Funeral for a Friend with WATO and People in Planes

We are the Ocean, originally uploaded by suzyska photos.

A couple of weeks ago I went to cover a band called People in Planes for pushtofire.com and luckily they were supporting one of my favourite bands Funeral for a Friend. I last saw FFAF in 2005 when I was still up in Durham.. they were playing at Northumbria University and it was a baking hot gig as it was in June. We spent the entire gig beside the fire exit as one of my friends' brothers was feeling the heat and not enjoying it... he had to go outside as he felt ill. The gig was good.

And so was the gig the other night. It was at Rios in Leeds, which is a pretty informal venue. It was rammed from front to pack. Almost sold out but not quite. I've heard there were about 750 people in attendence which is crazy as it's not that big a venue. FFAF were brilliant.. for the first time in ages I actually enjoyed being at a gig not taking photos the whole time. We got told to leave the pit after two songs and no flash.. it was a nightmare, but never mind.

We are the Ocean supported who are a up and coming UK band. They were great too. It was clear that a lot of people had come to see them as well as FFAF. People in Planes were pretty good, not really my thing, but they did play well.

The photo I've posted in this entry is of the singer from We are the Ocean. It's one of the best photos I got that night and possibly one of my favourites to date. :) I like the clarity of it - something only achievable with flash in that venue. It was really dark hence why my FFAF ones are so poor. 1600 ISO with a f1.4 lens. Not fun! I definitely am someone who is 'for' flash. I don't like using it for acoustic sets or slow songs, but when the lights in a venue are going mental it's cool.

Barcelona and forthcoming gigs

Last week I was in Barcelona on holiday. I took some photos but only on my G9 because my SLR is too big to carry about when doing touristy stuff! I don't like wandering about with it in busy unfamiliar places either. We went to a gig in Barcelona and it was so weird not having my camera there. I kept looking at the band thinking, "ah that would make a good photo... that would be a good shot" - bit frustrating but it was good to not have the pressure of getting a good photo or reviewing the band. I really don't enjoy reviewing gigs, but sometimes I have to as the pr companies ask for it... I think they think it's better exposure for the band.

Anyway, we saw The Real McKenzies with support from the Holy Buttons in this tiny old bar called Puerto Hurraco Sisters Bar, which was about ten mins from our hotel. I'm so glad we have a smoking ban in the UK. The place was full of smoke as about 99% of people were smoking - my eyes were stinging and I was coughing... probably one of the reasons I still have a cold after a week. Our clothes stunk so badly after the gig too - we had to try and steam clean them with the help of the shower in our hotel room... it worked to an extent which was surprising! The gig was ok - the support band were good and the Real McKenzies were ok too, though slightly repetitive in terms of the tunes. There was a photographer there who had my shirt from H&M! It was like seeing a smaller spanish version of me. lol. Except she had a Nikon and I only use Canon.

I'm looking forward to the gigs I have planned in the next couple of months. Tomorrow I'm photographing a You Me at Six gig. The last time I saw them was at Fibbers in York and we did an interview for pushtofire.com too (Feb 2008). They were really nice people and down to earth. It's amazing that since then they've been on the cover of Kerrang! and supported Fall Out Boy at Wembley. I like it when people who work hard get results like that. They really deserve it.
Then on Thursday I'm going to see Elliot Minor. I've offered to review their gig and I'm going to have to be honest about their performance. We interviewed them for the zine in April and in my opinion they didn't come across as well as You me at Six, but maybe they were just not in the mood to be interviewed that day. Who knows.

I am already freaking out about next week. I'm interviewing Less Than Jake. So scared! I love their music but I hardly know anything about the band really. I'm gonna have to do some serious preparation!! The day after it's Push to Fire's first ever gig... Take a Worm for a Walk Week plus The Network and Stella Dawes (The Junction, York, Nov 16th). Hopefully TaWFaWW will be well this time as they recently had food poisoning and were throwing up at the side of the stage in Fibbers (gross!!). They are a crazy band and worth seeing at least once. I have some promotion that needs doing as we need people to come to the gig so we can pay the bands. Gig organisation and promo is horrible!

Seeing Imperial Leisure in November too. Then Johnny Truant, The Ghost Frequency, Streetlight Manifesto, Guttermouth and Cherry Poppin' Daddies in December.. hopefully. I really want to get out and take lots and lots of photos and improve my photography. I think this year I've already seen more bands than I did in 2007 which is awesome.

Suzy :o)