Teenage Werewolves: NOT landscape photographY

Taking photos of gigs isn't something I do every time I'm out. It's fun but there's always a photographer more confidently doing their stuff. These creatures take many forms (hello Ollie, it's always nice to see you in your ear defenders) but this time it was a giant of a man stood slap bang in front of me, so the first few shots are worked around him until he moved to one side for a while. Yeah, I should have moved forward alongside him, but it takes some guts to do that and I felt a bit quiet at first. Besides, I was there to see the gig primarily.

So, this is a tribute band. Yeah, that’s unavoidably just a little bit cheesy at best. Yeah, it felt daft getting dressed up to go to the spit and sawdust Musician pub on a Tuesday evening, but this was Teenage Werewolves, the prime Cramps covers band, and it would be fun.

It was one hell of a show. A generously packed set with no support. In the absence of Lux Interior, Jack Atlantis performed the ass off performing. Attempting to catch Atlantis still enough to photograph in low light was as hard as trying to photography a hen without blur. He must have covered a couple of miles and even some altitude on the tiny Musician stage. It's not a feat that will be matched any time soon.

We danced, we sang, things got covered in beer, I got a damn hard wallop in the back from a particularly inebriated bloke but that's the price of being small and at the front of a gig (it really shouldn’t be this way but I won't get scared away - it's my space too). Loads of Cramps gems were covered, plus covers of Teenage Kicks, Teen Spirit and a Clash cover which was even good by my Clash hating standards!

52 Rolls Week 14: Canon AE-1 – Handmade Festival 2016

Well, using film is extra fun at a gig.  The terrible truth is that when I took most of the photos here I was really very drunk, so even if I knew which bands I was heading to see at the time, now I’ve sent off the film, waited, fannied around and scanned it I can now, hand on my heart, say that I have very little idea who these people are nor tell you if they were any good.  Except for the comedian Ian Hall, but that’s cheating ‘cos I sort of know him through work.

ANYWAY, I can confirm that the particular level of cider intake, an unusual choice for me, won’t be repeated in a hurry.  It was quite palatable though, even if it allegedly meant that I took rather a longer time than usual reaching the bus stop.  The words”punch drunk” were mentioned…

Huge thanks goes to Handmade’s photo curator and all round good guy Dave W Clarke, who had asked me to jointly exhibit my somewhat more sober photos at Handmade and had therefore plonked me on the guestlist.  For reasons now apparent, the house mamil was given the photo pass.  However, this made it way to me along with a roll of 800 ISO CineStill Film (colour film for low light) so I did some dancing around in the way of serious photo people in th press pit who were concentrating very hard on taking photos with digital cameras.  Well, they did the sideways poses and proper squinty faces anyway.  I employed a nonchalant walk and click, which I beginning to suspect was actually a drunken stagger and a wide grin, rather like a toddler with a new Fisher Price camera.

Some basic tweaks and a billion dust removals later*, this is what ensued…first up is Club Smashing with the aforementioned Ian Hall and Shark Lady.  I guess you had to be there…

And here are the bands…I’ll figure them out in a bit. There’s definitely Three Trapped Tigers there, and Swim Deep.

*Yeah, I left the film in the holder on the dining room table.  For a week.  This wasn’t clever, but hell – I was busy!

And, just so you can see what the film does in truly low light – eg. no stage lights, here’s me. Be kind.  I’m inebriated!