Photos of Funeral for a Friend
Funeral for a Friend packed as many of its fans as possible into the Manchester Apollo last Friday and the crowd was more than happy to devour every note.
The opening act, Haunt, was fairly forgettable and few of the UK fans had heard of The Receiving End of Sirens (their album had only been released in the UK since last week despite being out for a couple years in North America), so when FFAF arrived, the crowd had a lot of stored-up energy left to release for the headliners.
They put on a well-performed set with plenty of energy movement and had plenty of fun with an appreciative crowd. The photos tell the story:
And a couple of the fans:
Photos of The Receiving End of Sirens
Last Friday at the Apollo Theatre in Manchester, The Receiving End of Sirens was one of two opening bands for Welsh post-hardcore rockers Funeral for a Friend. TREOS was the main draw for me – their album, Between the Heart and the Synapse, was one of my favourites in the last couple years.
I really enjoyed their performance, but I’m wishing I would have seen them a year ago when Casey Crescenzo (now in The Dear Hunter) was still in the lineup. The harmonies just aren’t quite as powerful as they could be with his vocal there to fill up the sound.
When TREOS start working on their next release, I do hope the loss of Crescenzo doesn’t hurt the band too much, but I suspect it might. After listening to The Dear Hunter, I have a feeling he was responsible for some of TREOS’ more experimental moments and I would hate to see those disappear from their music.
In any case, I still enjoyed the show and it was great to see the Apollo Theatre for the first time. Here are a few photos of TREOS’ set:
Photos of Pelican
As promised in the previous post, here is the second half of the show played by These Arms Are Snakes and Pelican.
I wasn’t sure how Pelican’s long, instrumental post-metal compositions would translate to the live environment, but I was pleasantly surprised. The massive, dense songs made me think this is what whales would listen to (if whales liked to rock).
And of course the photos:
Photos of These Arms Are Snakes
Another night and another good show in Manchester. This time it was These Arms Are Snakes and Pelican. Rather than post too many photos in one entry I’ve broken this up into two. The Pelican photos will follow shortly.
These Arms opened the night and from the opening chord to the final feedback lead vocalist Steve Snere didn’t stop frantically moving on the circular staging area at the centre of Satan’s Hollow, a club decorated to resemble an evil grotto where the devil might host Playboy bunnies.
I had always liked These Arms are Snakes, but their live show took their music to another level and I was glad to see it.
And now for the photos:
Photos of Moneen and Bayside
Living in Manchester has its perks and one of the big ones it the city’s love of music. The passion Mancunians have for music contributes greatly to the vibrance of the city even though the weather can often drag people down. Really, what better than a good rock show to lift your spirits on a rainy day?
And no one lifts spirits better than Moneen. For my first show since arriving in Manchester, I was happy to have some good old Canadian content. Playing at the Roadhouse, a small Manchester club, Moneen put on their usual high-energy performance (perhaps one of their best that I’ve seen) that culminated in lead singer Kenny Bridges’ shorting of the club’s main circuit. During the finale of “The Passing of America,” Kenny’s exuberance got the better of him after he had climbed up on the stage monitors and he thrust his guitar in between the ceiling and the lighting rack. When two electrical devices made contact that shouldn’t have made contact, the whole club was plunged into silence and darkness. There were to be no encores…
Bayside and Attack in Black (another Canadian act) opened and both did a rockin’ fine job. Most of the crowd had come for Bayside and happily chanted along through the whole set. I suspect Moneen made a bunch of fans out of the folks that stuck around to watch them bounce off the walls.
Moneen:
Bayside:
Attack In Black:
A Guide to Concert Photography
DIY Photography has an article about concert photography. One of the people commenting on this article mentions the rules change when you’re in a smaller venue and I agree.
When I’ve had the chance to shoot shows with small, independent bands, I like to play around with the flash. Particularly, for more vivacious acts, I like to fire off a flash burst combined with a longer shutter speed. The Flash gives definition to the subject, but the longer exposure catches a lot of the ambient light – those stage lights don’t go to waste. When the band is especially energetic, you can often get interesting streaking in the photos. It captures a lot of movement and truly conveys the vitality of the show. This can also sometimes have the benefit of allowing you to work with lower ISO settings or slower lenses without having to worry about blur.
All this makes me wish I was back in a country where I could see some bands play. I miss rock.
Darby Sawchuk is a Canadian-born photographer who currently resides in Manchester, England. He has travelled to over 40 countries and is always adding more to the list. He creates stock for multiple agencies and is available for assignments.
+44 0790 992 8932
