Some more of Allan’s favourite photos from 2023 and he’s still keeping up the idea of some novel thematic links. We’ll leave it to him to explain:

Looking through the 2023 archive there are a few venues that turn up regularly; one of them is the award-winning Green Note in Camden. Artists love to play there, not because it’s a huge venue; there are plenty of those around in London and Green Note has a capacity that doesn’t reach three figures. The reason artists like it is that it’s what Americans call a listening room, where audiences want to hear the music and they show their respect for the artists by not talking during performances. Here’s my five choices, all from Talentbanq nights, in chronological order:

Saara Kaldma

The title of the night was ‘BV’s Up Front’ and featured sets from Saara Kaldma and Gertrud Aasaroht. I’ve seen Saara and Gertrud many times as backing vocalists with Lisa Canny. They do a fabulous job with Lisa and, like most backing vocalists, have fabulous voices. Saara demonstrated the effectiveness of “lead singer lighting” as she waited for her vocal cue:

Kieran Morgan

This gig was billed as ‘The Road to Madison Square Garden’. No artists were announced, but the event still sold out in advance. The featured artists were Isabella Coulstock who, among other things, has been touring with Jools Holland, and the mighty Morganway. I’ve shot Morganway a few times and my best shots are usually of singer SJ and fiddle player Nicky because they’re always at the front. This is Green Note; everyone’s at the front, so I managed to grab this nice shot of Keiran Morgan:

Maddie Hamilton

Maddie’s a cellist who often plays in Eleni Skarpari’s fluid collective Echo Wants her Voice Back. I’ve shot Eleni loads of times and Maddie’s been at a few of those gigs but I’ve never quite managed to get the killer shot. I spoke to the band at soundcheck and rashly promised Maddie that I would get a really nice shot of her this time. The gig photographer gods were on my side this time; as she looked over and made eye contact wit Eleni, a wisp of hair fell over her face and some colour from her tattoos was exposed. Done.

Pete Gow

Pete’s a really interesting guy. He’s originally from Scotland (he gets bonus points for that) and he’s a friend and former bandmate of guitar-slinger extraordinaire, Jim Maving (more bonus points). Pete’s songwriting is packed with characters that are contemporary Brits written by Raymond Chandler or Damon Runyon and he’s partial to a bit of a rummage around in the murkier ends of relationships and the music business (even more bonus points). He’s left-handed, which forces you to think all over again about shooting angles and he has a very interesting and photogenic look. And he’s a good bloke (thanks for the album, Pete). You decide:

Sophey Maye

I only met Sophey for the first time a few weeks ago at Kylie’s Kiwi Christmas, hosted by Kylie Price before going back to New Zealand for Christmas. Sophey’s a Kiwi, like Kylie, and we spent a while chatting before the gig. It was obvious from her level of animation that she was going to be a perfect subject to shoot. I also loved her songs and her voice. She positioned herself in the Green Note portrait lighting sweet spot and it was just a question of framing and waiting for the moment: