Photographing Coheed & Cambria at ArcTanGent 2019

MarthaFPhoto August 25, 2019

For the second year running I had the privilege of attending ArcTanGent festival. Looking at the stacked line-up, I knew this year would be a good one at that. Headlining the Arc stage (main stage for those who don’t know) on the first night were the mighty Coheed and Cambria.

As a long time fan of the band I was extremely excited to be able to photograph them as the band are on my bucket list of bands to photograph. The set had some insane lighting which I was able to utilise to the best of my abilities to get some pretty unique imagery. The stage lighting created some gorgeous silhouettes and shadows in the 3 images below.

For the images above I decided to edit them in such a way to highlight the intense silhouettes the stage lighting created. I used a mixture of self made presets on Lightroom to create a moodier look to the images but still keeping the colours bright in the coloured images, keeping the highlights bright in the black and white image.

As you can see in the photo above Claudio Sanchez was giving it his all during the performance. It’s one of the best things about being a live music photographer when you’re able to photograph a musician who’s passion comes through your lens, emotion like this just makes for better images and helps to tell more of a story.

For all the images on this post I used my Canon 5D Mark iii with either my 24-70mm 2.8 lens or my 70-200mm 2.8 lens. The low aperture enabled me to capture the colours well as it let in all the available light during the show. During post I kept the vibrancy bumped up to really saturate the colours in the images above as I didn’t want to lose any of them during editing. I always aim for my photos to look as true to the actual show as possible.

I wanted to get an image to highlight Claudios hair and show movement during their set. The photo above does both of these things. The highlights draw attention to his hair and the high shutter speed has captured the movement and kept the image sharp. The photo above is easily my favourite of their entire set as I love the attention to detail within it. The photo is minimal in its appearance but still keeps a high level of sharpness and detail when you really look into it. This images makes me super proud.

Bloodywood Review and Gallery @ The Lanes, Bristol 24.07.19

MarthaFPhoto July 30, 2019

On Wednesday the 24th of July, 2019 the furiously heavy Bloodywood took to the stage at The Lanes in Bristol. This was the bands first ever UK performance and rightly so, the gig was a sell out!

The Lanes is a truly unique venue which is situated in a retro styled bowling alley, which upon arrival didn't seem the place where a metal show would go down but I was proved otherwise the second the show started.

The band announced that this was their first ever time in the UK and their first ever tour! This was fantastic to see how an internet phenomenon take the world on with their important message behind them. I felt very honoured to be apart of this brilliant show and I was seriously looking forward to shooting them live.

The venue was packed, every single person who bought a ticket was in the room and the floor above, jumping around, moshing and singing their hearts out. The vocalist went into the crowd and was welcomed by a surge of singing, sweaty fans around him. The band quoted "we thought we'd be playing to about 10 people each night" so I couldn't imagine the emotions going through them during this gig.

The band mix traditional Indian folk instruments with what can only be described as thunderous choruses to create a fantastically unique and honest sound. Bloodywood took the time to talk about important issues surrounding mental health which they've incorporated into some of their most popular songs, something the crowd were definitely loving to be a part of, myself included. The fact that this is the bands first ever tour and first ever time playing our country and they absolutely nailed it seriously excites me to see where this band will project themselves in the near future.

Newton Faulkner + Charlotte @ The Great Hall, Exeter 23.04.19

MarthaFPhoto April 26, 2019

Back in the Great hall after recently shooting https://www.marthafphoto.com/blog/2019/4/17/papa-roach-nothing-more-the-exeter-great-hall-140419 . This show was a different kind of challenge to shoot and review, big stage but intimate performance. Unlike a full band lineup, all the focus was on the solo musician, which gave me more time to capture them exactly how I imagined as I wasn’t rushed during the allocated 3 songs to capture 5 different musicians. The acoustics of the hall complimented the big and immersive sound throughout the night.

Charlotte was the support act for Newton Faulkner during this tour. She has played a few shows with him in the past and she is the perfect artist to open the gig for him. She is a solo artist with session guitarist. During the set there were lively numbers on guitar, ballad's on the keys and a stunning vocal range. Charlotte performed with an immense vocal power showcasing lots of sustained vocal parts. Her voice sounds huge. Even during technical difficulties (a stage prop smashing), Charlotte didn’t lose her professionalism. There was great banter in between songs and an overall lovely demeanour from both Charlotte and her guitarist.

Newton created a beautiful atmosphere from the first note. His stage set up was extremely impressive and I found it fascinating to see how he performed the songs I’ve listened to for the past 10 years live. As I imagined his voice was even better than recorded, like a true professional of doing what he does best for 10+ years. During the set he would move between the larger set up and just using his acoustic guitar.This expert use of minimal equipment achieved that high quality sound fans have come to expect of him. From beginning to end, he gave a brilliant performance, responding well to hecklers and interacting with the crowd, especially during the infamous kazoo parts of the show, where he got the crowd to kazoo along to parts of the set. My favourite part though, was that he chose to drink tea on stage, there’s nothing more Newton that that.

Shot for https://vulturehound.co.uk/

Wreckage 12 @ Exeter Cavern 18.04.19

MarthaFPhoto April 19, 2019

It was a pleasure to be asked back to photograph Wreckage 12. Wreckage events are ongoing DIY punk gigs. They are hosted by the Cavern in Exeter and organised by Hena Larkin, a well known face within the local scene. The Wreckage shows are immensely important to the local and the South West punk scene, without people like Hena putting their blood, sweat and tears into organising such events, the scene wouldn’t exist, let alone thrive.
Fluff, a solo artist, with a raw punk vibe, mixing dynamic guitar tones which complement the brash tone of the electronic drums. The set took my by surprise upon opening, as I’ve never seen electronically tracked drums at a punk show before. It was brilliantly unique and a solid opener for the rest of the night. Check out his music here - https://www.facebook.com/FLUFFTHEBAND/ Also Fluff has recently joined On the House and you can see his profile here - https://onthehousemusic.co.uk/fluff/
It’s always a delight to watch Henas lyrically powerful songs and spoken word pieces. He isn’t afraid of talking about crucial topics which need to be talked about, such as mental health and the political climate. My personal favourite song of his is his rendition of Woody Guthrie’s legendary song “ All You Fascists Bound To Lose”. Henas cover has such power to it, he’s able to make the song his own without losing the message behind it. Give his music a listen here - https://www.facebook.com/henasolomusic/
Dead Frames (Plymouth based) are local punk rock at its finest! They contrasted nicely against Henas set, with fast paced, drum heavy tracks. The band have a natural talent for writing lyrics that a complete newcomer to the band could pick up quickly. Utilizing what they have, their drummer Lee has vocal parts during their set, he differs from front man Jim, as they have a heavier shouty quality, but when unified together, my god it’s good! Check out their music here - https://www.facebook.com/DeadFrames/
Kearney’s Jig are a 4 piece punk band from Bristol. The band describe themselves as “50% Vegetarian 25% Cheese Intolerant 100% Intolerable” for fans of NOFX and ABBA. Kearney’s Jig were remarkably individual from beginning to end, with their varied age range from member to member. This band definitely bought the party to the stage, and were a brilliant main support to the chaos later to follow. Check out their music here - https://www.facebook.com/Woodewooo/
Where do I even begin with trying to put Red Terrors set into words. This band are quintessentially punk performers through and through. From the first track I could see how well the band interacted with not only the crowd but with one another. Bouncing off each other (and the floor) for whole set, they showed such drive. The smaller sized stage proved incapable of housing the band as they couldn’t be contained, there was crowd surfing, walls of death and absolute chaos. Utter carnage are the words I’d use to describe this band, seriously go and check them out at - https://www.facebook.com/RedTerrorUK/