Kings of Leon Live @ The O2

I was back to the O2 again last night to shoot Kings of Leon infront of a manic sellout crowd.
Young girls lined the barrier in front of the stage. Before KOL came on stage most of them remained relatively calm, just chatting to their friends and the odd few let out a scream here or there, especially as the background music would fade in and out between songs – However, once the house lights went out and the band took to the stage the place went utterly ballistic. Those girls screamed for all they were worth and as I was standing right in front of them it felt as if each and every decibel was personally signed, sealed and delivered directly into my inner ear. I’ve never heard anything quite like it.

From a photography point of a view it was a pretty tough one to shoot.  We’d be shooting from the pit however we were briefed with pretty strict instructions. No camera bags allowed in – so I had to carry two lenses and place them carefully infront of the crowd barrier. We had to either choose to shoot from the left of the stage, or the right – once you made your decision then that was that – you couldn’t switch half way. I picked the left hand side of the pit which I don’t think was such a smart move – there was a television camera (for the big screens) on rails floating past me every 15 seconds which ruined many a shot. The fact that we more or less hads to stand in one spot also really hampered the creativty as you couldn’t try to postion yourself  to get cooler or more interesting anges.

Either way – it was fun and the band were totally spot on. Just to experience that first 20 seconds of madness as the guys came on stage it was more than worth it.
Here’s a brief selection – more and larger versions of all below can be found here or by clicking on any of the images.

Thanks again to MCD for the opportunity.