2011: Best of Photos

2011 was a big year for me in photography. I got my first SLR at the end of 2010 and up to July 2011 I only was able to take band photos in little venues after sweet talking the bouncers. By the end of 2011 I had photographed two massive festivals of international bands, broken 1 lens mid-Future of the Left gig, broken 1 camera mid-Soundwave Counter-Revolution festival, had photos printed in a magazine (in Canberra of all places) and been able to get up close with so many bands I loved.

It's been fun. I would like to thank Alternative Music Hub and Tone Deaf for allowing me to occasionally photograph for them. 2012 will see me dragging my camera wherever possible and hopefully being able to take some more larger bands/festival photos. If you're reading this and you want me to take photos for your publication/band/etc, please hit me up on photo@moshpitson.com.

Now that's all done, here's my favourite live music photos I took last year. This list has been impossible to make as I keep changing my mind and I tried to only limit it to 1 photo per show.

20. The Chariot, Sun Distortion Studios, April 20

This gig was absolutely insane. Despite being a small room with one small bulb from the roof making for horrible lighting, the band was so crazy that most photos turned out. Even this one of the bass player being carried out the door while still playing.

19. The Damned Things, Soundwave Counter-Revolution, Riverstage, September 24

Although not an action shot, I just really enjoy this picture of Damned Things/Every Time I Die lead singer Keith Buckley walking off stage. (See the full gallery here)

18. The Walkmen, Harvest Festival, Riverstage, November 19

I had been waiting the better part of a decade to see the Walkmen. This picture of the lead singer looking suave and slightly 1950s is everything I had ever imagined about this band. (See the full gallery here)

17. The Grates, Tivoli, October 28

Patience, the energetic lead singer, is generally the focus of attention in the Grates live show. However, in this picture, John shows he can still get his boogie on. (See the full gallery here)

16. Alesana, Soundwave Counter-Revolution, Riverstage, September 24

I may not be the biggest fan of their music, but their live show was sure fun to watch. Even though my camera was minutes away from breaking, this shot of the guitarist mid-dance at the back of the stage managed to capture some of the action. (See the full gallery here)

15. Army of Champions, the Jubilee, November 17

It was the first time I had seen, let alone heard of, this band and I fell in love. This picture captures all of them singing/shouting at once, in the Against Me! punk vibe they put out.

14. Man Overboard, The Globe, September 3

Whenever I watch a punk show, it's always my goal to get a picture of a guitar jump. It's bloody hard and very rarely works out. This shot was taken just as I put the flash on my camera and before I even had it set up properly and it needed a lot of post-editing to not be dark. The post-editing gave it a very old-school film feel I think. (See the full gallery here)

13. Raein, Sun Distortion Studios, December 31

This was one of the last photos I took in 2011, of the Italian screamo band playing the last Sun Distortion Studios show. The whole energy of the set was intense, with almost everyone in the band screaming into any microphone that was near them and just jumping around like madmen. Was a great way to see out 2011.

12. Periphery, the Zoo, July 29

The first gig I shot for any reason apart from for fun. Although I had to jostle with the crowd a lot to get shots, they were just fun to photograph. Every shot I took had them in different poses and it was really hard to pick a single photo for the best of list! (See the full gallery here)

11. Nuclear Summer, Sun Distortion Studios, December 31

Nuclear Summer will go down as one of my favourite local bands in 2011. This shot shows basically everyone you see regularly at gigs in Brisbane just getting into the song as well.

10. The National, Harvest Festival, Riverstage, November 19

The lighting, the mist, the composition... I think it really just goes hand in hand with the style of music that is the National. (See the full gallery here)

9. La Dispute, the Zoo, January 25

Adam Vass screaming into the mike. This was my favourite photo for the first half of the year.

8. Architecture in Helsinki, the Tivoli, September 25

I couldn't take my eyes or lens off the front man of Architecture in Helsinki. I think of this picture as the hipster music version of Egon from Ghostbusters. (See the full gallery here)

7. Every Time I Die, HiFi, September 23

The second Keith Buckley picture of the top 10. He's just such an an enigmatic front man, you can't help to take a lot of photos of him. This photo was part of a set of photos I took of him just tossing the microphone around in between singing. (See the full gallery here)

6. Trash Talk, Step Inn, February 25

This was taken the night before Soundwave festival, in a special flood benefit fundraiser in the small band room of the Step Inn. Trash Talk, as always, were absolutely nuts on stage and barely kept still. This photo made the countdown purely for the expression of the guy on the side of stage. That's what everyone feels like after watching the insanity and non-stop movement of the Trash Talk live show.

5. Jim Ward, Alhambra, August 13

If I was to give an award for the worst lighting in a venue to take photos in, it would be Alhambra. One spot light and a mirror behind the performer. But I managed to get this shot with the lights above the bar reflected beautifully in the mirror. Artistic almost. (See the full gallery here)

4. AC4, The Zoo, April 7

I was lucky enough to see Dennis Lyxzen (lead singer of Refused/International Noise Conspiracy) twice this year in different forms. Dennis is renowned for his stage performane, and at the Zoo in his hardcore band AC4 he showed us all why. Despite only landing in Australia a few hours earlier, he danced like a mad man and finished writhing on the floor while still singing.

3. Touche Amore, Old Museum, September 8

I got to take most of my pictures on stage, which is rare for me in such a large venue. I was singing along the whole time and this whole band photo, with Jeremy screaming, was turned into a poster for my friend Jess who's hand is sticking out in the crowd. (See the full gallery here)

2. Flaming Lips, Harvest Festival, Riverstage, November 19

Anyone who has seen a Flaming Lips show will know about how insane it is. The photo pit was packed and I took about 400 photos just of the first 3 songs of these guys. So much was going on it was so hard to keep up with the action. This is a shot of Wayne just as he unleashed streamers from his blow gun, with more streamers in the background and all of the photographers trying to get a good angle. (See the full gallery here)

1. Fucked Up, Alhambra, December 9

What you can't see is the fact that I'm singing like a manic into the microphone while taking this photo.

Harvest Festival

I don't normally post rumours on my blog, but this one has caught my interest so much that I had to share with you.

AJ and the team at Soundwave touring, best known for their punk/metal tours and festivals (I've been to every festival they've put on), are taking a slightly different path in November this year with the Harvest Festival. Unfortunately, it's not a festival featuring Neil Young playing his iconic album (how sweet would that be though?), but rather an arts and indie-slanted music festival.

So what do I mean? Well let's start with the music. Bands rumoured to be on this tour are the Flaming Lips, the National, Aphex Twin, Portishead, Bright Eyes and Mogwai. The indie hipster in me is already frothing at the mouth with just that line up.

Secondly, the Brisbane date is November 19 and the venue size will be 15-20 thousand. I'm thinking Riverstage, which would be an awesome venue for this type of festival, as long as it doesn't turn into the wanky-fake-hipster-dance-music crowd that is Sunset Sounds et al.

But the most interesting thing is something I saw tweeted early this morning. It's a call for submissions from the art sector. That's right, the festival is taking submissions from artists for installations and shows for their music festival, to go hand in hand with the music. This includes:

• Massive installations for the main arena
• Installations for a garden and campire stage, for more laid back music and discussions
• A 1920's style alt-performance tent, incorporating a bar (I've already got some messed up visions of what this could be floating around my head)
• Art for in between the stages and just around the facility in general

It's an interesting idea coming from the Soundwave team. It's good to see them branch off with something new and challenge themselves.

If you're an artist, you have until July 14 to submit your proposal to the team. And if they like it, they'll fund your art at a major music festival! Not too bad. All of the details can be found here at their call for submissions.

Of course, given the internet and the rumour mill, all of this could be a fake. But I hope not, I'm sick of music festivals in their current format and I hope this turns it into something bigger and better.