Billy Idol was in the UK for his Download and Isle of Wight Festival appearances and was doing a couple of other concerts ahead of these, one of which was Glasgow. This was a must-see for me as, in my younger guitar playing days, the Billy Idol guitarist Steve Stevens was a major influence and I’ve been a fan of his musical output throughout his career (and his very flamboyant visual image – aspiring rock stars please take note)! The internet was confirming that the band were on fire on this tour, particularly through recruiting a permanent rhythm guitarist in Billy Morrison to help in the writing of the brilliant new album, Kings & Queens of the Underground and to add that punk rock attitude alongside Steve’s virtuoso performances.
Through a US based photography acquaintance I was put in touch with Billy Morrison ahead of the gig. It never fails to amaze me how kind and open musicians can be even when dealing with complete strangers. So much is written about “never meeting your heroes” and how bands and musicians are banning photography at their gigs etc. yet here was an artist in the middle of a world tour on some of the worlds biggest stages taking time out to arrange credentials for a photographer he has never met and without any publication behind them. I’d like to think that my work helped to open the door but even then it was a portfolio without big names or headline acts. One thing was certain, I was going to pay back that gratitude in spades!
Billy Morrison with his signature Gibson Les Paul
On the evening of the gig I resisted the urge to stand in front of Steve Stevens or Billy Idol’s positions but instead was only too happy for my photographer colleagues to jostle for that prime real-estate. I waited for Billy Morrison. As it happened this was a good move for more than one reason. Billy Idol was the only one lit for the first few bars and my side-stage position allowed me a few good shots of the main man from a very good angle. It was plain sailing from then on, the lighting was excellent and I was able to capture some very pleasing shots of Billy Morrison with his signature Gibson Les Paul. He was a popular choice with the crowd too, many of whom were sporting his own line of T-Shirts.
You looking at me, punk?
Steve Stevens, added flare...
I was able to shoot footage of what it was like to shoot this concert from the Photo-Pit too, for the first song at least (more of the reasons behind why the footage was from only the first song in the video link below).
Billy Idol on point.
As for the equipment that night, I used an ultra-wide angle lens for the shots looking up from the pit (this lens is very limiting regarding the lack of zoom range and depth of field but I find it a must-use lens to avoid the “shooting up the nose” look when you are, effectively, standing right underneath someone. The red Steve Stevens shot, above, was with the ultra-wide lens). The other lens was a standard zoom which is the go-to lens for catching any action not immediately at the front of stage and also a long telephoto which I used outside of the photo-pit to either pick out detailed shots on stage or to compress a musician, blurring the background. I used a Go-Pro camera attached to the hotshoe of my DSLR to capture video and will not be risking life and limb doing that again, despite a Media Pass…
Billy Idol from the photo-pit (side)
An amazing gig by an amazing band and the evening ended with an uninterrupted view of the Northern Lights on my long drive home in the early hours but unfortunately no pics of that :-( Afterwards, Billy Morrison was very happy with the photo’s, tweeting them to his thousands of followers worldwide and also asking for permission for them to be used in upcoming interviews. A class act in more ways than one.
And finally, to end where I began, being a huge Steve Stevens fan it was very, very fulfilling to be the recipient of a short but very sweet Instagram comment…
Original indeed.