Kick off In The City
I couldn't see any evidence of the book launch as I entered Cosmonaut in Manchester. It was a nice bar and so I decided that I would use the toilet grab a drink and check the details online.
As I head down the stairs the beat from the tracks played by the DJ let me know I had found the right place. The small room was packed with a mix of people including a few I recognised. Photographers, musicians, promoters and artists all turned out to wish Photographer David Gleave well with his book launch.
The book is a collection of photographs he has taken on the streets of London, New York, Brooklyn, Brighton, Ibiza and Manchester. It was good to recognise some of his subjects in the book. If you like the sound of his photographs check him out. www.northernfacephoto.com
I then moved on to a bar to shoot one of my favourite live bands. The Madding Crowd have several EPs out and an amazing stage presence. The band were on great form sounding amazing and they covered every inch of the stage.
I started to shoot them but the performance was cut short by the venue owner. I will not go into details as I don't intend to give the manager a right to response. The band were obviously upset and deserved better. Thankfully the band and fans decided to take take the sensible option and left the bar before things got out of hand.
Pizza, Taco, Pizza, Taco
Pizza from the real fire oven or Taco with vegetarian chilli. I was tempted to have both but decided to shoot first. This was the first time I had been to a Crafty Vintage christmas event and it was even stranger being there in the evening. A lot of the things that I like about the previous Crafty Vintage events were still here but the evening and christmas decorations added little something.
There was the usual mix of craft and vintage stalls and also some great christmas crafts and gifts. The DJ was playing some quality music in the large marque and the heaters did a great job of keeping it warm despite the cold December night.
I did a bit of celeb shooting as DannyDelboy had visited the event with his family. He genuinely came across as a nice bloke. He visited all the stalls and was happy to share his knowledge and experience with the vendors. He also took time to talk to visitors and really seemed to enjoy the evening. It was fortunate that he didn't mind me shooting him so thanks Danny.
It was nice to see the Bread and Butter cocktail bar was displaying its "Best Pop Up Bar" certificate. Once again they were creating amazing drinks in the widest selection of containers.
The food is always great at Crafty events and the real wood fire at the pizza stand was giving off a lovely heat. Unfortunately a day at work followed by a shoot was taking its toll and so I headed home to get some sleep.
Thanks again to Crafty Vintage for asking me to shoot their event. Thanks you to the vendors and visitors for letting me shoot them. A big thanks to Danny for being such a great sport.
Printing Photos
I am ordering prints of some of my photographs. If you would like prints of my photos please get in touch for details.
So Many Lights and Still Dark
Live Room 19/11/2016
If at the end of the gig the crowd are still singing the songs, the security are insisting that people need to leave, the band members are wiping the sweat of their heads and asking if anyone knows where their clothes are and random strangers hug you and tell you "that was a proper gig they f@ck!ng smashed it" it's a clue it went well.
Scruff Of The Neck promotions know a good band and continue to put on great nights this was no exception.
The live room is a proper basement club from the moment you walk through the switched off metal detector on the way in you feel you are somewhere a bit special.
The club is darker than a goths wardrobe during a power cut. They have a moving light panel behind the stage that displays graffics and band names and one that has continuing changing patterns on the ceiling that are both impressive. Unfortunately I think this used the entire lighting budget.
The venue has no photo pit and the stage is low with just a barrier between fans and band until NYT climb it! This means photos have to be taken from in the crowd or side of the stage in the VIP area.
The first 2 bands Templars and Cordeliers played solid sets to a rapidly filling venue with a couple of interesting covers thrown including Elvis and Catrina and the Waves!
The templars even handed out their latest CD which Im looking forward to listening in the car this week.
As Cassia took to the stage the venue was at capacity and the vibe changed dramatically to a much more chilled relaxed feel. It felt like drinks should be consumed from half coconuts with feet in a swimming pool. They played a great set and the crowd loved every song and it was obvious a lot of the crowd knew every word to every song. These guys are destined for big things.
NYT NYT NYT NYT was chanted from the capacity crowd as the boys took to the stage. They played a great set and the room simply went off. The crowd sang, danced and bounced to every song. Had anyone arrived mid way through their set as well as missing 3 great bands would be totally confused as inflatable palm trees, bananas and balls and a semi naked lead singer was stood in the crowd. Im not going to describe exactly why you should have been there.
Thanks to Scruff of the Neck promotions for putting on a great gig.
Thanks to all the bands for a great set.
Dark Nights
I had a bit of time to spare and the camera in the car so took a few night shots. The spitfire is located at Fairhaven lake and sits on a large green pole. I roughly removed this as it spoilt the shot.
As I walked back to the car I liked the look of the moon through the trees and so took a couple of shots.
As it was freezing I didn't hang around and took a couple of shots at the start of the illuminations which a couple of weeks before would have been rammed with traffic.
