The Goo 1
MAY-JUNE 23 Sinéad O'Connor – Electric Picnic 200
6 Sinéad's performance at the Electric Picnic struck me as quite a lonely affair for her, and I'm not sure whether that was the case, or if I'm just projecting what we knew/know of her personal and professional hardships. As I mention in the book, I remember very little of most of the gigs I shoot, and I miss almost everything the crowd sees, so I don't even remember if she had a band with her. I just remember her with a guitar and a sense of anxiety and isolation. I was focusing solely on her face and suddenly she looked directly at me. I was momentarily taken off guard, and as I pressed the shutter, she glanced past me, just over my shoulder, distracted. I've always thought the expression on her face has an undercurrent of pain, but as I've said, I don't know if that's just me projecting. I like to think I almost captured a part of her soul. Wilko Johnson – Leeson Lounge 2010 A GUITAR AND A SENSE OF ANXIETY AND ISOLATION Getting to shoot Wilko was one of several special occasions for me. I knew of him first from Ian Dury's Laughter (I'm a huge Dury fan, New Boots having desert-island-disc status), and then first seeing him guest with The Blockheads in 1990. An icon, the Chuck Berry of pub rock, except far more interesting. I had arranged with his manager to take a portrait of Wilko and Norman the afternoon of the gig—one of those pinch-yourself moments. As is often the case if you get to meet someone you've put on a pedestal growing up, I found him to be just a very humble and friendly guy. Shooting the gig itself was something different. The Leeson Lounge was very small and very packed, and crammed only feet away from the guitar giant that he was, was intense. Not enough stage for him to strut, he still brandished his guitar like a gun, menacing, with his detached, thousand yard stare, the same signature showmanship seen for the previous 35+ years. An easy gig to shoot. Almost every posture a picture. Jaz Coleman – The Academy 2019 A momentous day for me. I love Killing Joke. Maybe the greatest band since the invention of the electric guitar. I had managed to arrange for them to sit for portraits the afternoon of the gig. All the music press stories I'd read over the years about Jaz's eccentric, elusive and unusual behavior seemed utterly at odds with the man who greeted me in the lobby of the Academy and accompanied me downstairs to the spare venue where I had my setup. Chatty, humoured and quite human-like. During my session with Geordie, he asked if I'd be sticking around to shoot the gig. Which I was. He asked if I'd like to shoot side-stage after the three-song pitstop. But of course. He said he'd arrange for the lighting guy to let me through, and he did. Mind Blowing. The shot featured in the book is actually the very first shot I took from the pit, but I got a lot of great shots from the stage. PAGE 31