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Back again for the second day of the festival, held in KK's Steel Mill in Wolverhampton. KK, by the way is Ken - ex guitarist with Judas Priest. Since they fell out when he was ill, he bought an old steel mill, converted it to a performance venue, got someone very astute to run it (the chap who used to run the Civic) and it's been going from strength to strength ever since. He does occasionally make an appearance, but I've not seen him since I shot a gig there when he was thinking of forming another Priest band (he was one of the originals) and did go on to form KK's Priest. I filmed an interview with him and his co-members that night; David Ellefson was on bass, the original Priest drummer (Wes) was there too, as well as Ripper Owens, who'd replaced Rob Halford for a short period and a couple of younger members.
Ramble over, and back to day 2! Unlike yesterday, we only knew 3 of the bands playing today, everyone else was new to us. First up was Kinstrife. I liked these straight away - fantastic voice, low growl like Eddie Vedder from Pearl Jam. Unfortunately he's having to quit due to health problems.
Second up was someone I had seem before, at a Blues festival in Sheffield - Tom Killner, Americana. He was keen on very blue light, unfortunately. Also two of them in the band with hats (which I mentioned yesterday!
Third was supposed to a band called Oli Brown Collective, but they were a no-show due to illness. So a young band from Birmingham had been asked to step in. I had heard of them, they'd even played the local rock pub in Northampton but I didn't manage to get there. If anyone's a fan of Robert Plant/Led Zeppelin or Jim Morrison and The Doors, then they'll like this lot. Formed when they were 16, now about 19 and probably the band of the day. From his entrance, running on and jumping (I got a blur) to the final leap from the drum riser (by this time I was back out of the pit but saw them climb on the riser and grabbed the camera from the table! - no time for settings, just point and hope). So if that's your bag and you see a band called Jayler, then definitely go and see them.
The next band were rather good as well, The Hot One Two, hailing from Cambridge and Norwich. Really enjoyed this lot as well, so much so that we went and saw them again last night (haven't even looked at those yet!) Last night they were the opening act, and only got 30 minutes. A lot of the photographers were still afraid of the pyro, but I like it.
The next band I didn't enjoy - partly because they were death metal, partly because the chap came on and announced that he'd been ill and his voice hadn't recovered. Never keen on someone singing out of tune, I got my shots and got out! Dave (my partner and the reviewer) was so degusted by them that he went for a walk! But some people really enjoyed them. The Black Lakes
The Karma Effect - another new band to me and I'd heard great things about them, but found them a bit bland. Turns out Dave had the same opinion.
The last two bands we knew well. Penultimate band were Dead Man's Whiskey, who we've seen and covered multiple times at small festivals. The singer has a great voice although since the festival he has announced that he's leaving. Their lead guitarist is also something of a virtuoso but I notice that the rhythm guitarist has started playing alongside him as well as the bass player.
The last band of the night, Gin Annie, are local boys and were thrilled to be chosen to headline. Always a friendly bunch, they were one of the many bands who'd come to see me as I sat at the side of the room between stints in the photopit.
Two shots for these: another pyro shot of the two cousins, Byron and David and another from my seat. Funnily enough, a friend and photographer, Simon, had gone back into the pit and got both the Jayler jump and David's backward lean from inside the photopit. Both versions of both photos have been shared pretty equally, I think.
And a festival is nothing without the people who attend it. I always try to get a picture or two of them as well - and the first picture was the lead image in the day two review (I don't pick them, the media page does)
There'll now be a short break because I need to download last night's images before getting back to full sets from this festival.
Ramble over, and back to day 2! Unlike yesterday, we only knew 3 of the bands playing today, everyone else was new to us. First up was Kinstrife. I liked these straight away - fantastic voice, low growl like Eddie Vedder from Pearl Jam. Unfortunately he's having to quit due to health problems.
Second up was someone I had seem before, at a Blues festival in Sheffield - Tom Killner, Americana. He was keen on very blue light, unfortunately. Also two of them in the band with hats (which I mentioned yesterday!
Third was supposed to a band called Oli Brown Collective, but they were a no-show due to illness. So a young band from Birmingham had been asked to step in. I had heard of them, they'd even played the local rock pub in Northampton but I didn't manage to get there. If anyone's a fan of Robert Plant/Led Zeppelin or Jim Morrison and The Doors, then they'll like this lot. Formed when they were 16, now about 19 and probably the band of the day. From his entrance, running on and jumping (I got a blur) to the final leap from the drum riser (by this time I was back out of the pit but saw them climb on the riser and grabbed the camera from the table! - no time for settings, just point and hope). So if that's your bag and you see a band called Jayler, then definitely go and see them.
The next band were rather good as well, The Hot One Two, hailing from Cambridge and Norwich. Really enjoyed this lot as well, so much so that we went and saw them again last night (haven't even looked at those yet!) Last night they were the opening act, and only got 30 minutes. A lot of the photographers were still afraid of the pyro, but I like it.
The next band I didn't enjoy - partly because they were death metal, partly because the chap came on and announced that he'd been ill and his voice hadn't recovered. Never keen on someone singing out of tune, I got my shots and got out! Dave (my partner and the reviewer) was so degusted by them that he went for a walk! But some people really enjoyed them. The Black Lakes
The Karma Effect - another new band to me and I'd heard great things about them, but found them a bit bland. Turns out Dave had the same opinion.
The last two bands we knew well. Penultimate band were Dead Man's Whiskey, who we've seen and covered multiple times at small festivals. The singer has a great voice although since the festival he has announced that he's leaving. Their lead guitarist is also something of a virtuoso but I notice that the rhythm guitarist has started playing alongside him as well as the bass player.
The last band of the night, Gin Annie, are local boys and were thrilled to be chosen to headline. Always a friendly bunch, they were one of the many bands who'd come to see me as I sat at the side of the room between stints in the photopit.
Two shots for these: another pyro shot of the two cousins, Byron and David and another from my seat. Funnily enough, a friend and photographer, Simon, had gone back into the pit and got both the Jayler jump and David's backward lean from inside the photopit. Both versions of both photos have been shared pretty equally, I think.
And a festival is nothing without the people who attend it. I always try to get a picture or two of them as well - and the first picture was the lead image in the day two review (I don't pick them, the media page does)There'll now be a short break because I need to download last night's images before getting back to full sets from this festival.
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