Fast Forward Tour

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!!!

Shakra

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!

Leningrad Cowboys

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

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

Anthrax

"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.

Duff McKagan's Loaded

After about a thousand mails back and forth between Ursi and me (thanks!), I got the final approval for the show on the day of the show.

Duff McKagan, formerly of Guns N' Roses, performs at Schüür in Lucerne

I knew it was going to be a late night, so I figured it'd be better to go by car. I rented a smart-for-two and was curious how it would be to drive that thing. The plus: I was never afraid to knock over some pole. When you turn around to look back, you almost already sit behind the car. The minus: The not-quite stickshift. Semi-automatic might be a good thing if we're talking guns, but if I want to shift from 1st to 2nd gear, I want to pull the stickshift back, not push it forward. Not to speak of the awkwardness of switching gears without pushing a clutch (leave foot on gas? Take it off? Seems both works fine). Also, the car shifts back to 1st gear automatically if you stop, which is nice. It also shuts the motor off when you stop to save gas, which is even nicer. If it were a hybrid, it would be very nice, but it's not.

Duff McKagan's Loaded play a live show in Lucerne, Switzerland

So anyway, that was a lot of talk about a car I wouldn't even consider buying (I like my clutch too much), and not so much about the reason for renting it: Duff McKagan's Loaded were playing Schüür in Lucerne. You might remember Duff McKagan as the guy who played bass in Guns N' Roses and more recently, Velvet Revolver.

Duff McKagan's Loaded live on stage

In Loaded, he also sings and plays the guitar. He must be 6-foot-something tall, his mic stand was taller than the roadie who put it up! It was interesting to take a picture because while he's taller than most people, he also seems to be thinner than most of them. The width/height ratio of my camera doesn't take supertall/superslim people into account yet, but it seems to have turned out well.

Punk/rock band Loaded with famous frontman Duff McKagan perform at Schüür in Lucerne

What I liked even more about his looks than his obvious fitness was his hair: Blond hair just reflects light, and light is all I want when I'm taking a picture. Unless the blond hair is on top if the superzealous-uber-fan in front row. That hair reflects the light too, and her head blocks the line of view to the main act from virtually all angles. Seems that in every club with no pit for the photogs, there's a zealous fan in front row that's halfway laying on the stage, and interestingly, they all seem to be blond. Maybe that's the superweapon against photogs when lighting the band only in bloodred light doesn't scare them away?

Duff McKagan of Loaded

Thankfully, red light was not an issue at Schüür: Even though it is a rather small club, they have awesome light which makes the stage look as if it were a big stadium. The guy at the light knobs also seems to know what he's doing, so I got to take many many pics... Editing took almost 5 hours! If you wanna check out the whole gallery, it's here.

Duff McKagan's Loaded

Loaded didn't just look great in that light, they also rocked the place pretty well! They played some Guns N' Roses, some punk covers, and most importantly, stuff off of their latest record, "Sick". They accepted requests from the audience, stating that they wouldn't do any encores but rather just play until they ran out of songs that they knew. And that was the way it was - I got home by half past 2 am... way past train-running time, so it payed off to rent the smart.

Duff McKagan, looking much healthier than in his Guns N' Roses days

On my way home, I got stopped by the cops (hey that was the first time!), and when they'd seen my license they just asked whether I'd consumed any drugs or alcohol, but looks like I looked sober enough that they believed my "nope". I was rather tired though (hey I got a job, ok?), so I just fell into bed and only got around to edit and upload all the pics today. But looking at them... I think it was well worth it! Hope you enjoy :-)

Beatallica

Beatallica perform at Schüür in Lucerne, Switzerland

This time I couldn't take my bike - Lucerne is a bit too far for that. So I took a train, which on the way back proved to have the advantage that you can start downloading and editing pictures while making your way home. That's a bit hard on a bicycle...

Beatallica perform their mixture of The Beatles and Metallica at Schüür in Lucerne, Switzerland

But I digress: The venue in Lucerne is called "Schüür" (barn), and that's what it is: An old barn. The stage is right under the roof, gives it all a really nice atmosphere. It has very good sound insulation, too: There was a Salsa dancing event downstairs (no doors, just stairs), and neither music disturbed the other. Also outdoors you couldn't hear a sound neither of the Salsa nor of the concert.

Beatallica live in concert at Schüür Lucerne

Beatallica had no opener, so they hit the stage pretty late. Nevertheless, people were enthusiastic to hear their excellent mix of, well, Beatles and Metallica. They put on a hilarious show - just when my "first three songs" were over, they changed into hippie outfits. Too bad - but their Sgt. Hetfield's Motorbreath Pub Band uniforms were really beautiful too!