The ever excellent Ja Ja Ja Nordic held their latest event at the Lexington last night, featuring Manna from Finland, Denmark’s Freja Loeb, and one of my favourite Icelandic bands, Útidúr. I was intrigued by how they’d fit the 12 strong Icelandic collective on the tiny stage, but as it turned out there were only 8 of them and they just about managed.
Here are a few pics from the evening.
Nascent folk label Folkroom Records held their first ever launch event last night at the Queen’s Head in London, to mark the release of Andrew Butler’s EP Â ‘February 14th’. A wonderful little pub ended up very busy, and rightly so, for we were treated to a delightful evening of acoustic stringed instruments and their singers (or was it the other way round?).
Head on over on 29th for the next Folkroom event. You won’t be disappointed.
As I’ve mentioned before, 2012 marks the year when I start up as a full-time professional photographer, and so as much a cliche as it sounds, the end of 2011 really is the end of an era for me (unless it all goes horribly wrong and I have to find paid employment again). It was also the year of the gig shot, with around 40 concerts and a couple of festivals. I have to say thanks to Oli, Tim and James at The 405 for the opportunities they’ve given me, and also Gary at Drowned in Sound and Jenny at Counterfeit, who have also both played their part. In addition, there have been numerous PR people and promoters who have helped me get to see some of the most exciting new acts around, and special mention should go to Kamilla at Iceland Airwaves and her gang for being really helpful in getting us all to ReykjavÃk.
I have also visited Switzerland, the Shetland Islands, and the Lake District, and special mention should also go to my hosts Simon in Zürich (who is now in Brussels) and Frances in Shetland.
Finally, thanks to my many friends who have supported and encouraged me throughout the year. You know who you are, so I won’t name you as I’ll only forget someone.
Anyway here is an end-of-year round-up of my favourite images from this pivotal year. Hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed taking them.
God Don’t Like It, run by Anthony Chalmers, is putting on a series of farewell shows this week as Anthony looks to pursue other interests and draws a close to the GDLI name. The first of the three shows at the Lexington in London featured Drum Eyes, an immensely noisy band who feature no fewer than three drummers, supported by the similarly noisy weirdness of Christmas Gimp.
Icelandic jazz pianist, and a friend of mine, Sunna Gunnlaugs, played a set at the Barbican this past weekend as part of London Jazz Festival to promote her new album, Long Pair Bond. Here are a few pics from the occasion.
