Think this was my 6th time shooting the Kerrang! tour out of the last 7, and it’s a tour that I always enjoy, Kerrang! always manages to pull some great bands.

Headlining this year were New Found Glory, who are one of my favourite bands and have been since the early 2000′s (back when I was younger). Despite having seen them live many times, this was the first time I’ve photographed them. Really enjoyed it, as they are a high energy band. The only problem with that, it that 2 and a half minutes a song, means the three songs photographing can go really quickly. The added benefit this year, was that flash was allowed, which was lucky, cos the bands were all backlite, which would have made it hard to get a properly exposed face, with a high enough shutter speed.

New Found Glory at Norwich UEA, 8th February 2012 (Photographer: Jon Luton)

New Found Glory at Norwich UEA, 8th February 2012 (Photographer: Jon Luton)

New Found Glory at Norwich UEA, 8th February 2012 (Photographer: Jon Luton)

Before New Found Glory were The Blackout, who were last minute replacements for the injured Sum 41. A lot of people were disappointed when The Blackout were announced as Sum 41 replacements, but for me, The Blackout are a great live band and I always enjoy them. They played a solid hour set, including a cover of Fat Lip by Sum 41.

The Blackout at Norwich UEA, 8th February 2012 (Photographer: Jon Luton)

The Blackout at Norwich UEA, 8th February 2012 (Photographer: Jon Luton)

LetLive were the band that everyone was looking forward to seeing. Having gained a buzz about them in the last year for their singers, Jason Butler, onstage antics. Off stage Jason is a calm mellow guy, but on stage he is all over the place, jumping off speaker stacks, getting in the crowd. Such a good performer. From a photography point of view, this made it hard, as he was moving so quickly around the stage that ficsuing on him was hard, but there’s a few shots I’m happy with.

LetLive at Norwich UEA, 8th February 2012 (Photographer: Jon Luton)

LetLive at Norwich UEA, 8th February 2012 (Photographer: Jon Luton)

First up were While She Sleeps, a really heavy band from UK. These guys have been gaining a following over the last year or so, by being a solid live band, really enjoyed them. From a photography point of view, their long songs meant the three songs passed very slowly, so I got more chance to get the shots I wanted.

While She Sleeps at Norwich UEA, 8th February 2012 (Photographer: Jon Luton)

While She Sleeps at Norwich UEA, 8th February 2012 (Photographer: Jon Luton)

If you would like to see the full sets of photos from this years Kerrang tour, then visit my Photoshelter page: Jon Luton Photography

Overall I’ve probably done less live photography this year, than any of the last few years. Part of this is because I’ve been busy doing a lot of portrait and commercial work, and partly because I’ve spent a couple of months on tour teching, when I was busy working on stage, and either didn’t have my camera with me, or didn’t get to take anything other than quick snapshots.

Kai from Army Of Freshmen at Islington O2 Academy on 20th April 2011. (Jon Luton)

The high point of the year, for me, was probably April. I went on tour with my good friends Army Of Freshmen and Lost? I was there to tech and do a bit of tour managing, but there was a good opportunity at the European festival dates to take my camera along.

The tour started in Strasbourg in a massive arena, with NOFX, Dropkick Murphys, Apocalyptica, Beatsteaks and Sick Of It All. This gave me a great chance to shoot a these bands from both in front of the stage and on stage.

After Strasbourg we headed round the UK for a week, before heading back to Europe, for Groezrock, which in my 12+ years experience of going to festivals, was the best festival I’ve ever been too. I can’t wait to go again next year.

Army Of Freshmen were the first band on the main stage, so after packing all the equipment up, we had the whole weekend to explore (or to take photos and hang out with some of my favourite bands).

The Blackout at Groezrock, Friday 22nd April 2011. (Jon Luton)

Thursday doing Full Collaspe at Groezrock, Friday 22nd April 2011. (Jon Luton)

Saves The Day at Groezrock, Saturday 23rd April 2011. (Jon Luton)

Thursday at Groezrock, Saturday 23rd April 2011. (Jon Luton)

The year started off quietly, from a live photography point of view, first show of the year was the Kerrang! tour, headlined by Good Charlotte.

May was probably the busiest live photography month of the year for me, with lots of bands touring. In May I photographed Panic! At The Disco, Francesqa, Rolo Tomassi, We Are The In Crowd, MC Lars, Framing Hanley, My Passion, Mayday Parade, Rocket To The Moon, 3OH!3 and more I can’t remember.

Panic! At The Disco at Norwich UEA (Jon Luton)

Mayday Parade at Norwich Waterfront (Jon Luton)

We Are The In Crowd at Norwich Waterfront (Jon Luton)

Rolo Tomassi at Norwich Arts Centre (Jon Luton)

My favourite band to photograph this year was probably Rise To Remain, after struggling photographing them support Funeral For A Friend in March (the lighting engineer seemed to forget to put any light on the stage at all for their set), I had a more successful time shooting them at Norwich Arts Centre in September.

Rise To Remain at Norwich Arts Centre, 28th September 2011 (Jon Luton)

The year ended with just a few gigs, but important ones, I photographed my favourite band of all time, The Get Up Kids (I forget how many times I’ve photographed them now, but will always love seeing them live), and helped out Army Of Freshmen on a few dates with Zebrahead.

The Get Up Kids at Camden Underworld, 5th October 2011. (Photographer: Jon Luton)

Zebrahead at Islington O2 Academy, 7th December 2011 (Jon Luton)

And lastly, my favourite photo I took this year. It’s not a great picture, but I like it:

Shadows Chasing Ghosts at Norwich Waterfront on 14th September 2011 (Jon Luton)

Next year, hopefully I’ll be doing more music photography again.

I was down at the venue hanging out early, so took a few shots of the Zebrahead guys soundchecking, whilst I was helping set up the Army Of Freshmen gear.

As I was teching for Army Of Freshmen, I didn’t get to take any photos from down the front in the photo pit, instead I had my camera within arms reach on stage, so I could snap away when I thought a good shot would present its self. This meant I did get the kind of shots I would have liked, but I got a different view from the many other photographers at the gig.

For Zebrahead I was shooting down the front in the photopit with many other photographers. The lighting was tough, many blue, purple and red, so I used a very low power on my flash, to light up the band without killing the lights in the background.

After three songs from the photopit, I headed upstairs to get some stage and crowd shots, and tried to get some crowd surfer shots. Not great, but these are the best I managed.

Slideshow with more images in:

Anyone who knows me well, will know that The Get Up Kids are my favourite band of all time. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve photographed them/seen them live. This show was moved down from Koko to Camden Underworld. Camden Underworld would be one of my favourite venues to see live bands, as it’s small, you get close up with the band but is probably my least favourite to photograph at. Photographers are allowed to shoot from side on to the stage, which means it’s hard to get a great photo of the band members at the front of the stage. I decided that instead of photographing from there, I’d get down the front of the pit and shoot from front of stage. This means I didn’t really get to move about (as I would do if there was a photo pit), but I still managed to get a couple of shots I’m happy with.

This was probably was of my favourite sets I’ve seen The Get Up Kids do, lots of Four Minute Mile and Something To Write Home About songs in there, although they only played one song from Guilt Show. The new songs sound really good live, and the band looked liked they were having a great time. Highlight was probably their cover of Blurs Girls & Boys at the end. This was the last UK show the band are doing for probably another 18 months, so was well worth being at.

This gig was at the end of a long day of photography, then guitar teching for my friends Fiorentina at Norwich Waterfront, before heading to Norwich Arts Centre to photograph Rise To Remain. I manage to get to the Arts Centre in time to catch the end of Bleed From Within, and get a few photos before their was a power cut and the crowd was left to a pretty awesome drum solo.

This was the second time I’ve photographed Rise To Remain this year, last time was when they supported Funeral For A Friend in Bury St Edmunds. They were good at that gig, but the last 6 months of solid touring has made them into an even better live band. Although a bit heavier than most bands I’d normally listen to, a 50 minute ear bursting set was so good.

From a photography point of view, no photo pit meant I had to dive into the mosh pit, and grab as many good shots as I could without damaging myself or my camera. Here are a few I like, slideshow with more images at the bottom of the page.

Wednesday was the first time I’ve been at Norwich Waterfront since they added the new smaller venue in the Studio upstairs. Although the stage is small, this new venue provides a place for smaller bands to play who would be unable to pack out the bigger main room downstairs. It also helps the Norwich music scene, which has struggled in recent years due to venue closures in the city centre.

On Wednesday, the studio hosted Shadows Chasing Ghosts, Polar, Avosetta and Depth, four up and coming rock bands. Check out some of my photos from the gig below, and a slideshow featuring more images, at the bottom of the page. Feel free to share the slideshow on other websites.

A few weeks ago I went along to Lotus Motorsports test track at Hethel, just outside Norwich, to do some promotional photos for their announcement of Petronas sponsoring/partnering them. The announcement was made yesterday; Click here to view News on Lotus website.

It was an interesting day for me, spending several hours taking photos of the cars speeding round the test whilst a camera crew was filming for a promotional video for the Lotus website. The drivers were Leo Mansell, Greg Mansell and Freddy Nordstrom. They were driving round the Lotus GT4 cars. Although I got many photos of the cars driving round, I was mainly looking forward to the portraits.

As with most of these types of shoots, I only got 10 minutes to do the portraits, whilst the camera crew were also filming the guys. Luckily, the rain held off for long enough to get these shots done. There’s a slideshow with some extra images at the bottom of this page. Check the photos out, and let me know what you think in the comments section.

Another photo catch up, this time from the start of July. Deaf Havana toured back in July previewing songs from their new album, which is due out later this year. Was interesting seeing the change in sound for the new record, and that the band have grown into a better live band over time. Support came from Not Advised, The First and Awake The Empire.

Photography wise, this was a hard gig to shoot, with the bands mainly backlite, meant bumping up the ISO. Although I was allowed to use flash for The First, which made their set easier to shoot.

Slideshow of more images at the bottom of the page.

Mainly covering rock music, I do sometimes find it odd taking photographs of pop bands, but when offered the chance to photograph JLS, Olly Murs and Alexis Jordan at Carrow Road, Norwich City Football Ground, I decided to go along.

First up was Alexis Jordan, who only performed four songs, mainly featuring her and a few backing dancers jumping around the stage. She was followed by Olly Murs, who stole the whole night for me, a great performance with a proper backing band. It was more like the kind of performances I’m used to shooting.

Then the main event, JLS. The four guys performed to a backing track, and had a large group of backing dancers with them. They came out at the end of the catwalk, allowing for some shots with the sky as a background, and then went back to the stage, with a massive screen behind them. It was still early enough to have some natural light on them, as well as the stage lighting, which helped with shutter speed etc.

Mayday Parade at Norwich Waterfront

Mayday Parade at Norwich Waterfront

Mayday Parade at Norwich Waterfront

Mayday Parade at Norwich Waterfront