Well we’re here, ….. the summer break. Concert planning is running at it’s slowest pace here in Luxembourg. The last three weeks were  mental, non stop concerts, long hours of waiting for the bands to start, photographing the support acts, editing the pictures, facing picture theft and so on.  It was a tough time but I enjoyed every single minute of it. It was very rewarding in terms of publications, contacts and public exposure in general.

The video below is Pale Obsession’s CD release trailer, made with various photographs from our photo session (post to follow).

That being said now it’s time to take it easy for a while and  spend some quality time with family and friends. Leaving on a trip pretty soon and looking forward to snap some shots of things a bit different than performing artists. Although I am still wondering how to fix a D-Lite4 with it’s Battery Pack in the middle of a “Via Ferrata”  without killing myself or anybody else in the process………..  If somebody’s done it before and is reading this, … any piece of advice is welcome

I’ll also spend a tiny amount of time on some other projects with InFocus. We were quite busy getting everything up and running in the new studio. But after the first two or three sessions in there I think I can say that we’re there. Lately requests have been increasing exponentially which is nice but it also takes it’s toll

Thanks to Tania, JP and Mick for all the help in finishing off what looked like an impossible task more than once during the last year

The Kooks performed before a packed Atelier last night. The indie rock band from Brighton made it to Luxembourg once more to the delight of their fans.

The show started off with stroboscopic effects, I was a bit afraid that it set the tone for what was to come. But it was only for a few seconds. The light was actually very nice, a lot of variation in colors, brights and darks. The pit was packed with photographers so movement was very restricted. I’ve photographed the whole 3 songs with the 28-75mm F2.8.

The rest of the pictures in the gallery here or in the slideshow below.

Daniel Balthasar opened up for The Kooks at the Atelier. It’s a local band that has made it’s name here in Luxembourg. Those who were not fans before they started probably are now if I believe what I’ve heard behind me in the pit. Visit them on their website.

The light was quite ok here, the only drawback was that I had the opportunity to go on stage to take my pictures, but the stage was so cramped that there was no point, movement would have been close to impossible. A whole part from the second song was lit with red spotlights which is not so nice. I used the 28-75mm F2.8 for all three songs.

You can see the rest of the pictures here or below in the slideshow.

Pink Martini performed in a nearly sold out Rockhal (Club) last night. I was surprised by the stage when I got in the pit. Every square meter was used for some kind of instrument.  Thomas Lauderdale won the crowd from the start by talking in Luxembourgish (yes we have our own language). China Forbes has  a captivating charm that didn’t leave the fans unimpressed.

Photographically the concert was very “bright”. I dialled down to ISO 1000 for most of the pictures. The only issue was that the light was so bright on China Forbes that the background often plunged into dark blacks. Some of the band members were hidden behind instruments which made it impossible to get a proper photograph of them. The size and disposition of the stage made for some very nice Fisheye shots.  I shot the whole three songs with the 70-200mm F2.8, 28-75mmF2.8 and Fisheye 15mm F2.8.

The rest of the pictures here or below.

Wow, …… what more can I say? Sometimes I find myself in the pit and tell myself: What a great job to do …. If someone would have told me 5 years ago that I would be photographing Slash at a concert I would have laughed out loud, but secretly I would be wishing it was true. Slash was terrific, he delivered a performance that will be remembered amongst those who attended for a very long time. Not to be missed is Myles Kennedy as the lead singer who delivered a very solid performance as well.

Photographically it was really hard to focus…. Myles and Slash both gave us a lot to photograph. Lighting was very variable but nice. The only really dark moments were when they ran to the edge of the stage on the left or right. I used the 28-75mm F2.8 only as it was not very easy to get a good composition with the 70-200mm F2.8 due to the monitors on stage that were blocking the view.

Enjoy the rest of the pics in the gallery or in the slideshow below.

Porn Queen is a local band that performed as a support act last night to Slash. I was really impressed by the bands performance. They were really all over the stage and musically rocking it. I think Slash couldn’t have chosen a better opening act. While exiting the pit I was asked twice if I knew who the band was.

The light consisted of spots mainly. Very often the background went really dark which often results in a “black hole” effect on pictures. I’m not really fond of that. The trouble is that if you try to bring up the back you tend to overexpose the front quite fast. I shot this one with the 28-75mm F2.8 and 70-200mm F2.8.

The rest of the pics in the gallery here. Or in the slideshow below.

Anthem of the Sun is a young Luxembourgish band that has a lot of potential. They won a contest that allowed them to perform at the Rockhal this year. Their performances was quite impressive considering their stage experience. One of the members is using an electric violin which gave a really different feel to the sound. I had not seen one before on stage.

Photographically it was tough to get a nice exposure on all the band members. There wasn’t much light on the drummer or the guy behind the keyboard. I used the 15mm F2.8 Fisheye, 28-75mm F2.8 and 70-200mm F2.8 for this show.

The rest of the pics in the gallery here. Or in the slideshow below.

Claudine Muno & The Luna Boots are a quite famous local Band. They performed at the fête de la musique this year, which is a yearly music festival here in Luxembourg and France. They have have release two CD’s in the past.

I am not a big fan of photographing festivals, as the daylight takes away most of the atmosphere of the stage light. One the positive side you don’t have to fight with high ISO and slow shutter speed. I used the 70-200mm F2.8, 28/75mm F2.8 and the 15mm F2.8 Fisheye.

The rest of the pics in the gallery here, or in the slideshow below.