A Recap of My 2023 and 2024 Live Music Photographs
A recap of the photographs I captured in 2023 and 2025 featuring Muse, Snow Patrol, Nick Mason and Del Amitri!
Where Have I Been?
While I have been out photographing concerts and festivals as normal, I have been rather slack and not posted on the Unplugged Blog since May 2022! But I've got some great concerts to photograph in 2025 and I will be sharing those photographs here on the blog. Before I do though I thought I'd share some of the photographs I've captured from the last two years. It seems a shame not to share those photographs, especially as I have photographed so many amazing artists and bands!
There's a lot of photos to share with you, so I'll keep the words to a minimum, but let's make a start with one of the biggest bands in the world!
Muse - Plymouth, 27th May 2023
Not only is Muse one of the biggest bands in the world, but I'm also a massive fan. So having the opportunity to photograph them in Plymouth was something I was definitely not going to miss. Due to the position and limited space available for photographers at the gig, it was tricky to get the compositions I wanted, but this doesn't take the shine off photographing such an amazing gig!
Beautiful Days Festival, Devon - August 2023
My annual attendance of my local festival is always a highlight and a great oppertunity to photograph some amazing bands and artists.
LYR, Exeter Phoenix - 2nd October 2023
After hearing Simon Armitage interviewed on the Rockonteurs podcast I knew I had to check out LYR live when they played the Exeter Phoenix.
Ocean Colour Scene, Bristol - 4th December 2023
Plymouth Summer Sessions - June 2024
This was my first time covering a Summer Sessions and it proved to be an excellent chance to photograph some really big names!
Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets, Plymouth - 17th June 2024
After the disappointment of being turned away just as Nick took the stage in Plymouth in 2022, it all came together for his Bristol gig. A rare opportunity to photograph one of my musical heroes.
Sleeper, Exeter Phoenix - 21st June 2024
Beautiful Days, Devon - August 2024
My annual pilgrimage to my local festival yielded another collection of cracking photographs!
Snow Patrol, London - 11th September 2024
What’s better than photographing Snow Patrol? Getting to photograph them again ahead of their new album release and tour!
King Creosote, Exeter Phoenix - 23rd November 2024
Del Amitri, Bristol - 8th December 2024
If photographing Muse, Snow Patrol and Nick Mason wasn’t enough, I finished off 2024 by photographing a band that I’d been listening to since high school!
Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets at The Plymouth Pavilions - 08/05/2022
Oh, the Disappointment!
Over the years I’ve photographed many bands, singers, and artists. Some of them have left me cold (both photographically and musically), but mostly they’ve all entertained and allowed me to capture some wonderful photographs. I have also been lucky enough to photograph some of my all-time favourite bands like Snow Patrol.
However, never in a million years did I think I’d ever photograph anyone from Pink Floyd. Gilmour or Waters? Not a chance. Nick Mason…well, he doesn’t even tour anymore. That was until a few years ago that is. Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets was born in a small pub in London where they played their first gig to a very enthusiastic crowd. With the success of that show, Nick decided to go on tour.
I am a massive Pink Floyd fan and I’ve seen Waters and Gilmour many times. Unfortunately, I came to Floyd a little late in life so I’ve never had the chance to see Pink Floyd live. The closest I came was at one of Water’s shows in London where Gilmour took on the guitar role on top of the wall for Comfortably Numb. I almost died of joy!
When Nick decided to tour I immediately got tickets for his gig at The Roundhouse in London. It was brilliant. Hearing so many early Floyd tunes sounding alive and fresh was amazing. It was a great show by a great band.
Fast forward a few years, and past the pandemic, and I find out that Nick is coming to Plymouth. I immediately contact Steve at MusoMuso to see if there is any chance of getting a photo pass. Surely even this would be beyond Steve’s power! But no, he got us both tickets and a photo pass. Amazing.
With a few months to go, I started doing some homework. I watched the DVD from The Roundhouse gig a few times to see if I could spot things that the band would do during certain songs that would make for good pictures.
I also decided that a once-in-a-lifetime gig like this was a great reason to get some serious photography kit. It’s not that my current kit is fit for purpose, but I wanted the best of the best, so I decided to hire the £5500 Nikon Z9. It’s a powerhouse of a camera and the autofocus capabilities of this camera would be of great benefit.
The night of the gig comes around and Steve and I drive through to Plymouth. We have turned up to gigs before and been turned away or told we can’t take pictures. It happens sometimes and I admit I was worried about that for this gig, but the tickets were there and I had my photo pass.
I went down to the front of the stage and got my cameras ready. Just as the band were coming on a security guard said I wasn’t allowed to take pictures. I showed him my photo pass but he said he had been told by the band or tour manager that no one could take photos at the front. Only from behind the sound stage or from your seat!
Nightmare!! I tried to get it all sorted, but the message kept coming back that I couldn’t photograph there. I was gutted. More than I normally am when I get told “no photos”. My dream of capturing my own amazing images of Nick Mason and his band was shattered.
It’s times like this that you have to stay calm and carry on though. There is no point in getting angry with anyone or waving your photo pass about! I just went to the back where the soundboard is and captured the photographs I could.
It’s such a shame as I could have captured some amazing pictures. I had the best tools money could buy at my disposal, and the stage lighting was great. Perfect for capturing amazing live music photographs.
Unfortunately, these things happen sometimes. It just had to happen with someone’s music I love. Talking of the music, the gig was GREAT. The band sounded amazing and I really enjoyed the show. They were superb.
Maybe I’ll see if I can get Steve to get me photo pass for Waters or Gilmour. You never know.
