usually poorly lit Rev.
I have always enjoyed Rollerball when I’ve seen them, the last time being at the Ding Dong in Melbourne last year. As well as being a showcase for their record label, the band is also launching their new album, ‘Submarine‘, tonight and so play a fairly substantial set, although I think it’s probably too long and they would have been better off playing a shorter, punchier set. More photos from the night on Flickr.
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 gigs can easily take up all of your time and energy.
However, when the Incremental Records launch night came up I was really keen to cover it thanks to Before Hollywood’s excellent 42 song, triple CD compilation, ‘Stranded’. The launch night included bands who I’d first heard on the CD and who had been wanting to catch live for a while, particularly Nova Scotia who had one of my favourite tracks on ‘Stranded’ and who I kept managing to miss, despite them playing regularly around the Valley.
Ambitious Lovers kicked off the night and you can’t help but think that there’s DIY and then there’s DIY. They’re probably as shambolic a band as you’re ever likely to see. They sounded a lot more together on ‘Stranded’ and obviously could do with a lot more pre-gig practice but maybe that’s not the point.
After Ambitious Lovers’ ukuleles and home-made percussion lo-fi folk, the night has an immediate change in musical style with Turnpike’s frenetic, spiky straight-up punk.
Sometimes you can watch a band and see how much they are enjoying the night, sometimes, like tonight, you can watch a band and see the ever growing frustration as they try to deliver the set that they know they are capable of delivering. This is more than obvious tonight watching Mt Augustus’s Cameron Smith battle broken guitar strings, culminating in him throwing his guitar to the floor at the end of their set. And for the second time in as many Zoo gigs I manage to miss getting a good photo of someone throwing their guitar to the ground; luckily for Cam, and unlike Vegas Kings’s Ben, it was thrown body first. Although you could see the increasing irritation, it doesn’t take anything away from a really excellent set of acoustic indie folk.
After such a long wait I enjoyed finally seeing Nova Scotia; sure they’ve probably got a fair few well worn copies of ‘Slanted & Enchanted’ and ‘Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain’ but there are far worse bands to be influenced by then Pavement.
More photos from the night are on flickr.
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 as painful as it is I might go there more often. Despite the fact that Pitchfork’s best songs of the 2000s seems to have countless pop, RnB and hip-hop tracks in it, they really are kidding anyone if they’re trying to cover up the fact that they’re anything other than the bastion of beard-stroking, white-boy indie. They have an unarguable authority when it comes to championing these bands and the high scores afforded the likes of Animal Collective, Grizzly Bear and Deerhunter have undoubtedly, for better or worse, helped bring these bands to a much wider audience. But listening to and watching Deerhunter it’s a bit of a mystery as to why they’re lauded so much. There’s a heavy early 90’s shoegaze influence but it’s so generic and unremarkable that they could easily be one of the lesser band from the Melody Maker-hyped ‘Scene That Celebrates Itself‘ . Ultimately Deerhunter are nowhere near as good as Pitchfork would let you believe; it’s akin to being told in 1991 that Moose or Revolver were one of the best bands in the world.  The Rational Academy more than hold their own against Deerhunter although, in typical fashion, the majority in attendance aren’t paying much attention to the support band.
By a pure stroke of luck I chose my usual side of The Zoo’s stage and end up right in front of singer/guitarist Bradford Cox, although the light isn’t great and he plays with his eyes shut for the most part. His Marfan’s Syndrome is more than obvious at close quarters, with his extremely gangly frame only emphasised by the jacket he’s wearing. After a few songs I move sides and take some shots through the gap between the speakers behind the front facade of the stage. It’s always been a favourite view at The Zoo as it gives you a good side-on aspect and allows you to play around with background/foreground focus as well as often being the best vantage point to try to photograph the drummers located at the back of the stage. Sadly, this is the last time I get to make use of this angle as the next time I’m here to photograph I find that there’s a new and bigger speaker in place and the gap has virtually gone. There’s still a bit of a gap but it’s not really big enough to photograph across the stage, which is a real shame.
Some more photos on Flickr.
Deerhunter
The Rational Academy
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 I’ve got with me is the 70-200mm doesn’t help my cause. Neither does drinking an awful lot of red wine. And then some cider.
A combination of taxi and walking to The Zoo means managing to get there towards the end of The Scare’s set. There’s still a few songs left but I just can’t get my camera to focus and no amount of taking it apart and checking the settings is fixing the problem. Then I remember that I’d had right eye contact lens issues earlier in the day and had ended up taking it out, something I’d completely forgotten in the drunken haze. The camera was working fine, it was me that was having the focusing issues…Â
So I end up having to photograph using my left eye, something that is a lot harder than I would have expected, with the hand/eye coordination, just the seemingly simple act of looking through the viewfinder with my left eye, posing real problems and poking myself in my right eye with my thumb positioned on the shutter release button causing extreme discomfort every time I try and take a photo.
Wolf & Cub are the best I’ve seen them, but with singer/guitarist Joel much more animated than previous times, it only adds to tonight’s difficulties in trying to take some photos and it seems to take forever to finish off the 36-exposure roll of film.Â
And after all this, the photos end up being pretty rubbish. I decided to try out the Ilford 3200 film again after a long break but the images are very disappointing when compared to my usual choice of pushing Ilford HP5, with the images being very flat and with not much in the way of contrast, and needing Photoshop to tidy them up.
It was probably a good job that I was only photographing for myself tonight and not for any publications…
