Well, that was a week…
Last week was probably the most hectic week for me in my short career as a music photographer and writer. Three shows in 6 days… but not just any shows.
It started last Sunday at the Waterfront Studio in Norwich with a review for Dream State, newshapes and Lonesome. These bands are often packaged as “post-hardcore”, but the reality is that this sub-genre covers such a wide range of different musical styles that it’s becoming a bit of a misnomer. Each of these bands represents a section of the genre that is similar but very much not the same. Dream State is all high-energy, dark EDM-infused guitars. The capital-averse newshapes, are an up-and-coming Scottish band with leanings towards the heavier end of alt-rock - think Holding Absence with a touch of Bleed from Within. And Lonesome are pushing the boundaries of the genre with their atmospheric and melodic, emo-hardcore (sometimes referred to as Dreamcore, which seems accurate enough even if the grumpy old git in me is coming to hate the addition of “-core” to almost everything nowadays). Together, these bands were a great example of the gems that you can experience on a Sunday night in a small venue when a tour rolls into town. The venue was not packed out, but it was a brilliant show with some great music and excellent performances.
Then on Tuesday, I was lucky enough to shoot two of the most innovative young musicians making music today - Australia’s Ecca Vandal and Freddy Forbidden from London - at Village Underground in Shoreditch. Ecca packs in a lot of different styles of music - from punk and alt-rock, to hip hop, trip hop and a bit of pop. Freddy’s music infuses elements of afrobeats, punkish alt-rock and hip hop. Both are incredibly energetic on stage and are on a huge upward trajectory. It’s so great to photograph and review two artists at this point in their careers, both of whom have the potential to make it very big.
At the other end of the scale, Spiritbox are rapidly becoming one of the biggest bands in heavy music. Shooting in the pit at an arena for the first time was a mix of excitement, nerves and a desire to just not fuck it up. The support acts - Jinjer and Dying Wish - are themselves big stars in the metal firmament, so it was an incredible line up. Being one of my favourite bands, it will take a lot to beat shooting Spiritbox at Wembley Arena in front of 20,000 fans. And I still can’t quite believe I got to do this only 8 months after I started this music photography lark…