Hey guys, sorry I haven’t updated this blog for months. I’ve just been really busy with my band photography and the editing that always follows it. I’ve got a lot to cover in this blog so let’s get started on crowd funding.
The good news is The Getaway Plan reached their target and are now working on their new album. To anyone who donated any money to them by clicking on the links on this blog – thank you. You are helping to make an incredible album happen. It’s called Dark Horses and we’ll be released in May. I’ve already got the live shows written down in my iPad, which is just so helpful at helping me remember when and where all these gigs are happening.
Mike Noga also launched a crowd funding project and I meant to post a blog about it but he reached his target so all is good. I can’t wait to get that tea towel, and also lots of CDs and stuff.
A couple days ago I became aware of The Gin Club’s crowd funding project and for awhile seemed to struggle to meet their target, so I put in some money, shared some links and was again going to post a blog to help get them over the line, but this morning found out they met their target. There’s still a few days left to buy a few packages from them. The Black Cattle Dog pack – the option I chose – is sold out though.
If you’re unfamiliar with their music then I recommend going here.
You can listen to a new song here.
Or you can join me and stare at the album artwork for hours.
Next, is the part where I post a bunch of pretty pictures from the latest gigs I’ve shot.
The Vines at Vic On the Park, Oct 8 2014
The Vines played a free comeback show at Vic On the Park to play some new tunes from their album Wicked Nature. Their performance was almost as good as they were when they started out. Craig Nicholls seemed to be hyper on energy drinks at least. I took a great video of him dancing around and knocking over the drums which Music Feeds picked up.
Craig launched a very carefully aimed kick at me. In the video it seems that there’s a bit of space between us but the lens is a wide fish-eye. Objects are closer than they appear. It was a fun gig for me especially because I kept ending up with shots like this:
Lots of eye contact from Craig. It meant a lot to me because as someone who also has Asperger’s syndrome I really look up to Craig as a sort of role model. Every little bit of advice he’s given to me or even the stuff things he shares about himself in interviews, I take it to heart. For example he helped me cope a bit better with strobe lights going off on the stage. And I really like his modern day Luddite-ness. He basically chooses making music and art (painting) over spending all day on technology. It’s something I wish I could do – even just getting back into drawing and painting – but most of my time is taken up by using a digital camera and being online. He’s almost 10 years older than me too so he’s like an older wiser person with the same condition as me. He knows who is now that he understands his diagnosis a bit more and has chosen his way to live to make it easier to deal with living with Asperger’s syndrome, and I really respect that.
My full gallery from this show is hosted on The Dwarf’s website.
The next lot of gigs I shot was Chris Russell’s Chicken Walk at Newtown Social Club, Courtney Barnett at Oxford Art Factory and The Whitlams at The Metro Theatre.
Although the gig was amazing I almost didn’t get to see it as the thing most band photographer’s dread happening happened – my name wasn’t on the guest list. I was all approved to shoot the show but they just forgot to add my name to the list. Fortunately, they still let me in to take photos.
More photos of The Whitlams here
At first I thought I got into the gig pretty easily. No problems with the door list – but then it turned out I wasn’t the photographer The Dwarf had approved. A young man by the name of Stuart was. So, after a long and very frustrating phone call taken while Stuart was in the venue taking photos, it turned out our editor wanted two photographers and this was all explained in an e-mail Stu would read the next morning. Anyway, it all worked out fine. I got some nice photos and Stu and I are good friends now. It was his first shoot for The Dwarf too.
Unfortunately, I missed out on taking photos of my most favouritist band since I was a little 10 year old, The Living End. It’s just really damn hard to get a photo pass with that band. I kind of wish I had another favourite childhood band because now I’m always going to have to get over a lot of obstacles just for one simple 3 songs/ no flash shoot.
I took many videos though. You can check them out on Lost Through the Lens’s Facebook page.
I think I planned to go to many gigs in November but couldn’t for some reason or other. I almost got to go to Melbourne to photograph my currently probably favourite band ever, The Ape, in Coburg prison. But the ticket prices were just too damned expensive. So, I thought it was best to wait for them to return to Sydney.
Then finally Davey Lane returned to Sydney on November 8 and I yet again set out for Newtown Social Club. I had something special planned for Davey. For almost a year I’ve had this birthday present for him in my bedroom that I kept forgetting to give him. So, that night I brought it along with me to give to him. I also made a late-birthday early-Christmas card with a photo of my nephews and their cousins on the front and a picture of Davey and Tim on the back, and had his band mates write inside. I forgot to take a photo of the inside though.
More photos of Davey and his band here.
November turned into one of those months where it felt like no one was paying any attention to my applications to cover a gig, but then Tex Perkins’ management got back to me and I was approved to shoot Rock the Gate. Oh ya!
Click here for my Rock The Gate gallery.
Click here for even more photos of Tex Perkins and The Dark Horses.
Immediately after shooting Rock the Gate I became ill and I had a River of Snakes gig to shoot at Captain Cook Hotel that weekend, so I got all the rest I could and bought all the drugs to help me feel better. It worked! It was a great night with great bands and very lovely people. Should add that due to my fear of change (Asperger’s thing) I was freaked out for weeks about even making it to the Captain Cook Hotel at all, and usually when my anxiety gets that great I just don’t go to the gig at all. But I did it this time and I’m a little bit proud of myself for facing my fears and overcoming them for a night. I did, however, almost pick a fight with an ATM machine which I told people on my Facebook friends list ‘defied all logic.’ And then it charged me $2.80.
So, those are the gigs I’ve been to in October and November.
Coming up in December, I have:
12/14 – Gyroscope at Oxford Art Factory
16/14 – The Basics at Newtown Social Club
21/14 – The Gin Club at Petersham Bowling Club
Note: experiencing some fear of change related anxiety about this gig currently. Here’s hoping I face that fear again, because last time The Gin Club played there I didn’t.
23/14 – Phil Jamieson + Scott Russo at Waves, Wollongong
28/14 – Laura Imbruglia (You’re Looking At Country) at The Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood VIC
^That’s the night after my birthday.
So, that’s it for December. There’s lots of You Am Is, a bit of Davey Lanes, and a few international tours coming up in January so that should be good fun.
I’ll try to keep this blog more updated with photos from the shows.
– LTTL
Lost Through the Lens - Live Band Photographer in Sydney, Australia 