August was a pretty busy month, my first full month working for The Wire, with a few other publications slotting in here and there. I was struck down by a pretty decent sized cold for a couple of weeks, but I soldiered on, and I think in some cases the cold&flu tablets and exhaustion worked in my favour!

Doves @ Capitol 1st Aug

The worst thing about taking an extended break from taking photos is having to ‘re-learn’ certain venues. Most are easy to click back into, but Capitol is a struggle even when you’re shooting there regularly, so this one was never going to be the easiest shoot. Thankfully, there was a photopit this particular night, which made it slightly better. On a bad night, Capitol is horrendous. On a good night, it’s just ok. The lights were pretty ordinary, mostly red with occasional flashes of not-red. I just couldn’t get in my groove, and the results weren’t too flash. Aside from that, Doves themselves were pretty good. I’d only heard the occasional song there and there, but certainly didn’t realise they were SO popular. I didn’t stay long past my three songs, even though the band was good, the place is a pretty uncomfortable place to be when it’s packed.

 

The Novocaines @ Amplifier 8th Aug

 

Where Capitol is always a bit of a chore, Amplifier feels like coming home. Especially when I’m there for a band I’ve been shooting for the last three or so years. The Novocaines are energetic dirty blues rock, and although I was hopped up to the eyeballs on cold medication and probably should have toddled home to bed at the earliest opportunity, I couldn’t tear myself away. Corey has evolved into an absolute beast of a frontman, and their new material seems far more grungy and authentic than their stuff when I first started seeing them. They sold out the venue, which is no mean feat for a local band who had been a little bit quiet for a while.

 

Eskimo Joe & Bob Evans @ Fremantle Arts Centre 15th Aug

 The forecast was for storms and freezing cold temperatures, and Eskimo Joe had two shows booked at an outdoor venue in a city by the sea. It all spelt disaster. I had tickets to both shows, but was only shooting the first, and was very relieved when I turned up and saw a huge marquee had been put up in the grounds of the Arts Centre. Didn’t make it any less chilly, but cold is better than soaking wet. Turned up in time for Bob Evans, fairly same old, same old as far as shooting goes, but the Bevans are always pretty enjoyable.

Despite the fact I’ve been a fan of Eskimo Joe for longer than I’ve been taking photos, I’ve never actually shot them for a media outlet, so I was looking to do a pretty good job. If I learnt anything from my experience shooting Matchbox 20, it was that the more personal pressure I put on myself to do well, the more the photos will suck. They didn’t suck, but they certainly weren’t as good as I was expecting of myself, not helped by the copious amounts of smoke that was pumped out just before they started. The lights themselves were excellent, but lots of lights + lots of smoke = useless fog til it clears. I did quite a bit of burning-in in post-prod.

 

Art vs Science @ Amplifier 20 Aug

Only a bit of a teaser image, the photos haven’t been published yet. You can check one of them out in the upcoming issue of JMag. This show was a Thursday night during a massive resurrection of my cold, and let’s face it, I hate electro (though I did quite like the little bit of support band Hercules in New York I saw). I think I lasted about two songs before the thought of being back in my jammies at home became too appealing.

 

Augie March @ Fly By Night 21 Aug

The early retreat from the Art vs Science gig was followed up the next night at the Fly By, but luckily Augie March aren’t really the most animated band, so after ten minutes you’ve pretty much got all the action you’re going to get. I did hang around a little bit to see if Glen Richards’ cringeing (see above) at the bad sound was going to turn into a dummy spit, but alas. So home I went, back to my jammies.

 

Bertie Blackman @ Fly By Night 28 Aug

I was expecting this show to be much the same in-and-out job as the two the week before, but I got stuck in much the same position as Augie March, and was a bit paranoid the photos would look exactly the same. I actually ended up staying for most of the set, as while I’m personally not really into Bertie Blackman’s music, she’s quite engaging as a performer.

 

Handsome Furs @ Amplifier 30 Aug

Handsome Furs were the pleasant surprise of the month. A couple of potty-mouthed, Energiser-bunny Canadians who seemed genuinely shocked at the amount of people who’ d come out to see them on a pretty horrible rainy Sunday night. I didn’t shoot for the whole set, leaving the front of the floor for those who were feeling inclined to dance, but I did stay until the end out of curiosity.