It’s not quite been a month yet but seems so long since live music was an option; it even feels strange to think about being in a crowded space. So, looking back through some old photos in a different light, I’ve picked some out some gig-related shots that don’t feature any people…

December 2018 – The famous Barrowland sign; a trip to Glasgow to see Glasvegas’ closing show on their tour celebrating the 10 year anniversary of their debut album, made even better (if that’s feasible) by the inclusion of tracks from their Christmas EP. A special night.

2017 – Photo-punk exhibition at Brighton Museum; iconic photos by Kevin Cummins and Ian Dickson plus memorabilia from gigs and artists including this ticket to see The Fall, where you could get totally wired for the reduced admission price of 20p.

January 2019 – Deckchairs at Butlins lined up for one of the artist Q&As at Rockaway Beach Festival, not a red-coat in sight.

Waiting for the main event…
Top left: May 2019 – The Ninth Wave at The Prince Albert in Brighton for Deezer Sessions
Top right: March 2020 – Porridge Radio album launch instore at Pie & Vinyl in Southsea (my last live music before lockdown)
Bottom: August 2017 – up close with The Cribs promoting 24/7 Rockstar Shit at Rough Trade in Nottingham

November 2018 – Everyone loves a setlist; this is from a pre-Dogrel Fontaines DC opening for Shame at Portsmouth Pyramids, not long until they were selling out their own headline shows.

Online tickets are all well and good but there’s nothing quite like sorting through your old paper tickets to bring back memories. There’s some photo passes from favourite shows in the mix too; always a privilege, quite surreal when it’s an artist you’ve liked for years. Shout out to all the gig photographers and regular ‘down the front’ gig-goers I’ve had the pleasure to meet in real life or virtually – a lovely supportive community – hope you’re all doing OK.

This is the staircase wall at one of my favourite venues in Brighton, The Hope and Ruin – one of many paste-up artworks in the area by The Postman that kind of sums up how we probably all feel about the current situation. And yes, for those eagle-eyed connoisseurs out there, the header shot on this piece is indeed from their toilets – a collection of venue toilet photos is one of the more niche projects I’ve considered in the past and might even return to when the option’s there! Really hope that all the smaller independent venues will survive losing their business for a while and will be putting on shows again in the not too distant future. See you all there…?

Words and photos by Siobhan

9th April 2020