Jun 21, 2007
muddy glastonbury goooooooodness
yes.
it rained.
it rained more then 2005.
it rained everyday.
actually - it pissed it down everyday.
the loos smelt, the mud was thick, soft, watery, knee deep, shin deep, ankle deep, the tent leaked, the wellies were near on impossible to get off, the bus ride was nothing short of the most painful experience we have ever had.... but....
we had the time of our rockin live.
another glastonbury notch on the belt, and more loss of feeling in toes spent too long in water logged wellies. this years was just as good, if not better then the previous two times we went. we had a lot of glastonbury virgins who did the team immensely proud - as displayed by virgin luke thompson.
apart from the highs and lows of the impending floods - there was the music and we were truly spoilt for choice. the clear highlight would have to have been bjork. she was as bizarre as she was talented with one of the most amazing and diverse voices i have heard. other stand out gigs were our good friend the fabulous penetrators who pretty much personified the glastonbury rock n roll spirit.
so many other bands - but i won't bore you with my arm chair critique. i will give you a complete list though, more for my memories then your reading pleasure - in viewing order mind.
![pyramid stage + glastonbury + uk + [23-06-07]](http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1176/778638308_c786709909.jpg)
Friday: The Cribs, Modest Mouse, Good Shoes, Bright Eyes, !!!, Bloc Party, Good Shoes, Arcade Fire, Maccabees, Bjork.
Saturday: The Guillemots, Dirty Pretty Things, CSS, Babyshambles, Maximo Park, Mark Ronson, Madness, Fat Boy Slim, The Fabulous Penetrators.
Sunday: Marley Brother present the 30th anniversary of Exodus, The Rakes, Dame Shirley Bassey, Mark Ronson, Kaiser Chiefs, The Who, Chemical Brothers.
![heading to the bus + glastonbury + uk + [25-06-07]](http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1256/778638412_db3d1057d5_o.jpg)
so we came, we sloshed, we drank, we sloshed in the mud. and as the glasto foot set in and we battled the bus trip home we were content in knowing that glastonbury 2007 will be a very very memorable one. by the way, the keen observers of you out there will realise that the photo above is of the littlest rocker at glastonbury, souri, all rigged up with her pack and attached umbrella. the ever so talented mr andrew kendall has loads of photos from the festival over on the nme's site.
\m/ x.
Jun 16, 2007
almost in daft punk's house - wireless saturday
so second day of snapping at wireless and not so many rookie errors today. the weather behaved itself also, and added to this the large posse that we had forming, the stage was set for a blistering day.
css were as cute, bubbly, bouncy and bright as always - with lady foxxx going through a number of dazzling costume changes.
only caught a bit of lcd sound system as had to belt down for the klaxons. but managed to hear the gem of gems "daft punk is playing in my house". was an absolute crowd pleaser.
klaxons was a mission to shoot. the crowd was mental. security guards were even worse. at the end of the 3 songs the snappers were literally dragged out of the photo pit - thus resulting in me having to leave a £1200 lens behind. wankers.
pains me to say it but they are my favourite shots from the day. hate hate hate the klaxons.
and then the one we were all waiting for daft punk!
it was a truly spiritual event. the music was simply amazing. check out some of the action on you tube. do it now!
so an amazing experience. shooting a festival and being close to such amazing acts. now that i have a taste of the festival shooting - i want more!
flickr is full of shots from the rest of wireless.
x
Jun 15, 2007
a steep learning curve - wireless friday
while i still cannot believe how well my snapping is progressing - i have to admit that this was my most daunting gig to shoot. having never shot a festival, and then being inducted at the wireless festival in london's hyde park, i had to learn pretty damn quickly.
this was a totally different ball game to what i am used to dealing with and shooting in. media tents, vip access, private super special gigs, photo escorts into and out of the photo pit, full time professional photographers, rules on what to shoot and when, high stages, daylight and sharing the pit with the photographic legend that is mick rock! but all of it was absolutely amazing, simply being that close (we were about 10 metres away in the photo pit) to such amazing performers was enough of a highlight in itself.
so onto the music... and the photos. kelis was simply stunning - radiating into the lovely warm afternoon sun.
the surprise of the festival was mark ronson. he is something of a producer "extraordinaire" and has taken a number of modern tracks and given them a complete big band sound re-working.
the big brass sound mixed with the lovely afternoon sunshine was a perfect combination. he had a cast of thousands to help him get the tracks right - oh and he doesn't sing, and isn't a girl, and cannot rap - so would be near on impossible for him on his own.
but the clear highlight was faithless. having been spoilt by watching faithless play a intimate set in front of 50 people earlier on in the day, i couldn't wait to see them in front of the gathering thousands on the main stage.
old maxi jazz was celebrating what would have to be his 40-odd-th birthday completely dominated the stage. the band sounded amazing live, playing all their floor stomping greats and the crowd lapped it all up!
so was an amazing experience - but now i have a taste for shooting festivals - i want more. I FREAKING LOVE THIS!
full photo set from the whole day is on flickr.
x
Jun 15, 2007
daft punk is playing in my house....
... my house!
well not really at my house - but they will be playing in front of my lens! yes that is right, i have managed to secure my first photo pass for a festival and will be shooting the Friday and Saturday instalments for the o2 wireless festival in hyde park.
am not only cacking myself about seeing daft punk - but also getting to shoot them (and a festival) will be immense.
the highlights for the friday night should be - faithless/kelis/mark ronson/cat empire
and for the saturday - daft punk/css/new young pony club/lcd sound system
will post shots as soon as possible
in my house
x
Jun 9, 2007
zac and uncle mic
let me have the pleasure of introducing you to someone that i rather subjectively think is the hottest baby in the world - my nephew zac!
he popped into the world on saturday morning australian time and mum/dad/baby/nanna/pop/aunty/uncles are all doing well. it was a very teary and emotional call from oz to let me know that he had been born and the tens of thousands of miles between me and my family never felt so far.
i am so chuffed that everyone is doing so well and rather horrified at the prospect of me being a responsible uncle ;)
x
