Thunder - You Can't Keep a Good Band Down

Last Thursday I was off to Wolverhampton Civic Hall, to photograph one of my all-time favourite bands - the British legends that are Thunder. I was shooting and reviewing the gig for Birmingham Live, and you can find my piece online right here. This was the ninth time I've seen Thunder, and the fourth time I've photographed them, and as ever, they put on a superb show.

Once more, the band showed everyone how to put on a rock and roll concert, playing a great set that covered their entire history together. They also have great lights, which makes my job shooting them a lot easier.

I love this next shot - it sums up vocalist Danny Bowes perfectly!

It's always great fun shooting Thunder, and this time was no different. It was great being able to add plenty more decent shots to my live portfolio.

Here's some more shots from the night for you.

Harry James was back behind the kit having missed the earlier part of the tour due to problems with kidney stones. He's a real crowd favourite, and he still hits those skins as hard as he ever has.

I was really pleased with my shots from the night, and here's a few more of my favourites.

If you like my shots please leave me some comments, and maybe even have a browse of the rest of this blog to see if I've shot any other bands that you like.

That's it for my Thunder pics. I've also got a few pics in the newest issue of Powerplay Magazine, so why not see if you can find a copy to flick through? I'll be back on here soon with pics from Simple Minds in Birmingham.

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!