Well another year has come and gone and it has been a big year for me in the live music scene in Perth. In total I’ve have photographed over 35 show for 3 publications (Spaceship News, The AU Review & Colosoul) and for local radio station RTR FM. That equates to many weekends having photos processed, edited and uploaded to the various websites or FaceBook pages and I’ve been lucky to capture some amazing moments throughout 2013.

So you may ask which ones standout? Well I present to you my favourite moments of 2013:

Amity Affliction

The Amity Affliction at Groovin The Moo Festival 2013

10. Groovin The Moo Festival
This was the only festival I shot for 2013, this festival was down at Hay Park in Bunbury Western Australia. This was my first trip to Bunbury as an adult and it was an enjoyable experience apart from the fact the crowd were mostly trying to go for the hipster look.

Music wise it was a blend of genres from indie to punk & hardcore with a bit of dance and hip-hop thrown in for good measure. Highlights on the day were The Bronx, Amity Affliction, Regurgitator, Example and Midnight Juggernauts.

RUFUS

RUFUS at Villa Nightclub, October 2013

9. RUFUS
These guys were blowing up in 2013 with the release of their debut album which did go to number 1 of the Australian music charts (ARIA). So it was a packed house at Villa Nightclub when these guys took the stage in October.

Shooting at the front wasn’t possible due to the sheer number of people there so I had to make do with viewpoints from the sides and used my 70-200mm telephoto lens to get the shots that I needed, luckily the lighting was good enough and I ended up with some cool photos.

Illy

Illy at Villa Night Club, September 2013

8. Illy
I’m not usually a big fan of hip hop but in Perth hip hop is very popular and sometimes you have to venture to these shows to see what’s going on.

Melbourne MC Illy was in town and played to a good sized crowd at Villa Nightclub (despite that this was on the same day as the AFL Grand Final) and he had good supports in Taku and Allday backing him up.

Once again the lighting at Villa you couldn’t fault during the main set and I was able to get to the front and managed to catch some very nice photos from the night.

Circles

Circles at Amplifier Bar December 2013

7. Circles
Melbourne metallers Circles just put out their debut album and their first ever show in Perth was at the Amplifier Bar and with a good crowd on hand they absolutely put in an awesome set and what suprised me was how skilled these guys really were.

I would recommend this band to anyone who loves metal and do catch these guys when they do come back to Perth as you won’t be disappointed.

Kerser

Kerser at Villa Nighclub January 2013

6. Kerser
My first shoot for Colosoul/Wordplay magazine and once again it was at Villa Nighclub. The crowd on the night were absolutely nuts (probably high on drugs as well) and during the main set the barriers at the front were about go as excitement was feverish as man himself took the stage, so after the second/third song I quickly retreated from the barrier and had taken up a more safer position.

Like I said before I’m not a big fan of hip hop but keep an eye on this guy in 2014, as big things are predicted for him.

Serial Killer Smile

Serial Killer Smile at the Rosemount Hotel, April 2013

5. Serial Killer Smille
This shot was taken at my first shoot for local website Spaceship News in April this year. Serial Killer Smile have been around since 2009 and they are now starting to gain some serious traction in the local scene and this year they’ve secured local supports slots for touring bands such as Jericco and recently Circles, on this ocassion they were supporting local’s Gombo at the Rosemount Hotel in North Perth.

This shot I’d had to use my 50mm prime lens to capture more light as lighting at the Rosemount tends to flucturate from nice and bright to very dark. I usually tend to use this lens as a last resort as at the highest aperture (which would be a f 1.4 on this lens) tends to add blur to the photo, but sometimes I have no choice and it’s re-assuring that I had another option to use to get this photo.

Snakadaktal

Snakadaktal at Club Capitol September 2013

4. Snakadaktal
I went into this gig a bit worse for wear as I had travel from Boddington (where I was doing a photo shoot for a work project) to back home, then from home to the venue which was on this occasion Club Capitol in the city. My ethuasim for this show wasn’t the greatest but thanks to lighting on the night, I’d managed to get some good shots of the main band and the support acts (which were Flower Drums and Fishing).

The Love Junkies

The Love Junkies at the WAM Awards 2013

3. Western Australian Music Awards (WAM)
The WAM awards is always a good time to catch up with local music industry and check out who is doing well. This year was a big one for the guys at the WAM group, they have gone through a big re-branding exercise and this year’s awards were at the Astor Theatre in Mount Lawley, ah the Astor, such a lovely venue to go and photograph shows and this night was no exception.

While Tame Implala dominated the awards, we were treated to some great performances by Mathas and The Love Junkies. By the way I was stoked that Karnivool got one for the metal category.

Cold War Kids at Capitol

Cold War Kids at Capitol July 2013

2. Cold War Kids
It’s rare Perth get’s sideshows from any touring festivals especially the Splendour In The Grass festival but this year we were treated to one by USA rock band Cold War Kids. You could feel that something special was in the air for this one and a packed Club Capitol was onhand to witness which one of the best shows of 2013. As much I don’t want to sound repetative but once again the lighting for this show was  awesome and I did manage to capture some truly amazing photos from the night.

Chaos Divine

Chaos Divine at Amplifier Bar July 2013

1. Chaos Divine
My favourite live photography moment of 2013 has to go to local prog-metallers Chaos Divine. It was the launch of their Africa EP at the Amplifier Bar and it was a good, enjoyable night, the bands performed exceptionally well and you certainly feel that you got your money’s worth. It was difficult to shoot at some points, especially during I Said The Sparrow’s set as they had fuck all light to work with but by the time Chaos Divine came on stage I felt relieved that I got some good light to work with.

The photo you see here was when singer David Anderton was introducing guitarist Simon Mitchell during the set, I was luckily enough to stand infront of him to capture that moment. It was defenately one of best live shots I’ve ever captured.

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