Time for a few more gig photos from Allan and there’s still some more in the pipeline. Over to Allan for a brief introduction.
When I’m shooting gigs, my natural tendency is to try to get a portrait-like quality in the shots, to try to capture a moment, whether it’s animation or tranquility, that captures something of nature of the artist. Sometimes it’s an effort of will to take the wider view and capture something that says rock’n’roll and electric guitars playing way up loud I saw more bands than usual this year, in bigger venues, so here’s a tribute to the founders of the electric guitar tradition, Leo Fender and Les Paul.
Amber T
Amber T has been singing live since she was eight years old and started to release music when she was fifteen. She has a phenomenal voice, has been praised by Elton John and she’s sung live at Carrow Road before the Norwich and Stoke City game in September 2023. Not a bad cv even before you get to all of the single releases. Her singles are big productions but she can do the gentle acoustic guitar stuff as well. This shot was from her self-curated Galentine’s Night (I think that’s self-explanatory) at The Camden Club this year:
Nia Heart
If you want to hear grungy, loud guitar music, then the Hope and Anchor’s not a bad place to be. It’s full of echoes of bands that have played there over the last fifty years. Nia Heart came over from Cardiff to play her first ever band gig and, while it wasn’t slick and perfect, she played her set with a huge amount of energy and attack as this photo shows. I’m hoping for another chance to shoot them soon:
Emily Capell
The first time I photographed Emily was at The Isle of Wight Festival in 2017. It was obvious she was a highly individual talent with musical influences ranging from doo-wop to punk and a visual style influenced by either the B52s or the sixties stylings they adopted. It all adds to the eclecticism of her performance. Emily’s very engaging on and off stage and she was an inspired opening act for Stone Foundation at the end of their 25th anniversary tour at Islington Assembly Hall. She gained a few fans over those two nights and was really nice about some of my photos. I’ll take that any time:
My subconscious must have been working overtime when I compiled these shots because I first saw Sam at The Isle of Wight in 2017 when he was playing bass with Elle Exxe’s band. Since then, our paths have crossed and recrossed. The strangest was when he was playing with Belle Roscoe on a narrowboat in Hackney Wick at the start of a guerilla canal tour. When I see him at gigs now, it’s never a surprise. Earlier this year, he was playing bass for Levina at Water Rats. Getting good bass player shots can be a challenge because of the length of the neck (on the bass, not the player). Sam helpfully plays with the bass neck angled up to make the framing easier. He’s that kind of guy:
Beth McCarthy
This was shot at a gig where Beth supported Natalie Shay at Omeara in March. She’s a natural performer who keeps photographers on their toes as she moves constantly around the stage. She throws some fabulous shapes but you have to catch them quickly before zooms into the next one and the next one as her lyrics explore her evolving sexuality. Everything moves very quickly so you have to be on the ball and keep the shutter firing so you don’t miss anything:
It’s time we used the High Fives to recognise some of the people who work incredibly hard to support independent and unsigned artists. In a business where the highest levels have a “dog-eat-dog” mentality, you might be surprised to discover that at grassroots level the approach is much more cooperative and collaborative. All of the people mentioned below have collaborated with others listed and rather than mention this in the individual pieces, we’ll say now that they’re all lovely people and great to work with. Over to Allan for some background. As ever, they’re in no particular order:
You may have heard the name if you’re a bit of a rock historian; you may not. Tony played keyboards in the original Iron Maiden before they decided they weren’t a keyboard band before taking up a similar role in Cutting Crew in the mid-eighties. He’s been involved in club management and promotion, first at The Kashmir Club and, for the last twenty years at The Bedford in Balham. For the last two years he’s also been programming music at the new Camden Club in Chalk Farm. He’s a champion of new music and he’s still playing live and recording after forty-five years in the business.
Lorraine Solomons
Lorraine’s been a fixture and inspiration on the live scene in London and elsewhere for years now and she’s passionate about introducing new artists to the public. At her Success Express showcases across London, she always tries to introduce a couple of artists at each event that she hasn’t worked with before and has brought artists from all over the UK and the United States to London gig-goers. Her enthusiasm for her vocation is legendary.
Saskia Griffiths-Moore
She isn’t a promoter as such, but Saskia is a singer-songwriter with a beautiful voice who ounded the organisation Talent is Timeless which was set up to give exposure to songwriters over the age of fifty. Saskia has given freely of her time and organisational abilities to set up live events, organise merchandise, set up the annual competition including organising judges, and setting up recording sessions for the winners at Abbey Road studios. She’s energetic yet laid-back enough to deal with the inevitable frustrations that come with event organisation. She’s always fun to work with.
Ray Jones
Ray Jones, CEO of Talentbanq, has also been involved with the London music scene for years now. In his previous position as Development Director at Time Out, Ray took responsibility for the magazine’s Rising Stars live showcases. In August 2017 left to join the board of Talentbanq alongside Pablo Ettinger and Lord Mervyn Davies. Talentbanq was set up to promote new talent and to ensure that everyone involved in live production (including technical staff) received a fair fee for their services. The company has gone from strength to strength and celebrates its sixth birthday in January 2024. Ray’s very hands-on in his approach and ensures that artists and audiences have a great experience at every Talentbanq gig. It’s very much a team effort at Talentbanq and it’s only fair to mention the rest of the team who are James Gamble, Natalie Brundle and Tayah Etienne.
Ian Douglas Forteau
Ian was involved in various aspects of the music business before setting up So Live Sessions in 2018 with similar aims to Tony, Ray and Lorraine. Ian has the same aims the other promoters and seems to find some very different locations for his gigs, featuring a huge range of musical styles. It’s because of one of Ian’s showcases in Dalston that I met up with the wonderfully talented Amy Taylor who I’ve shot many times now. Here’s an interesting fact for you. Ian attended the same school as Ray jones, although not at the same time.
