Adventures in the Looking Glass

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I'm Still Here

I’m Still Here

Hi Everyone,

I was looking through this website today reminiscing about the old days doing concert photography days, and thought I should update you on what I’ve been up to since 2017.

I haven’t shot a show since 2018, but I have been busy working on portrait photography for the last few years.  There was a bout of chronic illness which coincided with the silence on this blog, which made doing…

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It’s still 2016 in San Francisco, which means I can sneak this post in to 2016 despite it being 2017 here in sunny Tokyo.

This one is special because Con Brio are my band of the year.  I had the pleasure of stumbling across these guys  way back at the beginning of the year and then saw them 3 times in 4 months – twice at Fuji Rock in August and once in Shibuya in November. Consider me very blessed.

I’m slightly hungover and sleepy so forgive my lack of eloquence but… this band. THIS BAND!  Being a guest at shows when I’m writing and shooting means that a lot of the time I have to maintain the 関係者建て前 (kankeisha tatemae), which I like to call “guesting bitch face” – you’re not allowed to look like you’re having any kind of fun because you’re working.  Suffice to say, I can’t keep it together when these guys play – my feet get to tapping, my hips starts a-swinging and suddenly I’m off down in the crowd boogeying.

Con Brio’s shows are musical alchemy.  (I don’t know what that means right now, but it just came into my head.)  Everything comes together to create musical gold – the music, the singing, the on- (and off-) stage antics.   The vibe is shiny and and sparkly and golden and I have got a bad case of gold fever.

You know what, that hangover is starting to throb, so just go and listen to them.

Here —-> Here’s a link.  Then check out my photos from their show below.

Con Brio are playing in San Francisco tonight. I can’t think of a better way to bring in 2017.  I’ll just be over here in Tokyo with my headphones on listening to “Paradise” down in the park with the ducks.

Happy New Year, everyone.

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Con Brio @ Shibuya Duo Music Exchange, Nov. 24th 2016 It's still 2016 in San Francisco, which means I can sneak this post in to 2016 despite it being 2017 here in sunny Tokyo.

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To pinch Mathias Altbach‘s phrase for his photos of the goings on at various festivals around the world: “This Is Boomtown!” a few photos of people and places I took as I was wandering around the festival.

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This Is Boomtown! To pinch Mathias Altbach's phrase for his photos of the goings on at various festivals around the world: "This Is Boomtown!" a few photos of people and places I took as I was wandering around the festival.

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It being the end of the year,  I’ve finally got a break from work so can get back on top of my photos from the year.

I didn’t get round to uploading my Boomtown ska photos from this summer. So here goes.

Madness

Growing up in the 80s and 90s, Madness were an almost daily listening experience for me with classics like “Our House” and “It Must Be Love” getting heavy radio play and chart-topping re-releases. Having the opportunity to photograph these legendary musicians was quite an experience, and not just because I nearly broke my ankle on a rock while doing so. Not only was the photo pit abyssal, so too was the lighting for much of the first three songs, but the contrast between light and dark made for some nice contrasts.

Watching around 20,000 people singing along to “Our House” after I finished my three-song shoot gave me goosebumps, and shows how much affection the audience had for these 2-tone ska legends.

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  Bad Manners

Performing in what is their 40th year together, it wasn’t until I actually saw Bad Manners playing that I realized I actually already know most of their songs.  I think it must be the same for anyone who grew up around the same time as me in the UK – you probably know most Beatles songs without having to actively pay attention to them.  With Bad Manners it’s much the same, but with the addition of having heard much of their work covered by third-wave ska bands (like Skankin’ Pickle’s version of “Special Brew“).

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  Chainska Brassika

London-based New School Ska band Chainska Brassika are a boatload of fun and prove that ska is still going strong despite what some might perceive as a lull in the genre.

There are 8 members in the band, but as you can, I am missing a couple of chaps who were a little too far away, or hidden behind myriad mic stands to get decent shots.  Apologies to them!

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          Madness, Bad Manners and Chainska Brassika @ Boomtown Fair, Aug. 11th, 2016 It being the end of the year,  I've finally got a break from work so can get back on top of my photos from the year.

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Ska Vengers at the China Town stage

I developed a taste for ska at rather a late stage in life.  Despite listening to ska punk bands like Reel Big Fish when I was a teenager, I never got much more into it than that, instead choosing to waft off into my twenties in a cloud of black make-up, black PVC and crushed black velvet.  In fact, I wasn’t REALLY into it until I saw Kemuri a few years back and found something that made me smile like a loon.  So, you could say that most of my exposure to ska has been experienced through a Japanese filter. Having not had the same second-wave that hit the UK in the late 70s and 80s with Bad Manners and Madness (more of them both to come later), Japanese ska sounds a little different.  I’m not going to get all that now, as I’ve got some photos to show you.  Ask me about it over a beer sometime when my total lack of knowledge will become clear…

So anyway, when I was at Boomtown there were two bands who stood out on the line-up: Ska Vengers and Los De Abajo.  Ska Vengers hail from New Delhi, while Los De Abajo came all the way over from Mexico to the UK.  It seemed like an opportunity not to be missed, and I wanted to see how ska might sound coming from other countries.

I’m just going to quote myself here, because I think I did a fair job of it the first time round:  “Ska Vengers fuse a more old-school reggae patois from male singer Delhi Sultanate with a soulful, powerful style from female singer Begum X, all to a musical backing which mixes up dub, jazz and even more Latin-laced numbers that had people dancing their way through the set. On Friday night, Mexican ska outfit Los De Abajo were also making their first foray into the UK music scene, playing in the hollowed-out hull of the Jolly Dodger stage. This band was of particularly note, not only for their fantastically catchy and danceable Latin-ska, but also their on-stage antics which included choreographed dancing, donning lucha wrestling masks, leaping around and the only bit of head-banging in the whole weekend.”

Yup.  So, check out some photos below.

Ska Vengers

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  Los De Abajo

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International Skawesomeness I developed a taste for ska at rather a late stage in life.  Despite listening to ska punk bands like Reel Big Fish when I was a teenager, I never got much more into it than that, instead choosing to waft off into my twenties in a cloud of black make-up, black PVC and crushed black velvet. 

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The Lion’s Den is possibly the stage with the largest capacity at Boomtown, easily fitting 20,000 people in a natural bowl which affords everyone there a view of the bands.  Fat Freddy’s Drop played there in the early evening on Sunday night, opening up with “Midnight Marauders”.  I enjoyed their show, partly because their tendency towards longer tracks means a 3-song limit on a shoot lasts half-an-hour; partly because it seemed like a perfectly trippy way to round off a weekend of glorious weather, music and performances; and partly because I missed them when they played in Tokyo last year, so it was the perfect opportunity to catch this New Zealand band in action.

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      Fat Freddy’s Drop @ Boomtown Fair, Aug. 14th, 2016 The Lion's Den is possibly the stage with the largest capacity at Boomtown, easily fitting 20,000 people in a natural bowl which affords everyone there a view of the bands. 

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A standout set from the Boomtown weekend was Asian Dub Foundation’s afternoon set on the Town Centre stage, not only for the music but also for the photos, thanks to the sheer amount of energy the band put into their performance.

Fantastic stuff.

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Asian Dub Foundation @ Boomtown Fair, Aug. 13th, 2016 A standout set from the Boomtown weekend was Asian Dub Foundation's afternoon set on the Town Centre stage, not only for the music but also for the photos, thanks to the sheer amount of energy the band put into their performance. Fantastic stuff.

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I was back in the UK during August this year and made sure that while I was there I was able to get to Boomtown Fair near Winchester.  Having spent much of my life at heavy metal festivals, I must say that Boomtown is one of my favourites – the setting, the atmosphere and the sheer amount of effort that goes into entertaining away from the stage makes it very special.  I won’t go in to too much detail as I’d rather you read my report about it: Revolution Rules at Boomtown.

Being on the other side of the world means that I don’t often get to see Molotov Jukebox – in fact, this is only the second time I’ve seen them live, that last time being in 2014 – but I make sure to boogie around to them in Tokyo with my accordion-playing friend.

Photos from the show are below:

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The band released their latest album “Tropical Gypsy” was released earlier this year.  Be sure to check it out!

    Molotov Jukebox @ Boomtown Fair, August 13th, 2016 I was back in the UK during August this year and made sure that while I was there I was able to get to Boomtown Fair near Winchester. 

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twenty one pilots @ Studio Coast, Tokyo

I first saw twenty one pilots live at Fuji Rock last year when I was covering their show for Fuji Rock Express (review here: http://fujirockexpress.net/15e/p_1526).  Having previously been a little unsure about the duo, after witnessing their set at the White Stage on a boiling hot afternoon, I was completely and utterly won over to them and have been on something of an adoring attempt to convert others to the band ever since.  This has, on occasion, involved sitting up until 2am in playing the band’s entire collection of YouTube videos with friends, or slyly dropping a song into a set when I DJ.

Needless to say, when I saw Tyler and Josh would be playing Tokyo’s Studio Coast earlier this year, I put my name down to shoot straight away.  It was a 3-song shoot, and much of the first three songs veered between blinding back-lighting and dark-reds, but in between there were some great moments to capture.  I’ll be looking forward to capturing the in action again soon!

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You can see my photo report and the live report from James Mallion at this link: http://www.smashingmag.com/en/archives/19260.

  Photos of twenty one pilots @ Studio Coast, Tokyo, 9th March 2016 I first saw twenty one pilots live at Fuji Rock last year when I was covering their show for Fuji Rock Express (review here: …

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Sometimes, you just can’t make the light work in places, and Gamuso is one of those spaces where three photographers all tripping over each other in the dark gets annoying pretty quickly.  What I really love about this top photo is the fact that the other photographer is unashamedly up in the singer’s face with his little old film camera and a blinding flash. I’m not sure I’d have the lady-balls to do that, so I guess that’s why I didn’t quite get such a good selection of photos for this band.

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The Super Sonic Soldier Boys are a grimy garage-rock outfit, who seem to be out and about a lot on the Tokyo rock circuit.  Check out their page here: http://thesupersonicsoldierboys.com/.

Supersonic Soldier Boys @ Gamuso, 23rd April 2016 Sometimes, you just can't make the light work in places, and Gamuso is one of those spaces where three photographers all tripping over each other in the dark gets annoying pretty quickly. 

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With their infectiously bop-tastic brand of anarchic electro-punk, Vaiwatt are one of my favourite bands to see live.  I caught up with them in the tiny confines of Gamuso’s 3rd floor when they played their NapaJ show in April.

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Keep your eye out for the band’s forthcoming music video!

Vaiwatt @ Gamuso, 23rd April 2016 With their infectiously bop-tastic brand of anarchic electro-punk, Vaiwatt are one of my favourite bands to see live. 

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I escaped the concrete and cold in December and ran off to New Zealand for an adventure or 3 and I, of course, took my camera with me.  I was mostly working on landscape photos as that’s not something I get much of a chance to do in Tokyo, a place where horizons only exist 50 floors up.  I bought a new lens for my NZ trip, and had been getting to grips with it and its little annoying habits (there’s a reason I managed to get it second-hand) during the trip, but I had yet to see how it dealt with a gig situation, so a show seeing in the new year provided the perfect no-pressure opportunity to test it out.

I met up with some friends for New Year at Mt Maunganui and they were stoked to be able to see Trinity Roots performing live and free of charge down on the pedestrianised beach-front.  I’ll admit, my knowledge of music from New Zealand extends to Lorde, Crowded House, Flight of the Conchords and The Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra, so I had no idea who we were going to see but all I was told was “they’re  a reggae band”.  That’s something of a generalisation, for while they do have that chilled out reggae vibe there was more a jazz element at work, especially when 30 minutes into their set singer Warren Maxwell announced their third song of the evening.  “We like to jam,” he quipped.  If you’re into bits of prog and jazz like me, where songs go on for about 2 days, this was exactly the kind of thing I could get into.

I should add that these photos I took from the crowd, most of whom were obliging enough to shuffle aside for me to grab some quick shots.  Thanks to the accommodating crowd and to Trinity Roots for a wonderful end to 2015.

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  Check out Trinity Roots’ Facebook page here.

  Trinity Roots @ Mount Main Beach, Dec. 31st 2015 I escaped the concrete and cold in December and ran off to New Zealand for an adventure or 3 and I, of course, took my camera with me.  

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2015 In Review

HNIB’s Ikepy joins Crystal Lake’s Ryo on stage for “Matrix” as part of the Redline Riot tour @ Liquidroom, Janaury 2015   At then end of 2014 I thought that I would try to make 2015 a much more successful year than the one before. In hindsight I feel like that was a wishy-washy target coupled with not much of a game plan for how I was going to get there. I had been working on a new portfolio site…

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The highlight of my year was shooting Machine Head when they brought their “An Evening With..” tour to Tokyo.  I will admit that I was a wee bit nervous about the evening, mostly as I was shooting a band I was a big fan of as a teenager –  I have fond memories of my friend losing his front tooth in a Machine Head mosh pit, amongst other injuries inflicted or received.

The evening in question was a slightly more sedate affair than the shows I remember, mostly because the fanbase is significantly more creaky and wizened than 20 years ago, but that didn’t stop a few die hard fans giving a circle pit a go.

These are some of my favorite shots of the year – O-East always has good lighting, and my subjects were most obliging to boot.

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    December Countdown 5: Machine Head The highlight of my year was shooting Machine Head when they brought their "An Evening With.." tour to Tokyo.  

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The Ska Flames @ Club Quattro, 22 August 2015

This year, The Ska Flames celebrated their 30th year together and they threw a packed out party at Shibuya’s Club Quattro to celebrate, joined by a myriad well-known faces.  The stage was jam-packed with musicians so there was no room to shoot at the front, but I found myself a spot on the side and shot from there past some very irritating hats.  What is it with people in the audience wearing obnoxiously large hats at shows?

Enjoy a selection from the show below and check out the English and　日本語 reports!

December Countdown 4: The Ska Flames This year, The Ska Flames celebrated their 30th year together and they threw a packed out party at Shibuya's Club Quattro to celebrate, joined by a myriad well-known faces.  

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Less Than Jake @ Studio Coast, 27 September 2015

I have these memories from my teenage  years of being at house parties, drinking Two Dogs and munching pistachios in gardens while boys were setting up skate ramps on the grass and awkward teenage fumblings were taking place in rooms upstairs.  The soundtrack to this is always the same – The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, NOFX, Reel Big Fish and Less Than Jake. I don’t recall every hearing anything else at these parties.   So when Kemuri invited Reel Big Fish, Less Than Jake and Skankin’ Pickle over to play in September, my dormant teenager woke up and got excited and drunk all over again.

Skankin’ Pickle

Skankin’ Pickle @ Studio Coast, 27 September 2015

I’m going to admit it –  I had to google Skankin’ Pickle before the show. But it’s with good reason, because it turns out they had disbanded by the time I we hit “peak” ska-punk back in the 1990s.  The band can be said to be one of the originators of the new wave of  ska-punk we were all into back then.  One of things I really enjoyed about their show was that they still kept much more of the traditional “ska” vibe running through their sound and an irrepressible energy still evident after nearly 30 years since the band began.

  Less Than Jake

Less Than Jake @ Studio Coast, 27 September 2015

As you can see from the photo above, Less Than Jake got themselves a circle-pit going.    I saw LTJ a few years back and it was just as bonkers then as it was this time.

  Reel Big Fish

Ahh, Reel Big Fish.  What a pleasure it was to see them live.  I have this memory of having seen them during one of those naively debauched festival weekends, but the memory is (unsurprisingly) hazy, if possibly not real at all.  I guess alcoholic lemonade will do that to you.  I wasn’t the only one who was pleased to see them.  The Kemuri crowd are generally of a certain age, and they were all systems go for them.

  Stay tuned for the grand-daddies of Japanese ska, The Ska Flames, in a few days!

December Countdown 3: Even More Skasome I have these memories from my teenage  years of being at house parties, drinking Two Dogs and munching pistachios in gardens while boys were setting up skate ramps on the grass and awkward teenage fumblings were taking place in rooms upstairs.  

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Kemuri @ Studio Coast, 27 September 2015

You may have noticed that I tend to shot rock bands, metal bands – anything a bit screamy and clad in black, basically.  This year I got to branch out a bit and shoot something else.

Although ska-punk seems to have faded out of mainstream press in recent years to be replaced with pop-punk, the genre is still going strong in Japan, and that is partly down to bands like Kemuri.  This year, the Japanese ska-punk band with the mission of spreading “Positive Mental Attitude” celebrated their 20th anniversary by inviting over Reel Big Fish, Less Than Jake and Skankin’ Pickle (see the next post…) to play with them on a brief tour around Japan.  The bands all got together at the end of the show and grouped up according to instrument and had the chance to rock out together.

Members of Kemuri, Skankin Pickle and Reel Big Fish rocking out together.

I love a good Kemuri show – they should definitely be prescribed for bad days, for there’s nothing else that will get you smiling again so quickly that a couple of upbeat songs and venue full of fans going bonkers for them.  I actually got to see them twice this year, at the Fuji Rock Festival and at Studio Coast – check out the reports at the  links:

Fuji Rock 2015: http://fujirockexpress.net/15e/p_1456

Studio Coast: http://www.smashingmag.com/en/archives/17978

  Members of Kemuri, Skankin Pickle and Reel Big Fish rocking out together.

Kemuri @ Studio Coast, 27 September 2015

  Countdown 2: A Skasome Year You may have noticed that I tend to shot rock bands, metal bands - anything a bit screamy and clad in black, basically.