A tribute from hell.

I’m still trying to catch up on the back-log of work after Heart Shaped Vinyl last week. Last night saw us already deep in rehearsals for Devious Theatre’s upcoming Cannibal the Musical in August, and the newspapers this week have been filled with great reviews and articles after last weeks show. But now to my point…

Last Sunday saw two tribute bands hitting the Zoo club for an all ages gig. First up Skin Ticket, a tribute to 9-piece, masked metallers Slipknot, and then Tampora, a tribute to the “Cowboys from Hell” that were Pantera. Nursing a severe hangover from the Devious after-show party the night before, I headed to the Zoo.

Sunday was also the last day that Andrew Mc Guinness would be managing the Zoo club. There’s still alot of questions unanswered as to what will actually become of the place, but I do know that all of the staff and security people (who have always been great to us here at Kilkenny Music) have been let go. And rumour has it the nightclub will now become a pub instead. There’s talk of pool tables and the likes, meaning one of Kilkenny’s main venues for gigs will probably draw a different type of customer now, and unfortunately become one of those scum infested areas that no longer welcomes gigs.

It’s been a long time since I was into Slipknot. Myself and Daw were pretty into the first album back in the day, but I soon lost interest. The gimmicky masks, overalls , stereotypical icons of goats, the number 666 and all the other things about the band that made them popular, just seemed a bit much to be honest. But, I wasn’t gonna miss the opportunity to shoot 9 people in masks jumping around the stage, and whether I liked them or not, there was hundreds of teenagers in Kilkenny who were quite happy to shout slogans like “god is dead” and go apeshit when Skin Ticket took to the stage dressed up and playing Slipknot songs.

That’s pretty much what they did. They had the masks, they had the signature instruments, they didn’t have the overalls but they had black shirts, each with the Slipknot logos and appropriate numbers sewn on. It was a bunch of young fellas wanting to be Slipknot, and a huge crowd who were quite happy to believe that for 45 minutes, they were Slipknot.

When Tampora took to the stage it was different however. Sure, they were still just a band playing Pantera songs, but fucking hell they played them like Pantera played them. At one stage I stood beside Daw at the sound desk and Boo walked up and said to me, “holy shit, Pantera are playing in the Zoo!” And from the back of the Zoo, stuggling to see the band on stage because of the large crowd throwing themselves around, with Daw on the desk and the sound absolutely perfect, the wall of amps onstage blasting perfectly played Pantera songs, he was right!

From a photography point of view, this has been one of the most difficult gigs I’ve ever shot. Difficult but also one of the most fun gigs I’ve shot in ages. The poor lighting meant I had to use the built in flash on my camera, something I always try to avoid, and with the crowd literally killing each other in the pit my usual preferred angles and shooting areas were out of bounds. My two options were; to get behind the speaker on the right of stage to protect me from people flying onstage and practically lie there to shoot the band at an awkward, cramped angle. And on the left side of stage, I stood on a rickety stool and balanced on the speaker to shoot the band and crowd from a high angle, all the time waiting for somebody to send me flying.

The result is a very noticeable change in my style of gig shots, but I’m really happy with them. The noticeable colour changes and slightly blurred focus in some shots all add something new to my pictures, and I think they show just how vicious and brutal this gig was. I’d really appreciate feedback on these shots, whether people like them or not.

I also can’t seem to find a link for Tampora on myspace, or even a website or email address. If anybody can find it then let me.