Yesterday was quite a day for me. It’s been almost two years since I photographed a live show. A cancer diagnosis at the start of 2020 put a stop to that. Almost straight after that Covid 19 rolled up to shut the music business down. It was good to back at a gig. Not an average gig. No, it was an incredible gig, with the spellbinding, Black Pumas!
Here are some photos from last night.
I worked a little bit with the Black Pumas before all of the above in 2019. I photographed the Black Pumas for the cover of the fabulous Headliner Magazine. Last night they were back in London at the Roundhouse. I was driving there thinking, firstly, it’s been a long time since I shot a live band and then I thought, blimey, it’s about a hundred years ago that I first entered the Roundhouse on a Sunday afternoon to see and photograph a band. I can’t quite remember who that was. I was still at school and went my friends. I snuck my camera in every week. One of the early bands were Manfred Mann. I also remember the fabulous Joe Brown. I arrived last night, and I was extremely happy to see that everyone was being asked to provide a vaccination certificate. All of the staff were wearing masks. There was plenty of room for me and backstage it was very civilised regarding masks and space. The Black Pumas are one of the greatest new bands out there. In fact, they are 4-time Grammy Nominated. Which for a new band is phenomenal. The moment I heard them in 2019, I became a fan.
Last night was a real pleasure. There were a couple of other photographers there in the pit who were all very and amiable. I say that because it isn’t always like that. I had great access which is always very important. I was also pleased to take along one of my newer Nikon Z7II cameras and see how it performed shooting live music. I will let you be the judge of that! I have to say, I have been shooting live music amongst other things since the early 1970’s and Nikon cameras have been with me all the way and never let me down. I am going back to the Roundhouse today to shoot them again on their last night in London. If you get a chance to see them, then do it. They are incredible. Also, get their album which is utterly brilliant.
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