Judas Priest Epitaph World Tour 2012

Lamb of God were down to their final touches tearing up the stage when I realized I was about to bear witness to the biggest heavy metal gig of 2012 in Singapore. A few moments later, a gigantic “Epitaph” draped rolled like a proscenium as the crew prepped the stage transforming it into a monstrous arena. As roadies scrambled backstage, some of the best heavy metal classics piped through the PA’s and as they aired Black Sabbath’s War Pigs, I was so ecstatic that my gallbladder was about to fill five colostomy bags. The crowd was getting wild chanting Judas! Priest! Judas! Priest! As soon as the song ended, the colossal drape suddenly fell & upfront blinding us was Judas Priest.

Lamb of God live in Singapore 2012

Ever since I’ve shot Lamb of God two years ago, I’ve been banging my head against the concrete for being so naïve. If you care to ask why, you can click here to know how I failed so miserably. It was a mistake which I thought I could never take back for the rest of my life. Just late last year, LAMC announced that the envoys of American metal are coming back to Singapore to promote their new album Resolution. Just a few months later, they added that Lamb of God will be sharing the same stage with the metal giants, Judas Priest (which I will be covering in my next post), and confirmed the date at 20th of February 2012. While I cowered in exhilaration trying to absorb the veracity of the news, one word came into my mind: Redemption.

Feist @ Laneway Festival 2012

Feist was the 12th band to perform at the 2012 Laneway Festival in Singapore held last February 12. This was also the last artist that I was able shoot since my body was starting to malfunction due to fatigue & dehydration. After shooting The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, I didn’t have enough strength to elbow 20 meters of dense crowd for Toro Y Moi at the first stage so I stuck at my current position waiting for Feist. When Toro Y Moi ended, the crowd started to push towards the center which gave me an opportunity squeeze through together with the flow.

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart @ Laneway Festival 2012

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart was the 10th artist to rock the stages of the last leg of the Laneway Festival 2012 in Singapore last February 12. At this time, the venue was already too tight to squeeze a few more spectators as the crowd was already packed rubbing skin with each other. My muscles was starting to shake & my legs felt like rubber. I was dead tired & anxious to see the band as the Stage 2, yet again, failed to deliver its purpose. For some reason, the PA’s stopped functioning. It was quite a wait before the band started to slam their frustrations into their instruments. Yet, the band still delivered a solid performance.

Laura Marling @ Laneway Festival 2012

I had a blast shooting Twin Shadow at the last leg of Laneway Festival 2012 held in Singapore last February 12 that I was so parched & needed to get a drink at the water supply booth. After spending eons just to queue for a tiny bottle of water, I hurried back to Stage 1 to catch a glimpse of Laura Marling performing her last song. The stage was close to pitch dark & the only illumination they had on the artists were a couple of purple & magenta lights, low enough to put someone to sleep. All my Laura Marling shots were wasted & I have to salvage these shots heavily in the RAW converter. You can check out my bud Abs on how he handled these lights well in his blog post.

Twin Shadow @ Laneway Festival 2012

Twin Shadow was the 8th artist who performed at the last leg of the Laneway Festival 2012 held in Singapore last February 12. I hurried back to Stage 2 after Anna Calvi ripped Stage 1 only to find out that Stage 2 was plagued with technical issues. It was quite a long wait and fans were screaming to get things rolling. After a while, PA’s started to build-up one at a time & the Florida-based Dominican didn’t waste precious time to do some prologues.

Anna Calvi @ Laneway Festival 2012

When Anna Calvi & her band were warming-up backstage for the last leg of the Laneway Festival 2012, I was situated at the first two rows drooling at her distressed Fender American Standard Telecaster maple fingerboard 3-color sunburst. Pardon my jargon but I am a guitar lover & Fender Telecasters make my adrenaline shoot through the roof. I did some test shots on the roadies trying to get things right on stage & my previous settings of aperture priority at f2.5 was blowing up the highlights of the faces. I set my exposure compensation to -1 until I got what I wanted. The sky was getting dark & the stage lights became apparent. Yes, the party has just begun.

The Drums @ Laneway Festival 2012

The Drums were finishing up their last two songs when I arrived at Stage 2 after spending eternity at the water supply booth. I was situated at an area where sightlines were enveloped with heads so I wasn’t able to take pictures a lot. It was also the time when the sun was starting to settle & the stage lights became apparent. I took a few but could not get the “bokeh-ed” heads out of my frame so I cropped most of the shots.

Girls @ Laneway Festival 2012

I have to be blunt, I attended St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival in Singapore last 12February 2012 with a single mission: to take concert photos, lots of it. With all the massive stagelights  & modernized hippies drinking booze, it was a photographer’s playground & checking  the background of the artists was the least of my priority. I headed down to Stage 1 after taking shots of Austra & was surprised to see roadies cladding the stage with flowers. Without checking who’s stepping up next, I was thinking of an all girl band with all these girly embellishments. Half of my intuition was right, the other half was wrong. The next performer was a band called Girls, and it was an all male group.

Austra @ Laneway Festival 2012

Austra was the fourth band to perform at the last leg of the Laneway Festival 2012 held in Singapore last 12th of February. Having been used to the headbanging & stage dives on metal & rock gigs, Aura was a show that I considered to be a breather. With their upbeat tempo coupled with cultural dance moves, it was an atypical respite from the usual growls & high gain amps that I have accustomed to. Nonetheless, we all need that salad after consuming steak for a month right?