LIVE music photography

So after a huge amount of controversy Glastonbury 2008 is finally over. The reviews of this year’s festival have been unanimously positive and many cite the decision to book Jay-Z as the headline act as bold step to broaden the appeal of the festival.

I had not been to Glastonbury for a very long time and as result forgot how enormous and unwieldy the festival is. Geographically the site is more or less the same size of Bath (or Monaco) and with all the ticket holders, staff, police, bands, vendors etc. is populated by just over 200,000 people which is the size of a small city! Needless to say with a festival this size it’s difficult to have a single identity rather Glastonbury now looks and feels like five different festivals each with their different strands of music or performing art. One thing that really impressed me with Glastonbury is the emphasis and support that it gives to charities such as Greenpeace, Oxfam and Water Aid. Although most of the festival goers may have little interest in these charities and their work, the fact that they watch awareness films before each of the major acts hopefully means that they familiar with their causes by the time they leave after three days.

I also managed to spend a bit of time in the Leftfield tent where I heard the likes of Billy Bragg and Tony Benn talk about social injustices both home and abroad and what needs to be done to eradicate world poverty and tackle the rise of fascism and the BNP in areas such as Dagenham. There were about 3,000 people watching the debate and considering that it was blazing hot outside, and there were some great bands playing elsewhere, this showed how many people visiting Glastonbury do so to engage in lively political discussions.

As the main reason for me attending was to photograph the headline acts I had little time to get into the Glastonbury spirit. Instead I spent most of my time in the press tent sending pictures and getting jostled around the various pits by the other photographers and the over zealous security guards who treated us all as criminals.

Over the three days I photographed 29 bands, took around 5,000 pictures, and send around 500 images over a dodgy internet connection to my agency in London! Overall the bands were pretty good and represented some of the best from the indie and rock scene. Unfortunately I did not get the chance to explore any of the jazz, dance or world music stages however I am sure that I missed some great music.

Out of all the bands that I saw the stand out acts were The Kings of Leon, Vampire Weekend, Amy Winehouse, Jay-Z, Leonard Cohen and the Raconteurs amongst others. In particular it was wonderful to watch Leonard Cohen who until recently had not performed live for over 20 years. At 73 he was top on form and he played all of his masterpieces including “Hallelujah”, “Suzanne and “Chelsea Hotel”.

For obvious reasons I have not reviewed each gig that I photographed however had added links below to some of the more interesting shows. I hope you enjoy the photos.

Amy Winehouse
Jay-Z
Kings of Leon
The Verve
Leonard Cohen
The Ranconteurs
Get Cape Wear Cape
Duffy
The Zutons
Neil Diamond
KT Tunstall
The Feeling
The Kills
Vampire Weekend
The Ting Tings
The Fratellis
Gabriella Cilmi

Written by John Rahim

2008 has been a great year for Paul Weller, not only has he celebrated his 50th birthday but this year sees him enjoying the same success and recognition as he did 15 years ago when he released “Wild Wood”. His latest album “22 Dreams” sees him back on Island Records and entering the charts at number 1. It would also appear that Weller’s appeal has broadened and he’s now selling records to many people who may have not been alive when The Jam were together.

I guess Weller’s broad appeal meant that he was the perfect act for XFM’s mid afternoon gig at Camden’s Koko.  Watching someone of Weller’s stature in a small and intimate venue such as this really was quite something and it was great to see that after the years he’s still on top form. In the hour set he played a number of tracks off his new album as well as many of the hits from his previous solo efforts. A Weller gig would not be complete without a Jam number and he delighted fans finishing the set with “Eaton Rifles” the single which was a top 10 hit for him back in 1979, the year that Maggie came to power! It was great watching a middle aged man perform this with the same vigour that he did in his teens.

As with previous performances Steve Craddock acted as his right hand man playing providing the rhythm guitar. Craddock and Weller have been a musical item for a while now and it’s great watching two world class musians together on the same stage. Paul Weller has just completed a fairly lenthy tour however if you get the chance I’d recommend checking him out live as he seems to be getting better with age!

Written By John Rahim

Although “First Night Only” started XFM’s Big Breakfast proceedings at 6am many of the prize winners who had won tickets to watch “Get Cape, Wear Cape, Fly” at 12.30pm at The Fly in Oxford Street looked pretty weary.  Sam however was in an upbeat mood and seemed totally at home in a venue smaller than many peoples living rooms! Due to the size of the stage Sam performed a solo set only accompanied by a Mac on a couple of the number however immediately after the set he jetting off to Exeter to do an evening show with the rest of his band.

This is the first time in a while that I have seen GCWCF and was blown away by how competent they or should I say Sam was. Musically he is way beyond his years and has produced two stella albums which are comparable to early Billy Bragg, Tom Waits or even Jeff Buckley mixed in with a bit of LTJ Bookham for good measure. Melancholy yet never depressing Sam’s songs are some of the most interesting that I have heard in years. If anytone reading this is at Glastonbury this Friday you must check him out on the Pyramid Stage at 12.30 in the afternoon as it’s set to be a great performance.

Written by John Rahim

Well it’s that time again and next weekend I will be covering all three days of the Glastonbury festival. I will be updating my site 2/3 times a day however if you want to view exclusive pictures from the various pits and the  backstage parties please sign up to my RSS feed as I won’t be reviewing each band individually. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Written by John Rahim

On Friday the 19th of June I was lucky enough to spend the afternoon with the hugely talented Sam Duckworth from Get Cape, Wear Cape, Fly. Sam who uses Valley Arts guitars agreed for them to take some PR shots with a guitar that he has been using. Sam released his second album “Searching for the how and whys” earlier in the year. The album is a classic and as good as his breathtaking debut” The chronicle of a bohemian teenager”. Sam is due to appear at XFM’s all day breakfast show on the 20th of June at the Fly and on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury on the 27th. For more information check out his website and Valley Arts.

written by John Rahim