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Laneway Festival 2011

Daniel Boud — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 01:38:09 +0000

A wheelchair proves no impediment to crowd surfing at Melbourne Laneway Festival

Last weekend I wrapped up one of the best photo assignments i’ve ever had as official photographer for the Laneway Festival.

I’ve shot Laneway every year in Sydney since its first time there in 2006 and i think it’s the best festival in Australia, and I don’t just say that because they have the good sense to employ me.

I’ve been the official photographer for events like this before but going on the road with a show like this is something way more special. There’s a camaraderie that only comes from those shared late nights and early flights and the familiarity bred from seeing the same crew at every show. The bands, the crew, the punters – everyone was in fine spirits. It really was a privilege to be a part of.

I photographed the shows in Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide and Perth and in each city i recruited a second local photographer to shoot with me too. They were Elleni Toumpas, Leah Robertson, Nikki To, Rodney Magazinovic and Anthony Tran and they all did splendid work.

Screenshot of the Laneway Festival Photos website

One of the things i’m most proud of as a result of the tour is the building of a special website to share all the photos i and the other photographers took. The Laneway Festival Photo site presents all the photos in a large 960 pixel wide format and you can browse by various categories.

The single column wide photo format was first popularised by sites like The Big Picture which showcases exceptional photojournalism. Then last year i noticed British photographer Andrew Kendall began to publish photo mini-sites with a similar format for UK festivals like Secret Garden Party and Offset.

Those sites were built using a platform Andrew developed called Digital Photo Gallery and i could tell it was a nifty system for presenting photos online and managing them behind the scenes. It was designed and built by a photographer who understands how we work and how our work is best displayed.

It’s still invite only until Andrew polishes things up for a bigger user base but i’m hooked already and it’s something i’ll be using for more sites in the future. Maybe even my first ever portfolio site.

But anyway – on with the Laneway photos. Here’s some of my highlights, you can see way more on the Laneway Festival Photo site.

Violent Soho in Brisbane

Brisbane boys Violent Soho were the heaviest band on the bill and made for some great photos as they thrashed around and whipped the crowd into a frenzy.

A Violent Soho fan

Violent Soho in Perth

Another loud and heavy band on the bill who made for fun photo times were Les Savy Fav.

Tim from Les Savy Fav makes out with a girl in the crowd while Lindsay McDougall looks on with approval

Les Savy Fav

!!! in Brisbane

Another act with a great live show was !!! with frontman Nic Offer spending much of his time off the stage dancing with the crowd.

!!!

!!! frontman Nic Offer supported by the Sydney crowd

Two Door Cinema Club

The band who probably drew the biggest and most fanatical following of the tour was Two Door Cinema Club.

Two Door Cinema Club play in Sydney

Two Door Cinema Club in Perth

In Perth the Francis St stage was overlooked by a backpacker hostel filled with backpackers getting a great free view out their window. I thought it could make a good vantage point for a photo so i left the festival grounds and went exploring in the hostel, knocking on random doors. The first room i was welcomed by a friendly group of Irish lads, but their window looked into a tree. I tried their neighbours and was greeted by some English backpackers who had a great view over the stage.

A guest at Perth's Old Swan Backpackers Hostel gets a free view of the stage

Warpaint

Warpaint's Aussie drummer Stella Mozgawa

Warpaint

The Antlers play on Melbourne's River Stage

Deerhunter frontman Bradford Cox

Yeasayer

Cut Copy

Cut Copy's Dan and Tim get cosy on the stage floor

Cloud Control on Perth's Museum Stage

Jenny and Johnny

Beach House

Foals

Foals frontman Yannis Philippakis plays in the crowd

The Sydney crowd watching Foals

I can often get bored of shooting the bands and so turn my attention to photographing the rapturous fans enjoying the show.

Brisbane crowd

Adelaide crowd watching Yeasayer

Brisbane crowd watching Warpaint

Brisbane crowd watching Two Door Cinema Club

The Adelaide crowd dances to Cut Copy

As well as the crowd shots i also got some one on one portraits with punters. Laneway draws some interesting looking characters so it was opportune to get their picture.

Many more photos to see on the Laneway Festival photo site.

Pressed against the barrier

Daniel Boud — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 17:30:05 +0000

Here’s a bunch of photos of the crowd from Splendour in the Grass.

I’ve got a lot of admiration for these kids that manage to squeeze themselves right to the front of the barrier at a music festival.

You’ve got to deal with hours of waiting, dehydration, not eating, not going to the loo, sweaty people, crowd surfers kicking you in the head and sleazy security guards.

But from looks of rapture from the front row as the crowd sings along and soaks up the sight of their favourite band it’s all worth it in the end.

Lots more in my Splendour atmosphere gallery.

Come Together Festival at Luna Park

Daniel Boud — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 02:38:55 +0000

It’s been a while between shooting gigs for me, but i was back on the game on Saturday at the Come Together Festival at Luna Park. It was a good chance to catch up with a bunch of local bands and see the new upstarts.

Bluejuice seemed to have the best crowd reaction all day. People were going bananas for them. And despite Jake having a plaster cast on his leg, he was hopping around dancing madly on stage.

As usual Young and Restless were intense and Karina re-inforced her status as the number one frontwoman in Australia.

Dublin boys The Thrills made up the minor international component of the day.

The Galvatrons impressed with their Van Halen-esque anthems. They’re the latest buzz band around but it remains to be seen what it will amount to.

Sparkadia was fantastic as usual. With their new album hitting the airwaves they seem to have picked up a legion of new fans.

It’s a pretty cool venue for a music festival, a fun park underneath the Harbour Bridge.

Little Red crooned with their nostalgic love songs.

The cavernous Big Top where most bands played.

Faker deservedly headlined the day and put on a reliably energetic performance.

I’d not seen The Dirty Secrets before but they were rather good. Reminscint of The Killers or Hot Hot Heat.

See loads more pictures in the Come Together 2008 photo gallery.

Smashing Pumpkins fans

Daniel Boud — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 23:04:58 +0000

They’re a devoted lot.

Big Day Out : the crowd

Daniel Boud — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 16:36:05 +0000

When shooting a music festival it’s sometimes more fun capturing the atmosphere and punters of the event rather than the acts on stage.

I love shooting people who are unselfconsciously wrapped up in their own emotions, much like the folks above enjoying Arcade Fire.

At the Big Day Out there’s also the flag waving displays of nationalism which the festival has unfortunately become synonymous with.

But it’s mainly good natured fun.

One thing us photographers contend with at festivals is the drunk shirtless yobs yelling “take my photo!” Much like the gentleman above with Ashley.

I used to stop and do it just to avoid causing offence. Now i just shake my head and keep walking while they hurl abuse at my back. I’ve no time for appeasing dickheads.

Live Earth Sydney : The Crowd

Daniel Boud — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 02:13:53 +0000

Here’s some photos of Live Earth in Sydney last weekend. This lot is of the crowd.

At a show of this size it’s all about the crowd. There’s nothing like singing "Weather With You" with 45000 people.

The Great Escape – Day 2

Daniel Boud — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 18:23:10 +0000

Day 2 of the Great Escape Festival saw a bit of rain, but it didn’t dampen people’s spirits.

On the main stage Little Birdy entertained in the afternoon, Ziggy Marley played the dusk set and John Butler Trio headlined.

In one of the food tents this fella played the bazouki to a techno beat which proved quite popular. He appeared to just play the same tune over and over all night.

As usual the non-musical entertainment proved popular – including a performance art type thing called Pork in the Rafters.

Splendour photos: The People, The Mud

Daniel Boud — Fri, 04 Aug 2006 07:31:16 +0000

The people – the life of any festival.

This is the final installment of my Splendour in the Grass photos.

About a dozen of my shots were in Drum this week to accompany their Splendour review, but it’s nice to be able to share the whole lot of them here.

The mud was everywhere. I didn’t take gumboots so spent 2 days trudging round in muddy, wet Converse.

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