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Archive for March, 2008

Reading List, March 2008

March 31st, 2008 | Category: Books

Dananananaykroyd @ Barden’s Boudoir

March 16th, 2008 | Category: gigs

I’d heard lots of good things about Dananananaykroyd but never managed to get along to see them the past couple of times they’ve been in London so when I heard they were playing in Barden’s Boudoir, a short walk from my house, I took the chance to head along and see what all the fuss was about.

I wasn’t disappointed… I really enjoyed the gig. The band have so much energy, especially the lead singer who spent the entire set jumping all over the stage! The use of 2 drum kits is impressive and gives them a unique sound but didn’t feel too drowned in the drums.

With all the jumping about it was pretty hard to get a lot of good photos, it was made even more difficult by the other photographers insisting on using their flash. My camera couldn’t get a good light meter reading from all the flashes going off so a lot of shots came out either over or under exposed. Despite that, I did manage to get some good shots.

Dananananaykroyd

Support came from Agaskodo Teliverek who I’d never heard of before but enjoyed nonetheless. The lead singer spent the whole set smiling and jumping in and out of the crowd like a swirling dervish. Some good songs and pretty eccentric made for an interesting band to watch. I was also interested by the use of a keytar - not seen one of these used in a band before!

Agaskodo Teliverek

The venue was really good for taking photos. It’s reasonably small so they are happy for amateurs to take photos. The notice at the entrance asked photographers to only shoot during the first two songs of each band’s set, a reasonable request which didn’t seem to be adhered to by most of the other photographers there and wasn’t strictly controlled by the management either, I chose to follow this request so that I could enjoy the bands’ sets as well as taking some photos. I was able to get right in front of the stage and the two coffee tables supporting monitors in front of the stage provided some useful props to steady myself and get some good shots. Lighting wasn’t great - mostly red and blue lights giving some photos a purplish glow.

I did manage to get an interesting shot of the lead singer from Dananananaykroyd offering up the mic to the bassist for her to add some lyrics to their second song.

Dananananaykroyd

Will definitely try to head back to Barden’s for some more photography practice considering it is practically on my doorstep. Looking at their bookings for the next few months I’ll hopefully find something that takes my fancy!

Checkout the rest of my photoset from the gig.

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Dead Wolf Club @ The Wilmington Arms

March 12th, 2008 | Category: gigs

Iain is starting his final project at college now and he needs to find some bands to record. So we headed on down to Club Fandango at The Wilmington Arms on Rosebery Avenue on Friday night to see Dead Wolf Club, a band Iain had found on myspace. The band were second on the bill. They’re pretty tight (considering it was only their 3rd gig with Martha the bassist, who’d only recently joined the band) and have some good catchy tunes.

 

Dead Wolf Club

 

In terms of taking photos the venue was pretty good.  It was in the back room of the pub, with a raised stage, bar and enough room for maybe 100 or so people standing.  It wasn’t too packed so I was able to get right in front of the stage, with it being raised a few feet I was able to get some good shots.  The lighting wasn’t great - there was one spotlight on the right of the stage with a yellow gel filter which has given all of the photos a warm glow.  The light was mostly on the bassist so I have some good photos of her and some nice silhouettes of the singer but unfortunately wasn’t able to get any good shots of the lead guitarist and only 1 average one of the drummer.

 All in  all a good gig and a decent venue for aspiring photographers to which I will most likely return for more practice.  If they could add a spotlight to the left of the stage I think it would be perfect for shooting from all angles!

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