lonesome tiger photography

This Blog Has Moved

2011-03-18T11:46:00.003+01:00

I've revamped my homepage totally and have integrated this blog there. I won't post any updates here any more. Please update your bookmarks etc. - find me at http://www.lonesometiger.com :)

Gregorian

2011-03-03T23:50:00.007+01:00

Gregorian during a live concert at BEA Expo in Berne, Switzerland

Via my friend, the awesome fire drummer Harry Reischmann, I learned about Gregorian playing in Zurich (at the awesome theater 11!).

Gregorian (and their fantastic light show) during a concert

Theater 11 is the perfect place for a show like Gregorian put it on: You really get to see the great light show (including Harry's fire drumming), and the acoustics were perfect. The "Monks" are classically trained singers; my ears enjoyed listening to such perfect singing *very* much!

Drummer Harry Reischmann spits fire while performing live with Gregorian in Berne

Since it was a weekend, they were going to play 2 shows (one in the afternoon, one in the evening), and during the break, I took some pictures with Harry, his drumset, and THE ANIMAL (his mascot from the muppet show). I even got to watch the 2nd show from the stage :)

Gregorian during a live performance in Berne, Switzerland

The day after, I drove to Bern to take the photos you're seeing in this post at their show at BEA Expo Halle 310.

A single "monk" of Gregorian singing live whilst standing amidst the audience

Obviously, I can't get their songs outta my head now. And I can't put on any screamo any more: My ears have become too snobbish for that since having heard Gregorian ;-)

Gregorian and singer Amelia Brightman perform during a live concert at BEA Expo in Bern

Guess That Song!

2011-01-10T10:00:00.005+01:00

Alrighty! First off, the solution for the last GTS of course is "KoЯn - Freak on a Leash", as correctly guessed by Robin!

Guess That Song riddle: Which musician and song (by that musician) do you see in this photo?

So on to *this* GTS... Over on facebook, Daniel tried to get a headstart by guessing that since I'd been to Australia, the next song would be AC/DC. To even the playground for everyone: It isn't (ha! Looking at the pic, who woulda guessed :P ).

Wild guesses, partial solutions, and random comments - over on FB!

Fozzy

2011-01-06T22:22:00.005+01:00

Former wrestler Chris Jericho sings live at a concert in Sydney, Australia

I spent my last three weeks before Xmas in Australia, where I caught up with all sorts of great people. Among them were Big John of Riot Entertainment - he basically has a monopoly on all things awesome and metal in Australia, and is one awesome guy!

Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal of Guns N' Roses plays live with Fozzy at The Factory Theatre in Sydney

Coinciding with my stay was one of the shows John organized: Fozzy, band of WWE star Chris Jericho, were playing Sydney, and I got to shoot them (thanks, John!!). Towards the end of their set, they were joined by Guns N' Roses guitarist Ron Thal. Double treat for me behind the lens!

Ron Thal of Guns N' Roses and Fozzy rock out during a live concert in Sydney, Australia

Guess That Song!

2010-11-19T00:04:00.004+01:00

I don't know yet how to post the solutions to the Guess That Song photos - the last pic was guessed correctly as "Metallica, Orion" by Andreas over on www.facebook.com/lonesometiger. You know, M as in "Metallica", and the arrangement of the Ms as in "Orion". Kinda. My brain is twisted.

A word on how I did it: It's actually 8 candles on black Ikea blankets, arranged roughly to form the Orion shape. I then cut out my own custom bokeh (the M), and voilà. Very artsy.

Guess That Song riddle: Which band and song (by that band) can you see in this photo?

Alright, so here's the next picture - guess the band and song, and join the discussion on my FB page!

Eastpak Antidote Tour

2010-11-17T21:17:00.006+01:00

Live rock concert at Volkshaus Zurich

Remember last year? I do - it was a 2hr trip by car to Pratteln, my friend Lina was with me, and among the bands on stage were AlexIsOnFire and Anti-Flag.

Eastpak Antidote Tour in Zurich, Switzerland

This year, the Eastpak Antidote Tour stopped a little closer by (a 30 minute ride by bicycle - downhill!), at Volkshaus in Zurich. On the bill four bands - or shall I say: Sum41 and 3 openers (The Black Pacific, The Riverboat Gamblers, and Veara). Especially the former two were definitely worth seeing - thanks for posing!

I don't know if the security guard thought it was my first time in a pit when he walked up to me before Sum41's set and told me that we'd have to watch out since they would be carrying out kids... but when the first song kicked in, I understood what he meant: They asked who wanted to sing along on stage, and chose some lucky (?) ones which then got pulled out of the crowd and helped onto the stage. A fine idea, which they repeated for most of the 2nd song, too, which almost threw me and my (only!) fellow shooter Macel's count of songs off.

Song number 3 went down without kids being picked from the crowd with the band idly noodling around, but I still wish they'd have as much effort into posing as their openers :)

Guess That Song!

2010-11-08T19:25:00.003+01:00

Here's a little something I've been wanting to do for a while... essentially, just a silly way to try some stuff I'd read about on the net. So, rockers, the question is: What's that song?

Guess That Song riddle: Which band and song (by that band) do you see in this photo?

Extra points for finding out how I did it :)

Vans Off The Wall

2010-10-22T19:44:00.004+02:00

AntiFlag play a live concert at Dynamo in Zurich, Switzerland

... though most people were wearing Chucks or some cheap copy thereof. Including me. Maybe Vans are out. By the way, whatever happened to Airwalk?

Already exhausted after the first song: AntiFlag

So much for shoes. I really struggled to find a pic where the person on it isn't looking as if they were severely feeling tortured by my photographing them. I found one and posted it as the first one. That being said, I'm *so* over the closed-eyes-I'm-so-into-my-playing-shot (as I noticed during editing photos).

Which wouldn't kinda fit the musical theme of the night ^_^ ...

Turned 3!!!

2010-09-16T11:14:00.010+02:00

Der Graf of Unheilig at Greenfield Festival in Interlaken

Elton John performing at a concert at Hallenstadion in Zurich, Switzerland

Yes, it's that time of the year again. It's time for the annual "yet another year of lonesome tiger" picture loaded post. So buckle up, and assume some sort of bracing position, because for the rest of this post, I'm just gonna write about me, me, and, well, me.

Killswitch Engage showing off their muscles at Greenfield Festival

Skin of Skunk Anansie sings during the band's concert at X-Tra Club

The last 365 days started with a boatload of shows that I covered for 20 Minuten Online. I became a regular visitor to the major venues in town shooting my "3 songs only". You know you hang around there too much when the dudes from the photo agencies start greeting you with "you again!".

James Hetfield of metal veterans Metallica performs at Sonisphere festival Switzerland

Singer Pink during her show at Hallenstadion Zurich

I got to shoot Elton John and P!nk, and Europe and Nena, and the Cranberries and 30 Seconds To Mars. And a bunch more.

Alice In Chains live in concert at Sonisphere Festival Switzerland

Danko Jones playing a concert at Greenfield Festival

Following the freezing time came the time of festivals: I covered Greenfield, Sonisphere, and OpenAir St.Gallen. At least the latter was sunny....

Joey Belladonna of Anthrax at Switzerland's Sonishpere Festival

And shooting so many bands gave me a great excuse to buy some new camera gear: New to the family (since back then) is my beloved Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 :) . These last days, Nikon's been announcing new stuff like crazy, but I'm still trying to save my money for when they announce the D4. Ok, enough of the camera geekness.

Sonisphere Festival Switzerland - and that was *before* the fans were allowed in...

Another year, another milestone. My first year was all "trying to figure out how to get photo passes, scrape togethere the courage to actually ask for them, and shoot shows more or less regularly". That, and getting a decent camera (upgrade from Canon 20D to Nikon D3 *grin*).

La Brass Banda live at Openair St.Gallen

Juliette Lewis in concert at Greenfield Festival in Interlaken, Switzerland

The second year I dedicated to becoming really good at what I'm doing. Kinda easy if you got a D3, but still a lot of work. Seems I didn't do too bad; right at the end of year 2 I got my deal with 20 Minuten Online.

Jared Leto of 30 Seconds To Mars interacts with fans during the band's live performance at Openair St.Gallen

Year number 3 brought me tons of shows in big places, awesome light, a lot of exposure on 20 Minuten Online, and a couple of pics in the newspaper (Switzerland's biggest - yay, $s!). I got to cover said festivals, which was like a huge training camp for me (loved it!!).

Ian Astbury of cult band The Cult sings live in Zurich, Switzerland

Live concert of Coheed and Cambria at Greenfield Festival, Interlaken

And, as usual, the question remains what I'll be writing about in 365 days from now. All I can say now: Working on it, and determined to continue kicking serious a**!!!

The Cult play a live concert

Derrick Green of brazilian metal band Sepultura during the band's live concert at Greenfield Festival

Robb Flynn of rock band Machine Head during a live concert in Zurich, Switzerland

Jared Leto and his band, 30 Seconds To Mars, at Volkshaus Zurich

Papa Roach

2010-08-12T21:54:00.002+02:00

Singer Jacoby Shaddix of rock band Papa Roach

Papa Roach playing a live concert in Zurich, Switzerland

Papa Roach during the band's live performance at Volkshaus in Zurich

Papa roach live on stage in Zurich

Slayer

2010-08-11T22:15:00.003+02:00

Kerry King of Slayer, his pants, and his chains, perform live again in Zurich, Switzerland

Live in concert: Tom Araya and Slayer

Slayer's Kerry King during the band's live concert in Zurich, Switzerland

The Cult

2010-08-03T13:36:00.002+02:00

Singer Ian Astbury of the Cult

The Cult playing a live concert in Zurich, Switzerland

Cult band The Cult performing at Volkshaus Zurich

Openair St.Gallen: La Brass Banda

2010-07-11T21:17:00.004+02:00

La Brass Banda live at Openair St.Gallen, Switzerland

Every single one of their instruments is over 100 years old - and cost less than 100 Euro. Enjoying their music: priceless :-)

La Brass Banda performing during St.Gallen Openair

Bye, AdSpace

2010-07-09T10:58:00.003+02:00

After holding council with my pillow and cats, I have decided to delete my MySpace account. It's gone.

This is not a question of "why don't you use an ad blocker". This is not about me. It's about the people who visit my page and what they see. I do not want them to see an ad for a religion. My thoughts on this are the following (go get yourself a sandwich and some soda, this gonna be a long post):

I'm a very spiritual person, though I wouldn't call myself religious or affiliated with any religion in particular. I strongly believe that whatever answers or questions or truths it may be that a person is looking for in a religion, lies within themselves. Just as we are all unique human beings, so are our needs, beliefs, and truths. There isn't one reality, or one religious truth - there are as many as there are people, and probably more. Reality and truth are what a person feels, and what it feels like to them. So for someone it may be right to be a Catholic and join a monastery, for some it may be that they truly are Wiccan, and in their perception of the world, that is the perfect truth, and it is as true for that person as it is false for the next person, who can't but laugh about witches.

I believe that if you're truly seeking, you will find your way. Everyone who's truly seeking will find their way. At the end, all ways end up at the same mountain top - and if you're atop a mountain, who asks which way you took to get up? When you're atop a mountain, all that matters is enjoying being there. So find your way. And it lies within yourself. It is your way, and there is no way that somewhere out there you will by magic or happenstance find your truth. Even if you would come across what would be your truth: If you don't know what's within yourself you will have no way of knowing that this is the truth that would match the you, and you would go on tossing it out just like any other option before.

There is a lot written about and promised about "mountain tops" (or enlightenment, or whatever it may be that we're looking for in religion or spirituality). Some people don't care about it, and some do. Above, I wrote "truly seeking". In my opinion, there are a lot of "false seekers": People who do feel this urge to reach the mountain top, but they don't want to work on themselves, turn their gaze to their inside, and acknowledge and accept what and how they truly are, and find a way from there. To me it seems that there are a lot of people who want to ignore their own true self, their inside, their thoughts and needs, and instead they're looking for some sort of back entrance or shortcut to the "mountain top" without having to walk their way.

Walking your way may not always be joyful, in fact, it might be painful and you will meet many obstacles and you'll be tempted to go all "fuck the mountain top, I just want to rest". If your soul is truly seeking, you will keep walking, maybe taking a rest, but you will not be able to stop yourself from trying to find your way up. False seekers will keep trying to look for shortcuts - paying someone to carry them up there, discussing how one could build cable cars or shoot a rocket or whatever else they can think of to reach the mountain top if they just don't have to look inside and find their own way. The point is - you can't get there if you don't walk *your* way, and you do it yourself. Either you accept this, and you go and look for your inner way up the mountain - or you don't, and you will stay down, not matter how long you look for a shortcut or if you just don't care about the mountain.

Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with not wanting to be on top of a mountain, not at all! (I hate real-world hiking, by the way). But if you're a seeker, you can't but try and walk up, like you can't stop thinking about eating when you're hungry. There's nothing really you can do about it when you are a seeker.

Finding and walking your own way is very hard, sometimes not very pleasing (talk about looking in the mirror and seeing yourself for what you truly are and feel), and oftentimes totally confusing and frustrating. It can help a lot to talk about the finding of your way to other people - Mountaintop Wayfinders Anonymous - or to talk to someone who's been seeking and walking for a while, and might have one or the other advice for you (which you can then ignore or choose to take). Some of these people, and some of them are already on top of the mountain, dedicate a lot of time and effort into helping other people finding their way. I agree that even if they're high up or on top of the mountain, they have to buy food, pay rent, gas, clothes, and so on. If they dedicate so much time to others, they probably don't have enough time to work a regular job; so it is only fair that in exchange for their help, you pay them something.

Usually, these people are called priests, or teachers, or gurus, or monks, or nuns, ... every culture has something like that. And we give them money so they can make sure that the knowledge about finding one's own way up the mountain isn't lost, and that they can help seekers to find their way.

Ha! Where there is money, there are crooks. They don't give a shit about mountains, seekers, ways, or you. They care about money. And if it is pretending to carry you up, showing you a way that "works for everybody, but we're only showing it to the chosen ones", or pretending to build you a cable car that makes you give them money, hell they will pretend the sky being pink if that's what it takes. And they very well know that they're screwing you over.

So,

zero, no two ways up the mountain are the same, just as no two people are the same
one, the way lies within yourself, only you can find it, your way is unique, and nobody can tell you what it is or find it if not you
two, advice helps a lot, and just as you will find your way, you will find your teacher.
three, there is nothing wrong with paying a teacher a fair amount in exchange for their help
four, a true teacher knows that you will find them along your way if they are truly on your way

Which leads me to the conclusion that a true teacher will not advertise. Because they know they would only attract false seekers who are too lazy to go find and walk their own way. And because they know that the only people for they can really be a teacher will, inevitably, find them along their way and recognize them. True seekers who pass them along their way, and for whom they are not the right teacher, will know and keep on walking - you meet a lot of people who aren't your teachers along your way.

So if someone who likes to see themselves as teachers (a "church" or "cult" or whatever you call it) goes around ringing doorbells or publishing ads, it can only be that they are false teachers out to get your effing money and abusing your urge to get farther up the mountain to screw you over. You don't pay money for an ad if you don't expect to make more money out of the people seeing that ad.

I don't care if visitors to my MySpace page would see an ad for Justin Bieber's album or one for Ben&Jerry's. That's stuff that people make to make money; ads are necessary to make money, cause (for practical purposes) nobody goes out there seeking the perfect brand of ice cream that matches their taste buds. But that doesn't hold for beliefs. Religion is about the irresistible urge to seek within yourself - and only then you will find. Your true teachers - you will find them along your way. If someone forces themselves into a place along arbitrary people's ways by smashing an ad in their face, chances are they don't want *you*, they want just anyone who'll give them money. Just like Ben&Jerry's.

That is why I do not want ads for any religion of any kind anywhere near me, or anybody else.

I Don't Want Nothing To Do With Scientology

2010-07-08T15:53:00.004+02:00

... or any other religion; at least when it comes to flashing banners on my MySpace page.

At the moment, they're showing a giant colorful animated banner ad on top of my MySpace page. I'm not going to discuss Scientology, it'd make me as mad if it were Christians, Buddhists, Jews, Hindus, Muslims, or followers of The Flying Spaghetti Monster. I respect everybody's right to choose their own religion and to believe whatever they want to. But I do demand that I be treated the same way. Moreover, I expect a third party (ie. MySpace) to respect my own religious beliefs and the ones of the people who visit my page.

So I'm seriously considering deleting my MySpace account due to this fact. Even though it still seems as if MySpace was still a good networking tool in the music biz. I'm interested in you guys' opinion:

feedback surveys

Openair St.Gallen: Bonaparte

2010-07-07T18:41:00.002+02:00

Swiss/German stage artists and musicians Bonaparte during their live performance

Bonaparte during their concert at Openair St.Gallen in St.Gallen, Switzerland

Openair St.Gallen: Billy Talent

2010-07-06T22:45:00.004+02:00

Dropped off of my daily posting routine a bit - my apologies to those who thought "huh? only 1 show from oasg?". I got a good excuse though: I took my black belt exam in Karate last Sunday (and passed!), and since then, my body feels like it needs a whole lot of laying on the sofa napping.

Billy Talent during their performance at Openair St.Gallen

But back on topic of the pictures you see in this post: One out of 3 festivals didn't have rain! Instead, it had insane sunlight. I only left the press tent to shoot a band; I'd even wait for sunset to go out on a food stroll.

Billy Talent playing a live concert at Openair St.Gallen in Switzerland

My favorite festival food is Crêpes, as sweet as I can get them. Cinnamon and sugar, Nutella, you name it. I have never understood people who want them with blooy pepper sauce. Isn't that forbidden or something? Oh yeah, and I don't go to festivals to eat kabob, no thanks.

Openair St.Gallen: 30 Seconds To Mars

2010-07-04T09:31:00.006+02:00

We got 3 songs with no flash, and were allowed to shoot from anywhere but the pit. We rolled our eyes - at least no contract to sign, eh? I figured that at least it wasn't as ridiculous as with a well known female singer with changing color of hair whose request it was that photographers shoot from FOH, and only with wide angle lenses (we stayed home that night...), and so I decided I'd shoot from the audience.

Jared Leto of 30 Seconds To Mars during their live concert at Openair St.Gallen

My pal Gerry had a lens the size of an um-brella-ella-stand and shot from the roof of one of the VIP tents. I didn't, but the people in the audience were very friendly, some guys even offered to lift me up or to be my tripod. The atmosphere of the whole festival - totally peaceful :-)

Jared Leto interacts with fans during 30 Secons To Mars's concert in St.Gallen, Switzerland

I ran into Mr. Leto that night when he was walking back to his bus. He explained to me that he consciously made the anywhere-but-the-pit request because the pictures from the there "are like the biggest rock 'n' roll cliché", and that he wanted the photographers to go out and find new perspectives.

Jared Leto performing with 30 Seconds To Mars at Openair St.Gallen

Thinking of it, I wish more artists would allow us to do so. Thanks, Jared!

Sonisphere: Slayer

2010-07-03T10:17:00.003+02:00

Kerry King of Slayer, his pants, and some heavy chains perform live at Sonisphere Festival in Switzerland

Slayer's Tom Araya plays at Sonisphere Switzerland

Sonisphere: Metallica

2010-07-02T08:21:00.003+02:00

Singer/guitarist James Hetfield of Metallica performs during the band's live set at Sonishpere Switzerland

Rob Trujillo of Metallica playing Switzerland's Sonisphere Festival

Lars Ulrich of Metallica

James Hetfield sings another great Metallica song at Sonisphere Switzerland

Sonisphere: Anthrax

2010-07-01T08:28:00.004+02:00

Singer Joey Belladonna of Anthrax performs live at Sonisphere Switzerland

Thanks go to my friend Andy, who introduced me to the band, and to Rob, who lent me his artist's badge so I could be on stage during the performance. Thanks, guys!!!

Scott Ian of Anthrax rocks out

Joey Belladonna performs during Anthrax's live concert in Switzerland

Slash

2010-06-30T08:19:00.003+02:00

Ok, these pictures look like they came straight from 1991, but I swear I took them a couple of days ago at X-Tra, when Mr. Slash was performing with Myles Kennedy at the mike. As in 1991, the sold-out crowd went nuts!!

Top-hatted guitarist Slash, formerly of Guns N' Roses, performs live at X-Tra in Zurich

Famous rock musician Slash (and his top hat) on stage during a solo concert in Zurich, Switzerland

Slash, his top hat, and his Les Paul during a Solo

Greenfield: Unheilig

2010-06-29T19:04:00.003+02:00

Der Graf of Unheilig performs at a live concert in Interlaken, Switzerland

Unheilig at Greenfield Festival in Interlaken

Greenfield: The Busters

2010-06-28T23:57:00.004+02:00

The Busters play live during their concert at Greenfield Festival in Interlaken, Switzerland

Greenfield: Sepultura

2010-06-27T12:37:00.004+02:00

Brazilian band Sepultura live at Greenfield Festival

Sepultura play a concert in Interlaken, Switzerland

Singer Derrick Green of Sepultura during the band's concert at Greenfield Festival

Greenfield: Neaera

2010-06-26T15:18:00.003+02:00

Metal band Neaera playing a live show

Guitars, guitars, guitars, ...

Neaera during their performance at Greenfield Festival

Neaera playing live in Interlaken, Switzerland

Guitars, guitars, guitars, guitars, guitars, guitars, guitars, guitars, guitars, guitars, guitars, guitars, guitars, guitars, guitars, guitars, guitars, guitars, guitars, guitars, guitars, guitars, guitars, guitars, guitars, guitars, guitars, guitars, guitars, guitars, guitars, guitars, guitars, guitars, guitars, guitars, guitars, guitars, guitars, guitars, guitars, guitars, guitars, guitars, guitars, guitars, guitars, guitars, guitars, guitars, guitars, guitars, guitars, guitars, guitars, guitars, guitars, ....

... make me smile :-)

Greenfield: Killswitch Engage

2010-06-25T20:07:00.004+02:00

Killswitch Engage

Killswitch Engage during their concert at Greenfield Festival

Killswitch Engage live in Interlaken, Switzerland

Greenfield: Juliette Lewis

2010-06-24T23:49:00.003+02:00

Juliette Lewis live in concert at Greenfield Festival

The blue hair brought Juliette Lewis and her band with it - they played Interlaken, Switzerland

Greenfield: HIM

2010-06-23T19:37:00.002+02:00

Singer Ville Valo of Finnish rock band HIM performs during the band's concert in Interlaken, Switzerland

HIM playing a live concert at Greenfield Festival

HIM live in Interlaken, Switzerland

Greenfield: Heaven Shall Burn

2010-06-22T15:54:00.003+02:00

Heaven Shall Burn at Interlaken's Greenfield Festival

Heaven Shall Burn rock out to their own live music in Interlaken, Switzerland

Heaven Shall Burn at Greenfield Festival in Interlaken

Greenfield: Eluveitie

2010-06-21T20:07:00.003+02:00

Swiss pagan metal band Eluveitie during their concert at Greenfield Festival

Eluveitie playing live at Greenfield Festival in Interlaken, Switzerland

Eluveitie

Greenfield: Danko Jones

2010-06-20T15:25:00.003+02:00

Danko Jones' band performs in the rain during Greenfield Festival

Danko Jones shows us his tongue during his live concert in Interlaken, Switzerland

Greenfield: Coheed And Cambria

2010-06-19T22:44:00.004+02:00

Concept band Coheed and Cambria at Switzerland's Greenfield Festival

Ooops, I didn't keep up my daily alphabetic Greenfield blogposting thing. I got a good excuse though: I went to shoot Sonisphere, and have since also greatly increased my backlog of stuff to post to the blog.

Coheed and Cambria playing live in Interlaken

But first come, first served. Thus you now get a post from Greenfield. The Sonisphere stuff will be up, don't worry :)

Coheed and Cambria perform during Greenfield Festival in Interlaken

Greenfield: Callejon

2010-06-16T17:55:00.003+02:00

Rock band Callejon in Interlaken, Switzerland

Callejon performing during their live concert at Greenfield Festival in Interlaken, Switzerland

Greenfield: Blessed By A Broken Heart

2010-06-15T20:00:00.002+02:00

Blessed By A Broken Heart play a live concert

Blessed By A Broken Heart at Greenfield festival, Interlaken

Blessed By A Broken Heart (and a Terminator T-Shirt) at Greenfield Festival, Switzerland

Greenfield: Bleeding Through

2010-06-14T22:08:00.004+02:00

I shot a lot of bands this weekend. Was like a training camp for me! There were huge bands, pretty well-known bands, lesser-known bands, awesome shows, some that could use a li'l more curry and chili. There were back-of-the-stage-huggers which didn't make for such great photos (festival stages are tall - if you don't come to the front, all I'm gonna be able to shoot is the top of your head...), there were audience-jumpers, and probably the cross product of all the above mentioned. So... here you go, in alphabetical order...

Bleeding Through performing at Interlaken's Greenfield Festival

Bleeding Through

Jethro Tull

2010-05-24T20:23:00.003+02:00

Jethro Tull's live concert at X-Tra Club

Jethro Tull play live in Zurich, Switzerland

Candy Dulfer

2010-05-02T10:49:00.003+02:00

Dutch saxophone player Candy Dulfer plays live at her concert in Zurich

Candy Dulfer and her band playing at X-Tra Club

Candy Dulfer during a duet with a band member in Zurich, Switzerland

Candy Dulfer performing live at a concert in Switzerland

Nena

2010-04-23T23:46:00.002+02:00

Nena on stage at Hallenstadion Zurich

Nena performs during her concert at Hallenstadion in Zurich, Switzerland

Pop singer Nena interacts with fans during her concert at Hallenstadion Zurich

The Baseballs

2010-04-18T21:54:00.003+02:00

German Rock 'n' Roll singers The Baseballs during their concert in Zurich

The Baseballs live at Maag Event Hall in Zurich, Switzerland

The Baseballs perform during a live concert

30 Seconds To Mars

2010-03-24T22:20:00.003+01:00

Jared Leto of 30 Seconds To Mars sings live

Live Concert of rock band 30 Seconds To Mars at Volkshaus Zurich

Jared Leto and his band, 30 Seconds To Mars, play live at Volkshaus Zurich

30 Seconds To Mars live performance

Jared Leto of 30 Seconds To Mars

The Cranberries

2010-03-18T21:25:00.002+01:00

Singer Dolores O'Riordan performs live

Dolores O'Riordan of The Cranberries during the band's live concert in Zurich

The Cranberries perform a concert at Hallenstadion Zurich

The Cranberries' live show at Hallenstadion in Zurich

Les Claypool

2010-03-13T09:46:00.004+01:00

Les Claypool of Primus performs during a solo show in Zurich, Switzerland

Les Claypool's band wear masks during the concert

Les Claypool's band during their live show at Abart Club in Zurich, Switzerland

Lamb of God

2010-02-28T13:11:00.003+01:00

Lamb of God during their concert in Zurich

Lamb of God perform live at Volkshaus Zurich

Metal band Lamb of God live

Joss Stone

2010-02-19T20:14:00.008+01:00

I watched Zack Arias's video on his workflow the other day. He uses Photo Mechanic, Lightroom, and Photoshop. I use Lightroom - so far.

Joss Stone during her concert at X-Tra Club

When posting the video, Zack mentioned that he used Photo Mechanic to import his photos from the memory card and make quick choices on keepers and trash-fodder. Doesn't Lightroom actually do that for ya? Why pay $150 for a program that does the same thing?

Joss Stone singing live in Zurich, Switzerland

Zack kept on (and on, and on, and on ;-) ) talking about how fast Photo Mechanic is importing pictures and rendering previews - something I've been struggling with for a while (launch LR, insert memory card, type keywords, hit enter and go eat a sandwich - or three). Especially when I'm shooting for 20 Minuten, time is crucial, because they gotta figure out if they wanna use the shot on their cover or on the music pages for the next day's edition.

Joss Stone performs during a live concert at X-Tra in Zurich

Since Camerabits, the company that makes Photo Mechanic, offers a 20-day free trial, I decided to give it a go for Joss Stone's show. And boy, I was blown away! I have no idea when I'll eat now after coming home from a shooting a concert, but I'm definitely heaps of precious sleep minutes faster than it used to be.

Joss Stone live in concert

I also needed it - Joss Stone was beautiful, her voice amazing, and the light just perfect. Edited 500-something photos (yeah... fast continuous shooting on a D3 produces lots of pictures) in less time than it used to take me to just download them to Lightroom. I guess I'm gonna invest $140, cause I've heard there's a $10 gift code somewhere in Zack's post. Great night!

Joss Stone sings for Zurich

Backyard Babies

2010-02-12T22:36:00.008+01:00

Yeah, baby! What a show! The Babies had brought everything from leftover Christmas decoration to lights nicked from police cars to enhance their already power-loaded show.

The Backyard Babies at Härterei in Zurich, Switzerland

Yeehaw! Too bad you can't mosh along if you're carrying an expensive camera, two lenses, and everybody else is moshing and carrying beer.

The Backyard Babies playing a live concert

The show certainly warmed my heart (the rest of me was heated by the lamp-like heating devices at Härterei - it's just freeeeeeezing cold here! I want my spring back!).

The Backyard Babies performing live

Stay warm n' safe :-)

The Backyard Babies during their concert in Zurich

Machine Head

2010-02-09T12:36:00.009+01:00

Machine Head know how to rock a show!

... and Hatebreed! And Bleeding Through! In reverse order. Even after the first band, everything was sticky with beer and sweat. Crazy!

Opening band Bleeding Though

Sold out, they were probably even moshing up on the seats. Didn't see it, couldn't turn around - had to duck from flying beers and crowd surfers.

Bleeding Through open the show for Machine Head at Volkshaus in Zurich

They'd put in extra subwoofers in the pit, I was *really* grateful for my earplugs. Brutal!!

Machine Head play a live concert in Zurich, Switzerland

Machine F*cking Head!

Sonata Arctica

2010-02-09T12:23:00.007+01:00

Metal band Sonata Arctica playing live at Volkshaus

Gettin' crazy busy again with awesome shows! Sonata Arctica played Volkshaus last Sunday - no clue why only 400-something metalheads showed up. The show was sick!

Sonata Arctica perform a live concert in Zurich, Switzerland

Also, the audience was partying so hard that the floor started to bounce back - was afraid it'd break and we'd all land on our a$$es down in the basement :D

Sonata Arctica during a live concert

Air

2010-02-06T17:38:00.004+01:00

Air - light, space, a little inconceivable. And from Ireland :-)

Air during their live show

Calm live concert: Air

PS: They're from France. The person doing the news updates got *that* memo sort of late-ish :-P

Dillinger Escape Plan

2010-02-03T19:33:00.009+01:00

Dillinger Escape Plan rock out during their live concert at Mascotte in Zurich

Dillinger Escape Plan had the honor to open for the legendary Karaoke From Hell band at Mascotte last Tuesday. Thank goodness for earplugs.

The Dillinger Escape Plan play live in Zurich, Switzerland

The sound was... man, brutal! Their show was, despite the tiny stage, totally insane. Also, it was about as dark as the inside of a cow. Yay for Nikon, their D3, and the D3's autofocus. Yay for being allowed to shoot their whole show!

Dillinger Escape Plan performing live

Insanely brutal. Crazy. In an awesome way.

The Dillinger Escape Plan (and a Ramones T-Shirt)

Wolfmother

2010-01-31T15:02:00.007+01:00

A friend of mine warned me that he'd throw some beers at me during this show. Just to show his support of me. How nice! He ended up not doing it (why not??), but it was nice meeting him during the opener's set. Which was all red-light without spots, so no pics from there.

Wolfmother play a live concert

Then Wolfmother were up. Seeing them put a lot of "oh-yeah-back-thens" in my brain: Back then, when batik shirts were hip. Back then, when it was fashionable for men to let their head and facial hair freely express themselves. Back then, when phones had cords.

Wolfmother during a concert in Zurich, Switzerland

Back then, when bands weren't all about posing. Back then, when Rock was born. And for all ye Americans out there: Back then, when great shows still sold out. As did Wolfmother's.

Wolfmother at Volkshaus, Zurich

Thing to remember: AC/DC aren't the only rockers from Australia worth checkin' out!

Australian band Wolfmother performing a live concert

Europe

2010-01-26T12:30:00.006+01:00

Rock idols Europe play live at Volkshaus Zurich

Europe, the band, came with China, also the band, as their openers. The audience was refreshingly older than 16 - during the changeover some guy told me about the times back in the day, when he watched AC/DC opening for Black Sabbath at the same place. Bet back in those days, also rubber boots were still made of wood.

... you too :) - Europe play a concert at Zurich's Volkshaus

With old stagers like them, you can either get a "hey we need money" show that makes you feel sorry for them and sorry for yourself 'cause now you've lost yet another hero to the graveyard of has-beens. Or you get a really, really great show that makes you feeling sorry for yourself 'cause now you sound like your own grandma ("you just don't get shows like that from the young bands any more").

Europe (the band) live

Europe's show was the latter. They had a blast on stage, they knew how to pose, knew how to play. Awesome, come back soon!

Europe

Fast Forward Tour

2010-01-17T13:37:00.007+01:00

A new decade, almost a month old - time to get back in shape! *cracking my knuckles* Plans for the next ten years include to get myself a wider angle lens and an 2nd Nikon camera (after successfully selling all my Canon stuff to pay for a well-deserved and totally awesome vacation in Japan in December).

Goodbye Fairbanks play a live rock concert at Schüür Lucerne

To figure out what kind of glass and clicky thingy to get, I borrowed my friend Bruce's D700 with the 17-35mm f/2.8. I'd already figured out on said trip to the east that Bruce likes his settings a bit different - he's the kind of person that sets the autofocus to the A/F button and gets the white balance right when he shoots (so it's set to JPG). I was ready for that.

Fuzzy Index performing at Schüür Lucerne

But I must say, it does take some getting used to when you got a camera in your hands that you haven't played much with. Compared to the D700, my old Canon 20D is far inferior, but it felt better in my hands 'cause I'm used to it.

Goodbye Fairbanks during their concert in Lucerne, Switzerland

The lens gives you awesomely distorted wide-angle (as you'd expect at 17mm), but that was almost too wide for Schüür's stage. I'm tempted to say I wanna buy a 2nd D3 with the 35-70mm f/2.8, but I can hear my bank account screaming just thinking of it. Anyone got 8000 Swiss to spare?

Goodbye Fairbanks playing a rock concert

PS: The bands were awesome!!!

Depeche Mode

2009-12-07T13:13:00.010+01:00

In a series of crazy concerts here in Zurich this fall (Pink, The Prodigy, Amon Amarth, Skunk Anansie, Green Day, ...), Depeche Mode had the honor of being the headliner (that's what the last band on the bill is, right?).

Veteran band Depeche Mode play a live show in Zurich

Or rather, I had the honor of shooting them. As I'd mentioned in my post about my trip to shoot Lita Ford in Germany, a lot of bands from the times of good music are coming back these days to kick some a** and show today's youth why their big brothers and sisters (or rather, moms and dads) are so crazy about music.

Dave Gahan of Depeche Mode at Hallenstadion Zurich

Depeche Mode is a big name and it seems that the vampires I'm talking about in that Lita Ford post really are making it out when they hear of good music: Hallenstadion was filled all the way up under the roof with people (dead or undead - I couldn't tell from the pit ;-) , and they've got another sold-out show today.

Depeche Mode's Dave Gahan live (and on the monitor)

In the usual pre-shooting briefing given by the promoter promised an asymmetrical stage - with an ego ramp almost all the way to the right, and all of the band, including Dave Gahan, to the left. They also warned us about a camera moving back and forth on the left hand side, but as all the band was supposedly over there, all 14 (!) photogs squeezed in on that side of the ramp.

Depeche Mode playing a live concert

Tiptoeing around the camera (thanx to the two roadies operating it - I got a photo of each of you if you read this - you guys were super cooperative with us annoying bunch :-), we got to shoot 4 full songs in good light.

Depeche Mode

Was a great show, and also a worthy dernière for my Canon 20D. It was my first SLR, and I learned almost anything I know about photography with it. It has served me well, but now it's time to give way to the younger generation. I've already sold the lens, the body's still up for sale - and money from that goes to the fund for a Nikon D700 to replace it.

Dave Gahan of Depeche Mode

On a personal note: After all this crazyness with one show after the other, I'm now taking a pre-solstice-festivities vacation, and I'm gonna be off the radar for a while. May the metaconcept of your choice have the desired influence on you, and happy holidays!

Logo for Depeche Mode's tour - interesting shape for a "D" :)

Pink

2009-12-03T09:35:00.011+01:00

Remeber that song by Aerosmith?

Pink it's my new obsession
Pink it's not even a question
Pink on the lips of your lover, 'cause
Pink is the love you discover
Pink as the bing on your cherry
Pink 'cause you are so very
Pink it's the color of passion
`Cause today it just goes with the fashion

Singer Pink's Funhouse show is about to start at Hallenstadion, Zurich

Pink it was love at first sight, yeah
Pink when I turn out the light, and
Pink gets me high as a kite
And I think everything is going to be all right
No matter what we do tonight

Pink being flown through the air during her concert at Hallenstadion

You could be my flamingo
'Coz pink is the new kinda lingo
Pink like a deco umbrella
It's kink - but you don't ever tell her

Pink performs live in Zurich

Pink it was love at first sight
Pink when I turn out the light
Pink gets me high as a kite
And I think everything is going to be all right
No matter what we do tonight

Both of Pink's concerts in Zurich were sold out - this is a photo from the first one

I want to be your lover
I wanna wrap you in rubber
As pink as the sheets that we lay on
Pink is my favorite crayon, yeah

Pink poses for the camera of a front row fan during her live concert in Zurich, Switzerland

Pink it was love at first sight
Pink when I turn out the light
Pink it's like red but not quite
And I think everything is going to be all right
No matter what we do tonight

Pink and her dancers during their show in Switzerland

Pink's show was kinda like that :-)

The Prodigy

2009-12-01T13:44:00.007+01:00

Strobes! Backlight! Quickly changing light! Singers that hop around on stage like the Energizer bunny!

The Prodigy during their concert at Hallenstadion Zurich

Half of all speakers available in the whole city! Boom! Thankful for my earplugs.

The Prodigy

Awesome sound! Nonstop action! Crazy audience! Painted ants all over the stage!

The Prodigy

Aka: I went to shoot The Prodigy at Hallenstadion ;-) Check out my (and the users') photos in the article on 20 Minuten Online.

Porcupine Tree

2009-11-26T10:07:00.016+01:00

I drove to Wettingen. I was a tad late, so I got to park in the unlit part of the gravel pit far in the back. I arrived at the venue, got my pass, and was informed that we'd get to shoot the first 12 minutes (since the first song was so long), and by the way, it would be pretty dark in there.

Well by then I'd gotten used to finding my way in the dark, and what can go wrong - I have a Nikon D3. The back of my head reminded me that I also have a Canon 20D, and later the night I noticed that its out-of-focus was really too challenged by the not-light on stage.

I caught the last bit of the set of openers Stickmen, who were playing electric Sitars. Now *that's* something different! A bit esoteric sound-wise, but yeah, for an opener quite cool.

Drum setup for a live band of progressive band Porcupine Tree

Changeover. The carpet covering the stage got a through vacuuming. Then a voice from the off informed us that we shouldn't record the show with anything, including cellphones, as this was destracting the band and other spectators. And if we saw anyone ~~committing such a horrible crime~~ doing so, they would ask us to kindly tell that person to stop. Welcome to the age of Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, and mobile phones with cameras. The band didn't ask us to please not applaud between movements though :-P

Guitar waiting for Porcupine Tree's concert to begin

Then the first song started playing - no band on stage. I waited, since the lights were still more an emergency lighting than "stage lights", and I expected them to take the stage with a "boom". After a while, I got bored and started to shoot "still life" pictures of the various instruments that were sitting on the stage, as obviously this intro/song/... was counting to the 12 minutes we were allowed to shoot.

When the band finally took the stage, the "lights" didn't change at all. Maybe they had forgotten to bring spotlights? Or maybe there was a power shortage in Wettingen, leaving the promoter unable to properly light the parking lot and the stage? Oh the benefit of the doubt.

Porcupine Tree performing live in Wettingen, Switzerland

I would have liked to take some great shots of the band once they were on stage, but not only was there no light, they also kinda didn't do anything - well ok, they seemed to be playing their instruments and singing, but that was about it. At least it now became clear why they had covered their stage with carpet: Singer Steve Wilson was barefoot. Once I noticed that I started to wonder whether Porcupine Tree wouldn't be better off seeking spiritual enlightenment in the quietness of an Ashram rather than at a rock show.

Closer look onto Porcupine Tree's stage during their concert

Well, "rock show", that is. As I said, there wasn't much of a "show", and the first bit we got to cover wasn't very "rock". More towards the sitars. Maybe I'm not enlightened enough, but I was very disappointed by this concert - I love their music and certainly would have expected more :-/

Placebo Can Go F...otograph Themselves

2009-11-25T10:11:00.009+01:00

I take photos at rock shows. At small rock shows, the bands fall all over themselves thanking me for taking photos, they throw free drinks my way, let me give them hints on how to place the lights and pose patiently. Some of them even offered to pay me, which I usually refuse since I know that essentially they're still paying to play.

At medium-sized shows, the lights are usually better, there are no free drinks, 3 songs only, but lots of great posing. Except for those medium-sized shows where the artist hates photographers - there, the lights tend to suck.

At big shows, the lights and stage are usually friggin' awesome. Sometimes it's 2 songs only, and sometimes they only let you take photos from the kingdom of far, far, far away. Sometimes the musicians are so scared someone might want to screw them over by selling whatnot with their face on it (God forbid someone promote them or their music) that they make me sign some chit that essentially says any and all the rights to the photos taken at the event are theirs.

There is quite some discussion going on about this (read the post in the link - it reflects my opinion pretty well). Photographers hate these contracts, and with reason. Why should I not be allowed to cover my expenses (for example the $6000 camera and the $2500 lens I'm shooting with) by selling a photo to a newspaper two months later? But oh well. We lack leverage - no signature, no photo, no fame.

Today I got a contract that takes the biscuit. Not only do they ask for any and all right to reproduce the photo in anywhichway they want (for example on their next album cover), I am also required to send them to management within 2 weeks, and they are entitled to make money off of my photos.

Read the contract for yourself, here. Thoughts?

In my opinion, that's like a studio owner making a musician signing a contract that says "by using my studio, you sign over all rights to the music you record here to me, and I am free to make tons of money by selling it".

Seriously, what the @#?!. Under these circumstances, me, my copyright, and all of my contact sheets and "j.peg" files will stay home next Tuesday and enjoy a pizza. For all I care, Placebo and their management can collectively go F-otograph themselves.

For the record: As of now, I do not get paid even if my photos are online at 20 Minuten Online. But yeah, I feel I'm really ripping off artists by promoting their shows </sarcasm>.

Amon Amarth

2009-11-23T17:08:00.008+01:00

Headbangers don't wear shiny golden glitter stuff. They wear dark stuff. Instead of jumping around and posing, they're busy playing their guitars.

Metal band Amon Amarth play a live concert in Zurich, Switzerland

Amon Amarth are awesome music, but they once again proved a theory a photog friend of mine once stated: There are only two kinds of guitarists. A) the ones with new shoes (constantly bent over looking down) B) the ones with too few skin on their back (constantly bent back looking at the ceiling).

Headbanging mandatory: Amon Amarth play a concert at Volkshaus Zurich

Personally, I'd add two more categories: The wide-angled-legs-staring-at-my-fretboard and the one-foot-on-the-monitor-staring-into-the-nowhere guitarist. These two kinds of guitarists can additionally have the attributes I) holding head still such that hair falls all over their face, II) headbanging (up and down) III) headbanging (circular).

Fans are headbanging too, so as a photog you run danger getting whipped with hair / knocked over by heads from all sides. Fun times :D

PS: The last two pics are Dreamshade, openers for Amon Amarth.

Skunk Anansie

2009-11-20T17:38:00.007+01:00

Singer Skin of Skunk Anansie

Check out the article on 20 Minuten Online about the show - my pal Lina who put together the text is pretty mean...

Skin of Skunk Anansie is hidden by her stage costume during the beginning of the concert

For those of you who don't read any German: She's asking whether the glitter was a tad too much and whether Skin's hairdo was ok...

Skin of Skunk Anansie singing live during a performance at X-Tra in Zurich, Switzerland

And I don't think the glitter was too much: That stuff makes for a great photo any time! Not that Miss Skin would need to throw herself into glitter to attract attention: She's such an energetic appearance it's hard to take your eyes off of her when she performs.

Skin greets her front row fans at X-Tra Club

Backstreet Boys

2009-11-18T16:41:00.009+01:00

The Backstreet Boys singing live during a concert in Zurich, Switzerland

Diversity in everything! I love rock and punk and metal, but I've also covered some jazz and swing bands in the past. Each genre attracts a certain audience, and last night's as a bit different than the usual male-dominated metal crowd.

The Backstreet Boys at Hallenstadion in Zurich

The Backstreet Boys were back at Hallenstadion, and I went to shoot them. Was curious what it was about them that made thousands of girls screaming their lungs out :-)

The Backstreet Boys

Ok, they've grown older, but they sure still can dance. Can't tell about the singing, I figure with all the dancing that was playback.

The Backstreet Boys are back in Switzerland

But you can't go wrong opening a show with "Everybody"... was a lot of fun! But still - I guess I'll be back shooting ROCK after this brief stint in the cotton candy section ;-)

The Backstreet Boys starting their live performance in Zurich

The Sparkling Diamonds

2009-11-12T22:28:00.005+01:00

As I already found out a long time ago, taking photos at non-rock shows is a bit different. People don't wear shredded pants and don't shout along.

The Sparking Diamonds perform a concert at Juan Costa in Zurich

The Sparkling Diamonds sure did play some songs that made me wanna sing along (or could you sit still to "New York, New York"?).

The Sparking Diamonds in concert

Their set was a mix of good old swing, good old songs, and some new ones, even in Swiss German. Great musicians, fun music!

The Sparking Diamonds during their showcase in Zurich, Switzerland

Green Day

2009-11-09T11:02:00.009+01:00

Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day live at Hallenstadion Zurich

Green Day's mascot, the pink bunny, entertains fans before the concert

Drunken pink rabbits are a good start, no matter what.

Green Day during their live concert in Zurich, Switzerland

Green Day are awesome, no matter what.

Billie Joe Armstrong plays a rock concert in Zurich

Both together make for a friggin' awesome night! 'nuff said :-)

Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong's guitar

PS: Story in 20 Minuten Online

Stopped Breaking My Neck!

2009-11-07T12:24:00.003+01:00

Summer was gadget time. I got myself some custom made earplugs, and some other fancy stuff to play with while the concert calendars were white and empty over summer.

Gadget number two are my beloved Black Rapid R-Straps. What I'm wearing on those pics is not a backpack, it's my double-black-rapid shoulder gear for wearing two cameras at once. Hands-free!

Normal straps scream the name of your camera manufacturer, get sticky round the neck and have sharp edges, so when you carry them around your neck and pull the camera up, you get your combat marks where other people get love bites.

Many photogs wrap the strap around their shooting hand, but that never was for me. I need my hands to fidget with other stuff even when shooting with one cam only - I mostly shoot with two, so I'd be a bit handicapped if I had a camera tied to each hand. Quite sure it'd look funny though ;-)

So what does the Black Rapid Strap do?

other than "traditional" camera straps, the Black Rapid doesn't attach to the camera's strap holders. Instead, you get a freely turning loop that you screw in as if it were a tripod. Then you attach a carabine to said loop, and said carabine is attached to a square metal eye that freely moves along the strap.
- That way, you can move the camera along the strap, and the strap will stay where it is.
- The camera can rotate any which way thanks to the loop - no twisted straps at any time
- When you let go of the camera, it will hang upside-down along your behind and is safely out of the way
it's comfily padded, so even with heavy cameras, no love bites
when you drop the camera, it will hang behind your lower back and won't annoy you while you walk.
you can wear a single one (if you only shoot with one cam) diagonally, or two of them linked together like a backpack. Either way, if you let go of the camera, you can do what you want with your hands without having to be afraid that the expensive toy might drop off of your shoulder.
it's got little pockets in the strap which I use for business cards (cause I never managed to fill 32GB plus 4GB in one night of shooting 3-songs-only even with 6 bands up to now - so the spare memorycards are somewhere in my pockets along with the wrinkled money and the cellphone).

The photos in this post were taken by my friend Maceman at the Moby show last Thursday

Moby

2009-11-06T17:29:00.009+01:00

Light during Moby's concert at Volkshaus

Dear musicians. If you don't want photographers to bother your devoted fans in the first row, just don't give us a photo pass. If you give me a pass, I assume you want me there and take great photos and promote you, your music, etc. (which comes, by the way, at zero cost to you).

Moby playing live at Volkshaus Zurich

There is no need for excessive use of dark red light, tons of light at the back of the stage, fog machines, lots of blue and green light, or light settings whose brightness varies all over the place. If you don't want us there, don't let us in. There's no need to annoy us.

Because I'd rather go and have pizza with my friend than wasting my time trying to take a good picture to promote you where you're doing everything in your power to make it impossible to take a good picture. Ok? Next time, just say "no, I hate photographers, please go eat a pizza". It'd be more honest :-P

Moby performing a concert

Thankfully my skills in making good photos out of non-optimal light situations excel the skills of whoever was in charge of the light at Mr. Moby's show in making my life harder. Hope you enjoy the pics :-)

Eastpak Antidote Tour

2009-11-01T16:29:00.008+01:00

AlexIsOnFire play a live rock show at Z7 near Basel

Festivals can be quite the endeavor, including camping in the rain for days, getting all piggyish in the mud in front of the stage, not showering and sleeping on air mattresses (if you brought one - I highly recommend that by the way, should your tent leak you'll awake drifting around on a lake in the morning still cozy and dry instead of waking up *in* the lake in the middle of the night. Don't ask how I found that out ;-) ).

Live performance during the Eastpak Antidote Tour in Switzerland

The one solution to escape that is a) sleeping in a hotel room (yeah, very rock 'n' roll...) or b) going to festivals that don't require that you stay overnight. Such a night was last Friday, when the Eastpak Antidote Tour made a stop at the metal church known as Z7.

Only one night, but as with any festival, it required quite some fitness to make it through: Five bands in a row, and with no softie-schmoozie bands in between, no time for a break. The audience seemed well trained: Mosh pits, circle pits, headbanging, screaming along - I guess we all had great fun! Except for the guy who fell asleep with his head on the rail, I don't know if he had fun, but I can assure you he doesn't remember anyway ;-) Was fun to watch with all the havoc around him - sound asleep like a baby. Standing!

Front row of punkrock fans during the live concerts at Eastpak Antidote Festival

Took some photographer fitness too to make it through the night (five bands time three songs plus twice 1.5 hours drive plus editing and putting online = way past my bedtime, but bloody worth it!). The pics are up at 20 Minuten Online here since Saturday.

Shakra

2009-10-24T20:21:00.006+02:00

Everest - that's the name of their latest album. Something that's forever, I guess that's what you want it to be when you found a band that becomes as popular as Shakra.

Swiss rock band Shakra plays live at Schüür in Lucerne

But there is a life outside the band, and so sadly for us, singer Mark Fox is on his last tour with them.

Shakra perform a live concert

I was lucky enough to get to shoot them before he leaves - bloody sad enough, as he and the rest of the band seem to have a blast up there!

Local rock band Maxxwell opens the show for Shakra at Schüür Lucerne

They're looking for a new singer now - all I can do is take pictures, my singing sucks, but I sure hope they'll stick around! If you're a good singer, send your demos to Shakra! Keep metal alive in this country!

Elton John

2009-10-17T02:28:00.008+02:00

Show business veteran Elton John plays live during the Red Piano tour in Zurich, Switzerland

One of the agency photographers I was editing pictures with after our first-two(!)-songs-only said that the song "Nikita" was too old for me to know it. Little does he know my mom is a huge Elton John fan, and I haven't missed an Elton John show in Zurich for the past 15 years.

Elton John performs live at Hallenstadion Zurich

Some new songs have joined the old favorites, Elton (and his guitar player with the straight long hair) have remained the same: Engaging, professional, extraordinary musicians. I've seen a couple *cough* of their shows, and every single one was great from start to end. They play about 2.5 to 3 hours nonstop, no breaks for Elton to give a guitarist time to play a solo. And that boy is over 60 years old - take that, James Hetfield!

Singer Elton John during a live concert in Zurich, Switzerland

Of course, Elton John is also known for his, errr, very distinctive choice of clothes, haircuts, glasses, and just about everything else, which makes him a great subject for photos. Zooming in you can also see that even after all these years, his passion for music and playing shows is still alive and kicking a** as ever. I wish I'd gotten more than just two songs...

Elton John and his Red Piano live at Hallenstadion Zurich

PS: I shot this show thanks to my new collaboration with 20 Minuten Online - thanks to them and promoter GoodNews for giving me the opportunity!

Just Elton John's Red Piano

Leningrad Cowboys

2009-10-12T02:00:00.010+02:00

Fun band The Leningrad Cowboys entertain the audience during a live performance

Car of the day was my brother's Audi. That thing was needed as I had to leave the family dinner at his place early in order to make it to Lucerne on time.

The Leningrad Cowboys live in concert in Lucerne, Switzerland

I turned up around 9pm-ish, and the room was already *packed* - sold out crowd, and that on a Sunday night!

The Leningrad Cowboys (and their hair) performing a live show in Lucerne

I'd heard some Finnish outside and saw people with curious hair posing with motorbikes, so I knew the show wasn't going to start right away... the audience didn't like the standing there either, some of them had been standing for hours to get their spot in the first few rows.

The Leningrad Cowboys live in concert

That was a problem for me, because there were only people, but no pit. And the people weren't happy with me blocking their view or knocking their head against my lens (hey I'm trying to hold still when I shoot, it's them that keep jumping into me and my cam...).

The Leningrad Cowboys (and their shoes) live on stage

Anyway, it was a bit of a fight, but thanks to the local Broncos motorcycle club, some strong arms lifted me onto the bar and held me up there where needed. It *can* pay off to be a skinny girl ;-) Thanks, guys!

Heidi Happy

2009-10-04T14:58:00.010+02:00

Swiss singer Heidi Happy performs live in Lucerne

Last Saturday I dared shooting a Jazz concert for the 2nd time in my photographic life. My first shot at Jazz has been quite a while ago - still my only point of reference. I hoped that it wouldn't be as quiet, my D3's shutter makes an awfully loud clicking noise when everybody's holding their breath during a general rest.

Heidi Happy's band in Lucerne, Switzerland

This time tough I wasn't *so* worried about disturbing the music, as the show was to take place at Schüür, the place where I last shot Anthrax.

Heidi Happy and her band at Schüür in Lucerne

Subject of the night was Heidi Happy's last show of her tour. I wonder why she wasn't in Berlin to celebrate the launch of Yello's new album, as she contributed vocals to it (it's a great record! You *must* buy it!!!). Maybe she took a plane right after, from party to party ;-)

Heidi happy plays a live concert

Even though she'd been on tour for a while, neither she nor her band looked tired of touring. They were in great spirits, and - 'scuse the pun - Heidi looked happy to be there.

Heidi Happy live on stage

If all jazz shows were as great as hers, I might have to reconsider calling myself a "rock" photographer. Those jazzistas look pretty good on photos too!

Heidi Happy's band performs in Lucerne, Switzerland

The Hives

2009-09-25T14:42:00.011+02:00

The Hives from Sweden play live at Alte Börse in Zurich, Switzerland

I remember my first show of The Hives as if it were yesterday. Back then, I only had my Canon 20d with the 24-70mm f/2.8. I met Philipp from German portal rockZOOM, and that show had been his first. We've met a couple of times in various pits around Zurich, and I wasn't surprised to see his boyish grin again.

The Hives play a live show

As a "been there, done that" The Hives shooter ;-) , I knew what to be prepared for: awesome-looking boys on stage (those suits...!) with lots of jumping and posing. Plus a very well-lit stage, since Alte Börse isn't your usual pitch black hole of a concert place. Also, they suffer from the SPTMP syndrome (small pit, too many photographers), so lots of stumbling was to be looked forward to.

The Hives' concert in Zurich, Switzerland

As expected, we had great fun. Openers The Giant Robots already rocked the place pretty hard. Amazing to hear, amazing to watch: A drummer whose head floats above his body (hey drummers, learn to relax like this guy while playing! More healthy for your back!), a bass player pregnant with twins (yay her!), a singer and keyboarder who knew how to pose, happy bouncy rock n' roll, and a sold-out crowd ready to rock n' roll.

Live rock in Zurich with The Hives

Also, this was the first show I shot for 20 Minuten Online, check out the gallery here and send in your pics from the show! They kick us out after 3 songs, so where are the shots you guys took after that?

The Hives

Happy times!

The Hives

20 Minuten

2009-09-25T14:08:00.008+02:00

Over the last couple of months, I've been looking for alliances with Magazines, both online and offline, to get easier access to photo passes, and frankly, to make a $ or two. New lenses and custom earplugs just don't grow on trees.

Dir En Grey from Japan play a live rock concert at Alte Börse Zürich

My first alliance was with Laut und Spitz, a so-called "party portal" that also covers concerts. My dear friend Maceman (who's also an awesome concert shooter) has been with them for a couple of years and gave me the opportunity to shoot concerts for them. Thanks to LUS, I got to my first show at Hallenstadion - the wonderful Anastacia.

Anastacia's concert at Hallenstadion, Zurich

I have left LUS to avoid a conflict with the new alliance I'm announcing in the title: I now work (still as a freelance concert photographer) with 20 Minuten Online, the online version of Switzerland's newspaper with the biggest circulation.

The premiere for our collaboration was yesterday night, when Alte Börse celebrated its 5 year anniversary with Swedish rock 'n' rollers The Hives. Check it out on
20 Minuten!

Yay me!

Copyright of photos in this post: Anastacia and Dir En Grey © by lautundspitz.ch, Giant Robots © by katrin@lonesometiger

Happy 2nd Birthday To Me!

2009-09-17T11:10:00.064+02:00

Chris Cornell, formerly of rock bands Soundgarden and Audioslave, performing a live solo concert in Zurich, Switzerland

Wow! Another year? Already?! Two years ago last Wednesday, I started my webpage and went from compact to shooting concerts with my SLR. My first year was amazing, and so was the 2nd...

Dan Nelson performs live with metal band Anthrax at Schüür in Lucerne, Switzerland

Lita Ford plays for the fans at Bang Your Head!!! festival in Balingen, Germany

Again, I've collected my favorite shots from last year in this post. They're sort of random, but I'm pretty damn proud of them!!!

Japanese rock band Dir En Grey plays a concert in Zurich

Scott Ian of Anthrax playing live at Schüür in Lucerne, Switzerland

So, what happened in the past 12 months to the tiger?

Chris Cornell performing live at X-Tra, Zurich

Goodbye Fairbanks from Berne play Volkshaus Zurich

Rob Caggiano and Scott Ian of Anthrax rock out live in Lucerne, Switzerland

I started MondayMorningRocks. To help you rock over rocky starts into the week, you get one of my photos every Monday morning.

Singer Chris Cornell playing a live show

Close-up photo of Enjoy Destroy's live set at Volkshaus Zurich

I gave my homepage @ lonesometiger.com a facelift. The wonderful smugmug is now hosting it, and I love their service! Thanks to them and their great tools, you can now also view galleries with fancy slideshows on my homepage.

Duff McKagan's Loaded at Schüür Lucerne

Escape the Fate make a KISS reference during their live show at Give It A Name festival in Zurich, Switzerland

Hey, have a look at the new page, it now even has a picture of me! Taken by myself with the help of some big window, a ladder, a reflecting piece of cloth meant to keep your car's steering wheel from melting in the sun, an old desk lamp, a shutter release cable, and the white wall in my living room.

Duff McKagan

Enjoy Destroy

Working more on the homepage front, I translated it to German, which is now the default, and also started a German translation of this blog - guck mal!.

Duff McKagan's Loaded

I shot my first festival at Give It A Name Switzerland thanks to my friends at leech*redda. I also got invited by them to cover an acoustic show by Lagwagon frontman Joey Cape - hope they really do release the live LP they recorded that night, cause the pics bloody deserve to be released (and the show was awesome!!!)!

Papa Roach play live at X-Tra Club

Beatallica, the perfect mix between The Beatles and Metallica, play a live concert

To get easier access to photo passes, I joined party photo portal LUS as a concert photographer (and I strictly only shoot concerts! No way I'm going to shoot parties...). They got me in for my first show at Hallenstadion, where for the first time in my concert shooter career I wished for a *longer* lens. Anastacia was wonderful, and I suffered gadget envy when one of the agency photographers showed up with a lens longer than my best friend stands tall.

Thanks to Ursi at Schüür, I also got to shoot two bands that I'd have killed for to see live when I was a teen. Anthrax with then-new-now-former singer Dan Nelson totally killed it (and if I were you, I'd kill still today to see them).

Under Oath live at Volkshaus Zurich, Switzerland

Give It A Name festival Zurich

Killer number two I got to shoot at Schüür was Duff's Loaded. If the man knew how many posters of his former band I had in my room when I was 12, he wouldn't have shaken my hand at the meet-and-greet after the show. Legend!

UnderOath playing at Give It A Name festival in Zurich

What else... like all the cool kids (and Oprah), I got myself an account on twitter.

My 2nd festival followed in summer when I got an invitation to shoot Lita Ford right from the stage at Bang Your Head!!! festival (thanks a ton Bumblefoot for fries, friendship, and fun!!). Shooting with an Access All Areas pass was awesome, because the stage stood high enough for the photogs in the pit to wish for broomsticks to tie the cameras to to get a decent shot. And Lita's show deserves to be show, she looks awesome!!! Her new album "Wicked Wonderland" is about to come out, can't wait!

Rock band Thursday play in Zurich, Switzerland

I bought a ton of new gadgets and gear. Among others, I finally got myself some decent earplugs (fitted for my ears). And tons of other stuff that I hope to write about in the near future (harrrrr.... there's tons in the pipeline...).

I spent summer playing with said gear and forming new alliances. I'm loading my guns for year three. Wonder what I'll be writing in 365 days from now, but I'm pretty sure I'll be as amazed at what happened in such a short time as I'm now.

Metal veterans Anthrax (singer Dan Nelson and guitarist Scott Ian) perform live in Lucerne, Switzerland

Pop singer Anastacia waves at her fans in Zurich

Stage setup for Duff McKagan's Loaded at Schüür Lucerne

Fucking WOW. It's a hell of a ride, so stay tuned for exciting stuff to hit this blog...

Loudness War!

2009-09-01T23:37:00.010+02:00

If you've ever been to a rock concert (and if you read this blog, you *probably* have), you know that sound that reminds you of what you did last night for all of the following day. Beeeeeeep. Until you either constantly hear bells ringing or don't hear anything any more, which both keeps you from enjoying music, which sucks.

Front row at a live rock concert

In Switzerland, there's a law that says concerts can't excel 100dB, and that concert promoters have to provide free earplugs. Bands make fun of the law ("What are they gonna do? Arrest us all?" said one Duff McKagan, who, given his biography, probably needs the 100dB on the monitors to even be able to hear himself). Concert promoters team up with whoever wants to put their ad on the box to be able to provide the free earplugs. I grab tons of them when I go to shows, 'cause I've gotten used to sleeping with my ears shut when I lived next to a train line.

Duff McKagan, formerly of Guns N' Roses, performing with new band Loaded

But the quality of the free plugs sucks, naturally. You can't hear the audience. Then this great singalong song comes up. You take the plugs out. You forget that you should put them back in. Back to square one.

Fans holding up lighters and cell phones during Guns N' Roses' performance of Knockin' On Heaven's Door in Baltimore, MD

So I went to the music shop to get better plugs, and spent 60 bucks on a pair of plastic thingies with "filters". They sucked as much, and I decided to live with the sucky free ones. At least they are always available, just in case you forget yours. But it kept sucking.

Custom made "in-ear" earplugs keep the noise out without distorting the sound - highly recommended if you watch a lot of concerts live!

Now I got myself a pair of custom earplugs. Yes, you're looking at the inverse of the inside of my ears (no worries, the pics were taken before any serious use ;-) . They cost 300 Swiss. That's a lot of money. But see it this way: If you had tinnitus, or were deaf, how much would you give to be able to enjoy music again?

custom made earplugs, as worn by this photographer while shooting pictures at live concerts

Protect yourself!!

Homepage Now Also In German

2009-08-24T13:18:00.001+02:00

When you go to my homepage, you'll now be greeted in German. To get your English version back, click the link at the bottom (sorta obvious, it does say "English" on it ;-)

Sepultura

2009-07-10T14:01:00.011+02:00

Brazilian metal band Sepultura live in concert

There are a couple of things on my wish list, photography-wise. As you can imagine, there are a ton of lenses, a camera or two, and some very expensive things that are essentially funny-shaped plastic that make a photo geek's heart beat faster.

Sepultura perform at (severly under-lit) Salzhaus in Winterthur, Switzerland

But there are also some not-so-photography-related things that I wish I had. Yesterday night, I extended that list by yet another item: Headlamps for photographers. You know, we're not allowed to use a flash.

Sepultura playing a live concert

Usually, I'm happy that's the case, because flashing would definitely destroy the atmosphere of the show. They hire people to design the stage lights for a reason, and I enjoy all the colored light and shadow on people's faces.

Sepultura and a sold-out crowd of metalheads at Salzhaus in Winterthur

That's exactly the point: I want light on their faces. While I definitely dig the spaceship lights in the back of the stage at Salzhaus (they give the tiny stage a lot of depth), I wish they were a little more to the side. Or someone would donate some money so they could install some spots.

Sepultura playing live

It's a *very* cool place, don't get me wrong! I'd go there any time, the people are totally nice, the sound is good, they got great acts, nice decoration, wild crowd, everything. But I always go to listen to the shows, not to watch.

Sepultura in Winterthur, Switzerland

Because frankly, you don't see a lot (except for the spaceships). Especially if your lead singer is of color and has black dreads. And you can see all his emotion in his face and eyes - if you get to be as close as the photogs in the pit. It would make wonderful photos if I had a headlamp. Or maybe I'll bring a flashlight (no on-camera flash, right?). Or put a pocket wizard to my camera and have someone in the audience hold the strobe.

Sepultura's concert in Switzerland

Bands: Bring your own spot lights! We want to see you!

all pics in this post are © lautundspitz.ch, who organized the pass for me.

Anastacia

2009-07-06T11:21:00.009+02:00

Pop singer Anastacia performs a live concert

In my post on Anthrax I was writing about how small the pit for us photogs was, and how we almost had to sit on our behind on the floor not to knock over the musicians with our lenses. I was praying for a wider angle lens back then.

Anastacia sings live at Hallenstadion Zurich

That was definitely not the problem with Anastacia's show: They didn't let us in the pit, but only to the FOH. The confirmation from the promoter just stated that we should bring "appropriately long" lenses.

Anastacia's stage during her performance at Hallenstadion Zurich

The photog from Keystone took them by their word and showed up with a $16.000 600mm lens with two teleconverters. The stage definitely was lit beautifully bright enough to allow for such light-hungry glass, but also my wallet definitely is beautifully light enough to not allow such $$-hungry glass. I also would wonder how I would transport such a thing on my bicycle - attach wheels and drag it behind me maybe? Ok, gadgegt envy, I admit it :D

Singer Anastacia dances with her fans during her performance at Hallenstadion Zurich

I had rightly assumed that my 24-70mm wouldn't be of much help, so I'd only brought the 70-200mm and a friend's 200-400mm. That gave me the opportunity to shoot Anastacia, her band, and her stage. Lots of light, Anastacia in white, lit from the front, beautiful colors - I guess I wouldn't even have found it half as beautiful if I'd shot the show from the pit. Great show!

Stage setup for Anastacia's live show at Hallenstadion

PS: Copyright for all the pictures in this post is owned by lautundspitz.ch, who also organized my photo pass.

Lita Ford

2009-06-30T12:05:00.010+02:00

If you haven't read Anne Rice's "Vampire Chronicles", you should at least watch "Interview With The Vampire" (to see how handsome Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt look in old-fashioned clothes. For you guys out there: There are also a couple of pretty girls in corsets in that movie ;-) .

Lita Ford playing live at Bang Your Head!!! festival in Balingen

If you have read the books, you might remember how vampires survive eternal life: When times get too tough on them, they bury themselves and wait for better times. Lestat does so, and awakes at the sound of rock music. He rises, and starts his own rock band to call other vampires out from their hiding. Rock music is what it takes to make a vampire want to live life again, to get out and take part in the action.

Lita Ford live on stage in Balingen, Germany

I think something like that happened in the last few years. Rock music was big in the 80ies. Then some guys in Seattle put some lumberjack shirts on and took over. The vampires decided that times weren't worth to be lived, and went into hiding to wait for better times.

Lita Ford playing a live concert at a festival in Germany

Something woke them up over the last couple of years. I don't know what it was - maybe the lack of good music out there? Whatever it was, they came back to kick some a$$ and show us mortals how to ROCK!

Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal, also of Guns N' Roses, performs live with Lita Ford at Bang Your Head!!! festival

One of these immortal rock gods that came back is Lita Ford. She still looks absolutely awesome - big blond hair, bright smile, and is in rockin' great shape both visually and vocally. Warming up for her upcoming album, she and her band played a couple of festivals in Europe. The shots in this post are from Bang Your Head!!! festival in Balingen/Germany - a fitting title: Wake up, world! Bang Your Head!!!

Full gallery

Anthrax

2009-06-25T11:37:00.008+02:00

"BRUTAL!" - that was the comment one of my friends made when I told him I'd been to a DevilDriver / Anthrax show.

Rob Caggiano of metal band Anthrax plays live at Schüür in Lucerne, Switzerland

Indeed, from outside the venue it sounded as if the roof was going to be blown off. Inside, there was a pretty big crowd of heabangers busy jumping, screaming, moshing, and circle-pitting, so I guess the only difference it would have made if the roof had been blown off would have been that it wouldn't have been as hot!

Singer Dan Nelson of Anthrax live on stage in Lucerne, Switzerland

Different from their normal setting, there was a tiny photographer's pit in front of the stage (ok, I suppose it was more a rail so the headbangers in 1st row wouln't knock their faces onto the stage), so we got in pretty close - much closer than you usually get at Schüür anyway.

That's good on one side, because the tall blond headbangers with afros don't get in the way (and there's always a tall blong headbanger with an afro next to the zealous fan that films the entire show and ruins your photos with their shiny camera display when there's no pit for the photogs, I swear!). What's not so good is that you might be surprised by the setting and find yourself with a lens that's too long.

Anthrax

As usual, I had brought my Nikon D3 with the 70-200 VR (and I could have taken a picture of the lead singer's nose hair with it, but I managed to fight the urge), and the old Canon 20D with the 24-70mm L-lens. I love the lens, but the camera is definitely the weakest link. I heard other people complain about it, so I guess it's not just my camera: Canon's autofocus should be called "outoffocus" :-/.

Guitarists Rob Caggiano and Scott Ian of Anthrax playing live

Thankfully, they lit up the stage enough so that we had ample playground to take cool pics, so it worked out fine :-) Full gallery is here.

Dir En Grey

2009-06-22T17:37:00.008+02:00

live in concert: Japanese band Dir En Grey

A while ago, I joined lautundspitz.ch as a concert photographer by recommendation of an old friend. This was my first assignment, and I was excited to see many beautiful people on and off stage.

Dir En Grey performing live at Alte Börse in Zurich, Switzerland

Beautiful they were! Even though it must have been the hottest day in ages, they came all dressed and maked-up to rock out to the Japanese version of headbanging sound.

Rock band Dir En Grey from Japan

Needless to say, with a lead singer like that, the girls go screaming!

Full gallery is here :o)

All pictures in this post © lautundspitz.ch