I should really update my tumblr more often… Yeah I’ll do that… I’ll sort an update out very shortly!
This is the new video from Down The Machine called ‘Know Your Place’ i strongly recommend you give it a watch and repost to your hearts content…I am very proud to be associated with these chaps as a photographer and look forward to a bright future with them!
For more information about Down The Machine visit www.downthemachine.com
Def Leppard And Mötley Crüe
Join Forces For The First Time Ever To Tour The UK
With Very Special Guests Steel Panther
TUESDAY 30TH AUGUST – Live Nation are thrilled to announce that two of the world’s most legendary purveyors of Rock ‘n’ Roll, Def Leppard and Mötley Crüe, have joined forces for the first time ever, for a tour that will see them tear through 6 cities in the UK this December with very special guests, Steel Panther.
Def Leppard remain one of the world’s biggest and most successful live acts. Before this year, the band last played the UK and Eire in 2009 – headlining Download festival that year after a hugely successful sold out UK Arena tour in 2008. June 2011 saw Def Leppard headline Download Festival for the second time in three years. 2011 has also seen the release of the band first ever live album, “Mirrorball” featuring classic tracks, three band new recordings and a bonus DVD and Leppard’s first coffee table book, titled “Def Leppard – The Definitive Visual History”.
With more than 65 million albums sold worldwide and two prestigious Diamond Awards (Def Leppard are one of only five rock bands to have two consecutive 10 million plus selling albums in the U.S. The others are The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and Van Halen.)to their credit, Def Leppard - Joe Elliott (vocals), Phil Collen (guitar), Rick “Sav” Savage (bass), Vivian Campbell (guitar) and Rick Allen (drums)— continue to be one of the most important forces in rock music. Over the course of their career, the band has produced a series of classic groundbreaking albums that set the bar for generations of music fans and artists alike. The group’s spectacular live shows, filled with powerful melodic rock anthems, continue to sell out venues worldwide. Their epic live show and arsenal of hits have become synonymous with their name, leading Def Leppard to be heralded as an institution in both the music and touring industry.
Def Leppard frontman Joe Elliott says, “I can’t tell you enough how thrilled I am to announce this tour!! … We always strive to make our shows an event & to have Motley Crue & Steel Panther along for the ride makes this an event that just can’t be missed for rock fans across the UK !! … Come join us on what will be the event of the year!!”
Nikki Sixx, Mick Mars, Tommy Lee and Vince Neil , collectively Mötley Crüe, returned to the top of the charts with Saints of Los Angeles, their first studio album in a decade with the original line-up back in 2008. Based on the band’s New York Times bestseller ‘The Dirt’, the disc debuted at #1 on the Independent Album chart and was the top debut of the week on the Billboard Top 200 albums at #4. “Saints of Los Angeles,” which was nominated for a Best Hard Rock Performance Grammy Award was also noted as the #1 Rock Song of the Year by iTunes critics. The band also started Crüe Fest in 2008, which was the most successful touring rock festival and the number ten tour overall (according to Rolling Stone), playing for nearly half a million rock fans throughout North America. This was swiftly followed by Crüe Fest 2 in 2009, during which the band played the whole of the Dr Feelgood album every night in celebration of their 20th anniversary. Mötley Crüe has sold more than 80 million album copies worldwide,including 25 million in the U.S. ). They will also be releasing a brand new expanded Greatest Hits package which will include the Crüe Fest DVD in November.
Nikki Sixx had the following to say “Motley Crüe is excited to do some destruction with long time peers Def Leppard on tour this holiday season. We have never toured together so hopefully there will be some de-virginizing of each-others fans and in the end one fucking wild party together.” Nikki Sixx
Steel Panther have recently confirmed that the release date for their highly anticipated second album, ‘Balls Out’, will be 17th October via Universal Records. The first single taken from the album will be ‘If You Really Really Love Me’ which impacts on 7th November.
Frontman Michael Starr commented “To rock with Lep and Crüe is a dream come true!! This will be the best tour package all year hands down - Now we got to learn our songs from the new CD” Not be be outdone, guitarist Satchel added “Getting the tour with Def Leppard and Motley Crüe is the best thing that’s happened to Steel Panther since we got the Viagra endorsement – we’re hard already!”
This will, without doubt, be THE Rock show of the year, not to be missed by any self-respecting fan of all things loud and heavy. Tour dates are below:
DECEMBER 2011
TUESDAY 6 BIRMINGHAM LG ARENA
THURSDAY 8 NOTTINGHAM CAPITAL FM ARENA
FRIDAY 9 GLASGOW SECC HALL 4
SUNDAY 11 MANCHESTER MEN ARENA
TUESDAY 13 SHEFFIELD MOTORPOINT ARENA
WEDNESDAY 14 WEMBLEY ARENA
Tickets go onsale 9am on Friday 2nd September priced at £47.50 LONDON / £45.00(subject to booking fee) and are available from www.livenation.co.uk
For Def Leppard press enquiries, please contact Duff Battye,
For Motley Crüe press enquiries, please contact Kas Mercer
kas.mercer@mercenarypublicity.com
For Steel Panther press enquiries, please contact Anna Maslowicz
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About Live Nation Entertainment:
Live Nation Entertainment is the world’s leading live entertainment and eCommerce company, comprised of four market leaders: Ticketmaster.com, Live Nation Concerts, Front Line Management Group and Live Nation Network. Ticketmaster.com is the global event ticketing leader and one of the world’s top five eCommerce sites, with over 26 million monthly unique visitors. Live Nation Concerts produces over 20,000 shows annually for more than 2,000 artists globally. Front Line is the world’s top artist management company, representing over 250 artists. These businesses power Live Nation Network, the leading provider of entertainment marketing solutions, enabling over 800 advertisers to tap into the 200 million consumers Live Nation delivers annually through its live event and digital platforms. For additional information, visit www.livenation.com/investors.
Now this show has to be the highlight of my music photography career so far. Iron Maiden were the first bad i ever saw live back in 1990, and when i’d got into my music photography, photographing guys like this was a mere pipe dream. I’d first seen the press release about the tour back in November 2010, at which time i was only shooting freelance, mainly for the Yorkshire Evening Post. So, i gave them a call and asked them if they’d be interested in me oprganising a review and shooting the show. At the time they were pretty interested, so i got in touch with the PR looking after this particular tour and was told that it shouldn’t be a problem. I was buzzing! (this was back in November don’t forget!) So, as usual i got back in touch with him about 3 or 4 weeks before the show, only to be told that their record company hadn’t issued any press allocations at all for the entire UK tour…my dream had been smashed to pieces!
In the meantime i had started shooting for the music photogaphy agency www.musicpics.co.uk and had mentioned some time back that it was pretty much nailed on that i had the Iron Maiden show in the bag…
After i had been told that there was no press allocation, i didn’t persue it any further and pretty much forgot about it. On the Friday before their show i had been talking to John at Musicpics and he’d said “have a good show at Iron Maiden on Sunday” i’d forgotten that i’d mentioned it in passing, so i explained that it wasn’t happening as there was no press allocation. All was quiet…that Friday lunchtime i recieved an email forwarded from John that was originally from EMI (Iron Maiden’s record label) saying “this is confirmation of your photo pass for the the Iron Maiden Sheffield show” i fell through the floor it was on! and i was shooting for The Guardian. When i got to the show i was introduced to Zeb, i believe she was Maiden’s travelling PR representative she told me that the band had been dissapointed that there wasn’t going to be any photographers at the Sheffield show, the first show in England on the tour, and were then delighted to hear i was going to be there….not as delighted as i was i can tell you! I was the only photographer there, then entire pit to myself, and even better that Zeb had explained to me the introductions to the show and what tracks they were playing etc. etc. so i was fully prepared…apart from toltally bricking it i was fine…
My picture ended up in the following Tuesdays edition of The Guardain and was about 6 inches high and looked ace, if i say so myself! You can see the page from the paper and also the grab of the webpage on my tearsheets page on flickr (link below)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/danny_gartside_concert_photography/sets/72157624286683807/
Dream Theater was a show i was shooting for the Yorkshire Evening Post. I must admit i hadn’t heard much of their music, but i had been made aware that they liked their epic tracks and as such, it was first 15 minutes, rather than the first 3 (which would have equated to about 35 mins…)
As i expected with most american acts, the show was very well lit and i had no complaints in that department…the 15 minutes we shot equated to 2 tracks, the 3rd being a 15 minute epic, hence it being game over for the Togs.
Right, well….all was about to change…its was 4:30pm on the 15th July 2011 and i’d pretty much totally wound down at work ready for the weekend when my phone rang….it was Kelly from www.musicpics.co.uk and she started out with…”Are you busy on Sunday?” to which i said…”erm…i don’t think so why…what you thinking?” “Right, Cool….will you cover Judas Priest in Doncaster for The Guardian?” i certainly bloody will thought I…so it was on…I turned up at Doncaster Dome just as the support act were finishing and was then virtually crushed in the stampede to the toilets and bar as i was the only one trying to get into the arena.
My instructions were to take really wide shots with plenty of stage etc. and some with other band members in…This posed a bit of a problem as i’d traded my 17-35 f2.8L lens in the weekend previous, so i was restricted to my 24-70 lens at its widest (as my camera has a crop sensor this equates to 36-105mm in 35mm full frame terms) luckily, the photo pit was very deep…i was saved! Until Rob Halford decided it’d be a good idea to lean right out over the pit in his ‘smash the audience’ styley. i was pretty happy with my images and again they were uploaded to he photo desk my about 11pm…and schu-ting my images were published in The Guardian the following Tuesday as well as being on their website with their review…
You can have a look at my tearsheets page on my flickr (link below) to see the published image and a screen shot from their website.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/danny_gartside_concert_photography/sets/72157624286683807/
