Firstly, thanks to Akbar and Gila for your help.
These are some of the shots I took for the Godflesh’s ‘Slateman’ single cover.
Probably some of the quality has been lost in scanning/cropping etc, but I hope you get the feel of what we were looking to do. A sort of SubPop singles cover; remember they used to do those split 7" singles, well ‘Slateman’ was going to be a split sinlge with another band. It never happened.
Anyway, hope you like these shots.
Jason A
Thanks for these, I linked this post over to the Avalanchers as well, being it’s a JKB board.
Hey Elricj you get outta here! I already infiltrated!!! [:)]
No worries…I really should reprint some pics and send them up to Justin seeing as I still have all negatives.
Jason A
i really like these pictures! the grainy, ‘digital’ look is very fitting for the band’s sound at the time.
Ooof Jason sir I forgot to thank you myself!!
Slateman is still one of my favorite tunes…
Big thanks for the show info. I believe around godflesh.com its always been understood this was a Nirvana show Godflesh opened up at… Now we know proper!
I remember at the time I’d really got into photography and was really just playing around with exposures and exposure times.
I wandered into a little photo shop somewhere in Birmingham and asked the guy how I’d get the effects I was looking for. He recommended a certain type of film which, with the right exposure, would give the ghosting/fluidity I was after. I think it worked…I did the same sort of shots with The Young Gods up in Glasgow.
With regards to shooting conditions, I just nestled down side of stage and went for it. It was a pretty lowlit gig, and quite a weirdly hostile atmosphere as I recall. Rather than wait for the most opportune moment to shoot, I just went for it. The material Godflesh played that night was all new to the crowd, but I had heard it already so had a good idea when the music was to peak and trough, ebb and flow, so I took my chances and rode with the flow and managed to catch some good ones.
However, backstage was like a warzone!!! RevCo were in full flight and had been very hospitable, so frankly I’m always amazed that some of these shots came out at all. I was pretty fucked up!!!
I think photography is, and some may beg to differ, an art of high chance. Sure, fashion photograhy and its like is well staged, but even then, obtaining ‘the shot’ is down to chance; sometimes you just make it more likely to get the good shot.
I used to take cameras to gigs a lot and have got loads of photos that just don’t cut it; but occassionally in there are some real good shots. I have to say a particular favourite is of Michael Gira, sat down on stage at a gig in Birmingham. His head is bowed and by some bizarre effect of lighting there is a perfect cross on his head/hair. The photo was taken when they were touring the ‘Children of God’ album…weird.
As and when I can, I’ll try to post some more of these.
Thanks.
Jason A
Ooof Jason sir I forgot to thank you myself!!
Slateman is still one of my favorite tunes…
Big thanks for the show info. I believe around godflesh.com its always been understood this was a Nirvana show Godflesh opened up at… Now we know proper!
RevCo, London Astoria, January 24th 1991.
Helluva show, great night, carnage backstage, brilliant fun…if a little difficult to recover from!!!
RevCo’s live version of ‘Get Down’ was one monstrous hoedown, absolutely brilliant. It remains one of my favourite songs I’ve seen live for many reasons:
a - it was bloody great
b - it never seemed to end, they absolutely hammered it down
c - I had a great sidestage view of the chaos
d - it WAS funny to see Al walk off the back of the stage at the end of it and fall some 10/12 feet off the back there! Just got up and carried on.
Jason A
Awesome! Ill have to keep lurking cause I definitely would love to see those Swans pics!!!
I’ll try to post some shots over at Avalanchers in the next few weeks.
Photo library includes:
Godflesh (various gigs - some real early ones from around the time of the first album) b&w
Swans - colour/b&w ‘Childen of God’ tours
Young Gods - b&w
Butthole Surfers - colour, 1st couple of UK shows
Sweet Tooth - colour, supporting Loop
Head of David…I think
…other spurious stuff I can’t remember, lots of shots of us all including Justin’s 18th Birthday…now that WAS a long day!!! Probably unpublishable!!!
Jason A
I’ll try to post some shots over at Avalanchers in the next few weeks.
Photo library includes:
Godflesh (various gigs - some real early ones from around the time of the first album) b&w
Swans - colour/b&w ‘Childen of God’ tours
Sweet Tooth - colour, supporting Loop
Head of David…I think
…other spurious stuff I can’t remember, lots of shots of us all including Justin’s 18th Birthday…now that WAS a long day!!! Probably unpublishable!!!
Jason A
[shocked][shocked][shocked][shocked][shocked]
Wow… for those alone you will be revered amongst the Avalanche community haha!
Both of Jesu’s US tours saw friends of mine sitting in the drummers seat so I somehow completely lucked out and managed to wander around Los Angeles and Northern California with my hero AND Dave Cochrane quite a few times last year…
Justin’s 18th birthday huh?? So are you by chance also aquainted with Nicholas Bullen and maybe Mr Andy Swan as well?? Good friends there in that whole circle… Makes me wish I was born over in Brum hehe!
RevCo, London Astoria, January 24th 1991.
Helluva show, great night, carnage backstage, brilliant fun…if a little difficult to recover from!!!
RevCo’s live version of ‘Get Down’ was one monstrous hoedown, absolutely brilliant. It remains one of my favourite songs I’ve seen live for many reasons:
a - it was bloody great
b - it never seemed to end, they absolutely hammered it down
c - I had a great sidestage view of the chaos
d - it WAS funny to see Al walk off the back of the stage at the end of it and fall some 10/12 feet off the back there! Just got up and carried on.
Jason A
dude, if i’m putting this together correctly Chris Connelly wrote about them (the cocks) doing a 45 min version of this song in London. That’s awesome you caught it!
i have some experience in live gig photography but I never managed to nail the mood of a show and band as well as these photos do. Well, some of them are worse than others but the ones that work, work really well.
Excellent pics, man.
Goddamn! [;)] Good stuff.
BTW - did you say you had a Head of David set???
I am curious to view this set and see what nuances, turths, and visual splendors it reveals.
I am sure it will be quite a sight to behold!
Somewhere in this house of mine are a few shots I took the night HoD supported Big Black at BB’s last UK gig in London.
Memories include going totally apeshit to ‘Bugged’ and ‘Jack Nicholson’, all of us going to a club after the gig in Camden and fighting with Wayne Hussey of Sisters of Mercy/The Mission fame in the club. What a twat he was, we were having a pretty cool conversation, he seemed quite a nice chap, but then he made some disparaging comments about some girls nearby. He got quite out of order with them, all ‘don’t you know who I am blah blah’ and when I asked him to relax he tried to punch me; I sort of went a bit mad, but hey ho, he deserved it!! Ah, the follies of youth.
If I find them, I’ll post them.
Jason A
i have some experience in live gig photography but I never managed to nail the mood of a show and band as well as these photos do. Well, some of them are worse than others but the ones that work, work really well.
Jupitreas,
Thanks, I appreciate the comments.
Luckily, I had the opportunity to take shots at some good gigs back in the day; as you so rightly point out, when a photo works, it really does work.
Some of the colour shots I took of Sweet Tooth have the same ‘movement’ feel to them, and you’re right, the ones that capture the moment are quite cool!
Thanks again.
JasonA