Ok, I’m taking control of the editorial introduction for this one to give the gaffer a rest and because it’s more personal than most of my pieces. You probably know I like to keep things moving, visit new venues, see new artists and just generally keep things moving along – I have a low boredom threshold. So here’s a few firsts for this year; the title probably has a lot to do with the fact that I’m reading Jarvis Cocker’s latest book ‘Good Pop, Bad Pop’ at the moment and there’s a fairly obvious link there. Neil Sheasby picked the book as one of his High Five selections and I definitely agree with him. If you’re looking for a present for the music geek in your life, then you won’t go far wrong with this one. Time for the firsts.

Three Gigs in One Evening

Why would I want to do that? Well, why wouldn’t I? “Why did you climb the mountain” – “Because it was there.” By a complete coincidence, they were all Talentbanq gigs and not too far apart geographically. The mini-marathon started with Zoe Wren doing the last session in The Courtyard of St Martin-in-the-Fields. She was stunning as always and even introduced some loopstation things to complement her guitar/vocal material. After Zoe, it was a quick walk up to Leicester Square tune station, three stops down to Hyde Park Corner and a five-minute walk up to The Back Door Bar to catch a set and a half from Brooke Law. Brooke’s another one that I’ve photographed a few times. I’m not sure that I know where she’ll finally position herself musically because she’s had a country hit but I like her as a rock singer in the Pat Benatar mould when she’s with the full band; time will tell.

A quick walk up to Green Park, on to the Victoria Line up to Highbury & Islington, then two stops on the Overground to Camden Road. Ten minutes later I’m in The Camden Chapel shooting  a support set from Roisin O’Hagan before the headline set from Tamara Stewart. If I’d been a bit more ambitious, I could have probably picked up a fourth gig in Camden at The Camden Club or Spiritual Bar. Maybe next time, but while we’re talking about Spiritual.

First gig at Spiritual

Sometimes I wonder how I manage to avoid venues. I didn’t shoot in Hope and Anchor until 2021 and I managed to miss out on Spiritual until 2022. I don’t know how I managed that because so many artists I know have been regulars there and the buzz about the place has been going on for years. What makes the place special is that the owner, Rafael, is passionate about music and he looks after the musicians that play there. He’s one of the good guys; he holds the whole thing together and the musicians love him.

The reason I finally shoot a gig there is that Amy Taylor is playing and I can’t resist that. I love Amy’s songs and her live delivery and she’s another one of those artists that photograph really well in a live setting. So, a great night all round – I got to meet the Spiritual team for the first time and got some nice shots of Amy in an intimate setting.

Pete Gow ‘Leo’ album launch

I’ve seen Pete Gow play live a few times, usually alongside his former Case Hardin bandmate Jim Maving; I’ve never seen him play with a full band including a horn section. I love Pete’s songs so when he announced a couple of full band gigs to launch his album ‘Leo’ this year, I got my name at the top of the list. The album’s a collection of songs about human frailties and even criminal behaviour that’s not even borderline and it features one of my favourite songs of this year ‘Side III of London Calling’. You have to listen to that.

On the night, Pete was supported by some old friends of mine, Belle Roscoe (Matty and Julia Gurry) and then appeared on stage resplendent in a white suit and looking incredibly like George Harrison at the ‘Concert for Bangla Desh’. Do I need to say that everyone involved nailed it and it was a great night? Thought not. And The Playground was a new venue for me as well.

Harley Kimbro Lewis at Landmark Arts Centre Teddington

I’ve seen Martin Harley, Daniel Kimbro and Sam Lewis solo and in various combinations over the years, but never in this one. There are a couple of other firsts; I’ve never been to the Landmark Arts Centre before and I’ve actually never been to Teddington, so that’s a triple first. Better than my 2(ii) degree. I knew that Harley Kimbro Lewis would be superb but I was surprised by the quality of the Landmark experience. There are no compromises; this is all about a beautiful sound in a venue with great acoustics and a stage that’s lit perfectly for ambience and photography. Congratulations to all the volunteers who create a perfect live music environment in this deconsecrated church.

Isabella Coulstock T-shirt

I’ve shot a book cover, my photos have been used in print media and on publicity material, but I had a bit of a bonus a few weeks ago when Isabella Coulstock, who I’ve shot many times, gave me my first T-shirt print. It’s one thing to see your work on social media and on posters in the toilets at Green Note, but it’s very different to see people wearing it at gigs. Apparently sales are pretty good, so it’s looking like a bit of a success. The shot was taken at the slightly unlikely venue, The Ned, and my original version was a colour shot, but the monochrome image works really well with Isabella’s signature underneath. Thanks to Graham Jackson for making the image work.

We actually had a summer this year, too much of a summer for some of us but you have to make the most of it, droughts and all. It gave Allan a chance to get out and do something a little bit different with his gig photos. He’s probably the best person to tell you about the differences between his usual work and outdoor gigs during a long hot summer.

You spend the winter in dingy basements trying to wring the maximum out of your camera’s sensor in terrible lighting conditions and then you emerge blinking like a mole into the outdoors in the spring with a whole new set of challenges to contend with, but they’re good challenges. The increase in light levels creates opportunities for much sharper photos with better depth of field and freezing motion. Basically, you have more options to play with. Here are a few shots from this year’s outdoor gigs, including three from the summer sessions in the courtyard at St Martin-in-the-Fields.

Amy Taylor @St Martin-in-the-Fields

This is a really interesting gig; it’s in the courtyard of the church and it’s free admission with artists provided by Talentbanq. You can sit down in the sun and listen to great live artists and you can buy a coffee, a beer or wine and a snack and soak up the atmosphere. It’s fascinating to watch tourists and Londoners wander past, hear the music and decide to come in to hear what it’s all about. On this day, Amy opened up the proceedings  at noon. When she walked on stage the courtyard was empty, twenty minutes later it was half full and in another fifteen minutes it was packed. What was really interesting was that Amy’s original songs had a better reception than the few covers that are obligatory at gigs like this. It was fascinating to watch a gig build up like this.

Ags Connolly @Folk in the Park, Sutton

Folk in the Park was a festival in Sutton, Surrey put together by Sound Lounge owners Hannah White and Keiron Marshall, two very talented people who are totally committed to live music. The music was virtually non-stop throughout the day with two stages alternating to keep the interest high. The night ended with a storming set from The Magic Numbers, but there were lots of great artists performing on both stages during the day. Phil Hooley performed on the Folk/Americana stage and Dan Owens put in a storming show on the main stage, but my favourite photo of the day was of the Ameripolitan artist Ags Connolly, who was also having a belated birthday celebration.

Zoe Wren @St Martin-in-the-Fields

I spent a bit of time here over the summer, mainly because it was a lovely place to be listening to live music on warm summer days. When I first photographed Zoe, she was the archetypal singer-songwriter with an acoustic guitar but she’s added a few more elements to her repertoire now, including a loopstation occasionally, which broadens out her sound a little. She has a great collection of original material including the classic ‘London Town’ and has a few well-chosen covers for gigs like this one.

Hollie Cook @High Tide, Twickenham

High Tide Festival in Twickenham has been steadily building up over the last few years since Phil Penman and Kevin Jones from Eel Pie Records started the event in 2019. It’s a one-day event with a main stage at the end of the High Street and loads of satellite venues running smaller stages. The programming for the festival is always eclectic and even showcases up-and-coming local bands. It’s a fabulous family event and each of year I’ve shot there, the weather has been perfect. This year Hollie Cook was headlining the main stage with her reggae style that was just perfect for a glorious July day. This one was always going to be a colour shot.

Natalie Shay @St Martin-in-the-Fields

I’ve seen Natalie play in a wide variety of indoor and outdoor and watched over the years as her songwriting’s developed. She’s always been a confident performer and she knows how to go onstage and win over an audience. She’s also a very physical performer and seems to be in constant motion. Using a high shutter speed to freeze the action also meant that background distractions were out of focus and minimised.

During the weekend of The Great Escape Festival virtually the whole of the UK music business moves to Brighton for a few days; the streets are full of musicians hauling gear round on various wheeled appliances and every pub and club has a live music line-up. With all of those musicians around, why not put together a daytime event with musicians in Brighton for TGE and a few others shipped in for the occasion. Well, that’s exactly what happened in Caffe Nero (huge supporters of unsigned talent) with the help of Talentbanq (also huge supporters of unsigned talent). The concept’s really simple; two days of live music with two artists appearing every hour between 10:00am and 7:00pm for two days. That’s 36 artists over two days. I only did the Thursday but saw a mind-blowing array of talent.

The fun kicked off at an unearthly hour; singers generally don’t like morning gigs but Cloudy Galvez and Penny Riviera totally owned the first hour of the day. Cloudy’s improvisational style followed by Penny’s raw, smoky torch songs started the day off perfectly and set the tone for what was to come. As the day unfolded there were superb performances across a wide range of musical styles from the delicate whimsy of Jasmine Rogers to the looping wizardry and powerhouse vocals of Lawrence Hill and Mark Sullivan. Zoe Wren combined folk and jazz, Louise Golbey and Ky Lewis added a bit of soul while Nuala and Lots Holloway powered through their respective sets in the usual barnstorming style.

Bringing events to a perfect close, Joe Slater gave his usual passionate performance of his own beautiful and spiritual songs and a cover of George Harrison’s “My Sweet Lord” before Natalie Shay ended the day with her own powerhouse performance. My only regret was that I had to miss day two; the idea of loads of hungover music biz types being assailed by caffeine and the phenomenon that is Hollie Rogers. I think that might actually wake the dead. Anyway, I think we’ll be doing it all over again at the Caffe Nero stage at Cornbury Festival in July.