Posts Tagged ‘peter gabriel’

I’m a big Peter Gabriel fan, so last year I got a ticket to WOMAD, took my camera along and got some of my best concert photos ever.

After I decided to send a photo to Peter to see if I could get him to sign it.  Nothing ventured nothing gained and all that.  Today that photo arrived back with me, personally signed by the man himself.

Rock and bloody roll!

I’ll be going shopping for a nice frame to put it in shortly.

Big thank you to Peter, and to Rachael at Real World Studios for making my day!

The last time I photographed Peter Gabriel in concert was at WOMAD last summer.  That time I had my big camera and big lens.  This time all I had with me was my little Panasonic GF1 with 40mm lens.  It’s a great little camera, but its hardly the right choice of kit for photographing from half way back in the O2 Arena.

I’d been at the O2 since lunchtime, bargain price parking by the station for just £3 for the whole day.  I’d had a business meeting, seen the soundcheck, met up with some friends who I always meet at Gabriel concerts, got rained upon, had a couple of pints, a bowl of chips and some cheesy garlic bread.  It was a good day.

It was my first visit to the O2 since 2000 when I’d visited the Millennium Dome experience, I’d mostly gone because Peter had done the music for the main show and I wanted to see it as it was intended.  They’ve done lots with the Dome since then – the arena is a great music venue, there’s a multiplex cinema, and loads of restaurants, pubs and clubs.  I was quite impressed.

The concert was something quite different for Peter.  Just him and a big orchestra.  The first half of the concert were all the cover songs from his recent Scratch My Back album.  A life long Gabriel fan described the album as “not as bad as it could have been“, and that pretty much sums it up for me as well.  There are a few good moments, and I admire the fact that he’s been original and tried to make the covers sound different, but ultimately I can take it or leave it.

The second half the concert however was pure brilliance.  It was all the songs we knew and loved, but all played with the orchestra.  A magical evening of music.

The photos…  more just a few snapshots than anything but they are a good memory of a great day.

For as long as I can remember I’ve had a wish to photograph a big name concert and also to photograph Peter Gabriel in concert. On the 25th July 2009 at the Charlton Park WOMAD festival both of those ambitions merged into one and became a reality. Normally getting a decent camera into a concert and using it is all but impossible without a media pass. I’d tried in vain to get myself media accreditation in the days prior to the concert but in the end I was happy to have been turned down. The press were only allowed to shoot the first 3 songs and then they were gone.

With the help from Alan and Ian, two friends I have met at other Peter Gabriel concerts over the years, and a trick of bringing back two glasses of beer for them enabled me to get within 3 rows of the stage without actually having to wait there for 5 hours.

Peter and his band came on stage around 21:30 and played for around 90 minutes. The set list went something like this;

Boy In The Bubble
The Book Of Love
Darkness
Come Talk To Me
Steam
Downside Up
Games Without Frontiers
No Self-Control
Big Time
Washing Of The Water
The Tower That Ate People
San Jacinto
Red Rain
Solsbury Hill
Biko

A couple of links of interest. Firstly to WOMAD, and secondly to an organisation that Peter strongly supports Witness.org.

I’m really happy with the results but you be the judge – take a look for yourself.

As a final note I would like to add that these images are not for sale. They are only intended for my portfolio use.