Status Quo! De Dun De Dun De Dun De Dun...

Merry Christmas everyone! Last Monday I shot my final gig of 2008, and chose a great one to finish on - the mighty Status Quo, who played the LG Arena as part of their 40th anniversary tour. I was covering the gig for Birmingham Live, and you see my review and some other pics right here.

This was the first time I'd seen the Quo live, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. They are a true British institution, and it was a joy to shoot them.

If any of you are wondering where my promised pics of Biffy Clyro are, then I'm sad to say that I didn't get to shoot them in the end - my pass only let me in for the support act. Very annoying, but hopefully they'll your again soon and I'll get to shoot them. Here's some more Quo pics.

It was great to finish my photographic year by adding another big name to my portfolio - I'll be posting a review of 2008 next week sometime highlighting all of my favourite gigs and photos, so check back here then!

If you like these pics, please leave me some comments at the bottom of the page! Here's a few more...

...and some more!

And that's it for the Quo. I also found out last week that Practical Photography Magazine are going to be doing a small feature on me in the March 2009 issue, so make sure you get yourselves a copy when it hits the shelves! Merry Christmas, and all the best for this festive season.

80s Fest - Simple Minds + Deacon Blue

Last Friday I was sent to the LG Arena (the NEC to me and you) to photograph Scottish band Simple Minds, who are celebrating their 30th anniversary. I was shooting the gig for Birmingham Live and hopefully the review will go up asap. Support came from fellow Scots Deacon Blue.

Now, if you've read any of my other posts on this blog, you'll probably know that Friday's lineup wasn't exactly my musical cup of tea, and I'd be lying if I said that I enjoyed Deacon Blue's set. It didn't help that their singer kept chucking water over all of us photographers - very annoying. The crowd seemed to like it though.

Then it was down to the headliners to send the room crazy. Again, not my style of music, but they were much more enjoyable to watch than the support act, and the quality of their lvie sound was impressive.

Another plus point for Simple Minds - no water being launched in the direction of the photographer's pit!

30 years together is a mighty achievement, and unsurprisingly the band got a great reception from their fans. Singer Jim Kerr hardly stopped waving to the crowd for the whole three songs that I shot them for.

Of course, their big hit was "Don't You Forget About Me", but I didn't stay long enough to hear it - partly because I was only given a photo pass and not a ticket, but mainly because I had a train home to catch.

Here's a few more for you, don't forget to leave me some comments!

That's it for Simple Minds, and indeed for November. I have no gigs no until 10th December, which is an absolute age compared to the last couple of months! However, there is due to be an article about Bimringham Live appearing in Practical Photography next week, which I actually arranged, so I'll probably post on here when that comes out. Here's a final shot from Simple Minds for you, catch you all again soon!

Guitarfest 2008

After the fun of Music Live during the day on Friday, I then stayed at the NEC to review Guitarfest 2008, and once again had a great time. Again, I was reviewing the show for Birmingham Live, and the review should be up there very soon. First up, a storming set by The Quireboys.

This was the first time I'd even heard anything by The Quireboys, let alone see them live, and I was really impressed.

Next up, former UFO axeman Vinnie Moore, who proceeded to shred for half an hour of so.

While his playing was superb, Vinnie's set did start to drag just a bit with the absence of a band or any vocals - still this was Guitarfest so some serious shredding like this was in order!

Third on the bill was ex-Whitesnake and Thin Lizzy bassist Marco Mendoza, who played a set of jazzy funk rock.

Marco has a superb singing voice, very Glenn Hughes-esque. While his set was probably a bit long given that it was all new material, the guy is such a nice bloke it was hard not to enjoy his performance.

Next up were Danny Bowes, Luke Morley and Ben Matthews of Thunder, joined by Mendoza and Marco's drummer for a three-song set of covers, which was great fun.

They rattled through Bad Company's "Can't Get Enough", and "Don't Believe a Word" and "Boys Are Back In Town" both by Thin Lizzy, and considering they probably only had Friday afternoon to practice, they did a damn good job!

And then it was down to the mighty Dave Mustaine of Megadeth, along with his drummer Shaun Drover to wrap things up. They played "Peace Sells..." the song chosen by a fan vote.

The only problem was, they only played the one song, and you got the impression that people were expecting a lot longer set from the thrash master. Still, it was better than nothing, and getting to see a legend in such a modest venue was awesome.

So that was that. It was great to get some shots of Dave for my portfolio, and I'm very much looking forward to Megadeth's return to these shores in February with the mighty Judas Priest. Rock on!