On the dilemma between staying in and going out

The other day I was out taking photos of a gig. It was the middle of the week, late at night and I was waiting around by myself for the first band to play. While I waited I wondered why I never see any of the people I work with during the day out at gigs. I might see one or two people I know when a big international act comes through, but generally not at local shows.

All ages

When I was growing up all ages gigs were happening every weekend and more often than not that's where we could be found on a Friday or Saturday night. Local halls would be appropriated and bands from all over the country would play, ranging from 15 year olds just starting their first band to established bands with big followings. It seemed pretty normal to have bands playing for us in these venues, so it came as something of a shock to hear from a friend that they never experienced all ages gigs growing up, because the venues weren't there and no one was interested in organising them.

I have so many great memories from those shows. There was always a positive atmosphere (even at those shows where everyone was drinking illicit beers, stolen from parents fridges or bought by older brothers), everyone was there to enjoy the music, no matter who was playing. Skill didn't matter so much, as long as the band gave it everything the crowd would reciprocate. There were no ego's, no expectations and no rules.

So why do I photograph bands? Here's why.

Some of you might have seen this story on my Facebook page, but I thought it's be interesting to repeat it here and go into it in a little bit more depth.

Last week I was out photographing a gig (Julien Dyne, Parks and Alphabethead, in case you're interested). There was a guy leaning against the wall next to me, clearly drunk - eyes almost rolled back in the head, using the wall to stand up drunk - who was watching me snapping away for a while.  I went to move to the other side of the venue, to photograph from the other side, when he grabbed my arm and asked, in a confused/aggressive/agitated way, "what are you taking photos of them for?"

Lessons from a music marathon

Last weekend I had the pleasure and good fortune of checking out Wellington’s festival of New Zealand music, Homegrown.

It was a pretty full on day, with 40+ bands spread across 6 stages there was plenty of opportunity to see a plethora of local talent in action.

Here’s some thoughts from the day:

Best of 2011

So the year's almost over and like every other blog out there I'm going to take a look back at some of my musical highlights from the past year.


There's been a lot of good music out there this year, so it's been tough trying to pick the ones that really stood out - apologies to any band missed off these lists.

Best of 2011

So the year's almost over and like every other blog out there I'm going to take a look back at some of my musical highlights from the past year.


There's been a lot of good music out there this year, so it's been tough trying to pick the ones that really stood out - apologies to any band missed off these lists.


Live


Alphabethead – I’d been told for years to go and see Alphabethead and once even came close to filming him live for a DVD magazine, but it fell through.  This year I finally got to see him perform and had my mind blown by his turntable wizardry, his amazing mixing ability and his entertaining antics.  Watching him live will change the way you think about hip hop/dance music.


Beastwars – On record Beastwars have a strong sound, but live they elevate things to another level.  A Beastwars show is always an entertaining, sharp and intense experience.  Frontman Matt provides most of that intensity, with theatrics that complement the bands sludgy, doomy brand of metal.

Luger Boa – Having never paid much attention to Luger Boa before, I was impressed by their professionalism and energy in their live performance.  They knew how to get the crowd going, and energized the room.  It’s a stark contrast to bands who amble onto stage, keep the audience waiting while they get themselves sorted out, and then crank out a set of songs like they can’t wait to get off stage.  Luger Boa should be used an example to new bands as to how to put on a performance.

Shihad – Shihad are a band I tend to see at least once a year, but this year they treated us to intimate performances of Killjoy and The General Electric in full (along with a couple of older tracks as an encore, including It from their early EP Devolve).  As if that wasn’t enough, they then returned to their old high school, where the band formed 20 odd years ago, to perform alongside some of the school’s current bands.  It was a pretty cool thing to do and a great performance.

Foo Fighters – It’s kind of a cop out picking the Foo’s because I doubt they ever put on a bad show, and their shows never change – when I saw them a couple of weeks ago it wasn’t much different to when I saw them 3 years ago.  But they are the epitome of the big rock show and do it so well that I had to include them.  If you’ve never seen them before make sure you catch them at least once – their almost 3 hour sets of non-stop rock are a lot of fun.

Mountaineater – Mountaineater were another band that I’d been told for years to go and see.  This year I finally managed it.  They combine the best bits of HDU but take push the sound further than HDU ever did.  They’re also one of the loudest bands I’ve ever seen live.

Albums

It’s always difficult trying to remember what albums I’ve heard over the past 12 months, but here’s some that have stood out.

Outrun The Buffalo – I can’t get enough of Outrun The Buffalo’s EP.  It’s quirky, fun, dark, moody all wrapped up into one almost unclassifiable package.  It’s also the best example from the year of a collection of songs working together and complementing each other, with the EP flowing perfectly from song to song.

Black Tusk – Savannah, Georgia, seems to churn out sludge bands like some sort of metal factory.  Black Tusk do it better than most and their latest album Taste The Sin is a fine example of the sludge genre.

Sorceress – Ontario’s Sorceress released a demo this year, available on cassette or download only, and it features some of the hottest sounds in metal I’ve heard all year. Heavy, doomy, raw - it's awesome, and it's just a demo.

Mastodon – The Hunter was one of my most anticipated releases of the year and it didn’t disappoint.  It’s a departure in style for Mastodon but still features plenty of huge riffs, layers of sound and driving rhythms.  It took a while to grow on me, but it’s now one of my favourite albums.

Royce Da 5’9” – The latest album Success Is Certain has a great sound to it, never takes itself seriously and is probably the best hip hop album of the year for me.


That's it for this year.  I'll be back in 2012 with some new songs for y'all to listen to and more talk on all things music.  

Documenting our scene

Regular readers of these ramblings will know that I spend a lot of my time out photographing gigs.  I've been doing this for about five years now, on and off, following on from a stint filming gigs for bands.

To me photographing music is more than just trying to get a pretty picture of a band I like; it's about recording and documenting the music scene.

Bands come and go frequently and as they change so does the scene.  A band might only exist in the live scene for a matter of months, playing a few gigs, or be around for a decade. Both leave their mark on the local music, through the musical ideas they created and left behind but also through the movement of musicians between bands and cities.

Having a moment of those bands captured allows us to look back and get an idea of their legacy, allows us to  remember the excitement of seeing a band live, to recapture the atmosphere of that moment.  It's another way of keeping the music alive, long after the band has disappeared.

You can check out all my music photos on Flickr, or my personal favourites on my new-ish website Light and Noise.

My take on the Wellington Music Showcase

Last night I attended a showcase of Wellington music; part of the Going Global summit run by Independent Music NZ, the NZ Music Commission and the Music Managers' Forum to assist bands with understanding how to be successful marketing their music overseas.  You can see sets from the show here.

The showcase was the finale to a day of talks by industry representatives from the UK and USA, including BBC radio programmers and record label reps.   The format involved 6 bands playing short sets, around 25-30 minutes each, with a (supposedly) quick changeover between bands.

It was encouraging to see so many people turn out on a school night to support local music; it can only have given the foreign attendees a positive impression of the New Zealand music scene.

You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone

A few weeks ago I headed out to a local music venue to photograph and review and up and coming band.  It was a cold winters night, I think there was some kind of big rugby game on, and no one turned up.

This is the best damn party I've been to

First of all, apologies to any bands that may recognise themselves in this week's post.  My intention isn't to offend, upset or criticise, but to mention something I experienced last week; if it helps get people turning out to support live music, and bands recognising the importance of putting on a professional show then that's got to be a good thing.  Right?

Last weekend I was photographing a band called Luger Boa (you can check out those photos at Under the Radar, or the full set here).  I went along with low expectations, having seen them before and not really getting into their sound; when I left the gig I'd changed my mind about them and have been talking them up all week.

I have to admit, I'm still not a huge fan of their sound, although they've improved since I saw them a couple of years ago (I don't know what it is about the music I'm not getting; it's balls to the wall rock n' roll, and that normally does it for me).  What changed my opinion of them was their incredibly professional live performance.

Watching them, I was reminded of how important good stage presence is to a band, to the point that a band that lacks it doesn't tend to go very far or last very long.  Luger Boa knew how to work the crowd; before they even started they had someone come out and announce them with the declaration that "most people will only ever experience one truly great moment in their lives, and this is one of them".  The whole set they never stopped moving and, most importantly, they looked like they were loving every minute of it.

Contrast that with a "new band" night I went to earlier in the week.  While the music was good and the bands played well, for the most part there was little movement from the bands, not a lot of audience interaction and in one case the drummer got up as the band was starting and went to get a drink from the bar. 

The audience tends to reflect the energy and interest of the band on stage.  A band that appears disinterested in their audience and doesn't involve them tends to lose the interest of the audience.  Live bands perform because they want to play in front of an audience, if they don't treat that audience with respect, then it's likely to be reciprocated.  Conversely, put on a great show, be energetic, involve people, and even if your music still needs work you'll probably find your fan base grows quickly as people share their experiences and do the hype work for you.

Have you seen any bands that put on a great show that left you buzzing?  Or saw a band you thought were going to be great, only to find that they were a let down live because they lacked energy of presence?  Drop us a comment below telling us about it (you don't have to name the bands if you don't want to)...

You pay 10 bucks to see me, on a 15 foot high stage

SPIN magazine posed a question recently to their followers on Facebook – what bands formed after 2000 could possibly go on to sell out a stadium of 95,000 people? I think it had something to do with the size of the stadiums U2 have been playing?

There was a lot of debate on the topic, with no one really coming up with any worthwhile contenders, although plenty of older bands were named, although ineligible due to the “after 2000” caveat on the question.

And that, for some reason made me happy.