Lionel Ritchie Rocks All Night Long in Gloucester.

Sunday evening found me at Gloucester Rugby Club and the Lionel Ritchie concert. It was and he was absolutely awesome. The guy is so professional, so polished, I could not fault his performance one little bit. And even if he had made a mistake it would have been forgotten. Within seconds of him being on stage the audience were up out of their seats dancing. And of course I love Lionel Ritchie’s music ever since I first heard him in the Commodores back in the 70’s. Like I say an awesome performance.

Was there any down side. Well yes. Firstly the rain, it poured it down. So on some of the images it is not dust on the lens it is raining so hard it is captured on the image. Even that wasn’t so bad. The real downer was that all the photographers were walked off the premises once we had shot the first three songs. I would have loved to have stayed for all of the concert but the management would not let us. Why? Well at a previous L.R. concert (Cannock Chase I think) the photographers were allowed to stay. Unfortunately one idiot (and there is always one) went into the audience and continued to shoot. I wont go into what happened to him as it is not clear but the result was that management now walks photographers out the pit and out the venue. I can understand why and would do the same. It s just disappointing when you get idiot photographers who do not know how to behave ruin it for the rest of us.

That apart it was AWESOME

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James Bay performs at sell out concert at The Oasis Swindon

Last night James Bay played a concert at The Oasis in Swindon. It was excellent. He sounded exactly the same live as he does on cd/radio etc. really good quality. The lighting was also really good (although as usual first three were not as good as the rest of the lighting show). The Oasis was absolutely full with all tickets sold and James Bay worked the crowd like a seasoned pro.

All in all an excellent gig.

Goldie and Vanessa Haynes a Bristol Concert

Goldie and Vanessa Haynes at Bristol Concert in July.

The Vamps and The Tide at Westonbirt

Sunday night there were three support acts but in my mind the only one worth mentioning was The Tide. They were brilliant and in my mind just as good as the headline act The Vamps.
Both were excellent and I could not choose between the two who were the best.

PALOMA FAITH Performs at Westonbirt

Last night I had the pleasure of going to the Paloma Faith concert at Westonbirt and as I had a media pass I was shooting from the ‘pit’

Now I have to say I was a little disappointed at all of the restrictions placed on photographers at the concert, probably the most I have ever had to sign up to (at least I didnt refuse to go like I did with Blondie)!!!!
However I did really enjoy it, she sounded wonderful, looked wonderful and performed wonderfully. She was indeed very very good. I am also please with a lot of the images I got, only some of which are on this blog post.

I also need to mention the warm up act. Marques Toliver was also very very good and as I found out from one of his crew the backing singer is Lola Lennox, daughter of Annie Lennox.

The weather was awful and there were several heavy downpours but it didnt dampen the spirit and enjoyment of the concert by the audience.

Boogie Nights Swindon Wyvern Theatre Photo Shoot

One of the jobs I had last week was the photo call at The Wyvern Theatre Swindon for the show Boogie Nights. What fun it was and what a nice group of people. Chatted to them all at some point and they were all so nice. And I have to say I really do think it is going to be a must see show. From what I saw it was sooooo funny and of course the 70’s was my era anyway I just think I will have to go. And I would encourage anybody out there to book up and see it.
The cast consists of Gareth Gates, Chico, Louisa Lytton, Andy Abraham and Shane Ritchie Jnr
Boogie Nights Swindon a Must See

An Evening of Flamenco in Freila

Many people get the opportunity to watch a ‘flamenco show’ when on holiday in Spain, although some are often ‘produced’ with the tourist in mind and don’t always reflect the true passion of the dance and the music. Freila is a small, rural, Andalucian village, with it’s roots truly embedded in Flamenco. Last night I had the opportunity to join the locals in the village to watch a concert of Flamenco music and dance. The main artist was Elena Romera, a professional Flamenco singer and dancer based in Granada. The difference was that Elena was born, and grew up in Freila, in fact her mother and father still live here and her father (a builder) actually built my girlfriends house. She was delighted to perform in her home village, no more so than the local villagers who welcomed her in true Freilican style. A wonderful evening of song, dance, colour, costumes and real Andalucian Flamenco.