The weekend has arrived and that means its time for my mini "Dresden Dolls Photography Tour" Firstly it was off to the airport to fly to Sydney for the first of two Dresden Dolls concerts.
For this tour, their first since 2006, they are being supported by The Jane Austin Argument and The Bedroom Philosopher.
Tonight they were performing at one of my favorite venues, The Enmore Theatre in Newtown. I have seen a few concerts here but this was only the second time I have photographed at the venue.
We were lucky enough to get unlimited pit photography for the support bands and then the first 3 Dresden Dolls songs. The pit was pretty empty with only three or so in there for the support acts. By the time the Dolls started however, we had to contend with a much larger group of photographers. About 7 or 8.
Tonights concert was also being streamed live on the net so a video camera in the pit provided another interesting obstacle.
Normally after three songs you would be told to put away your camera. Not with this band, we were allowed to continue photographing from anywhere in the venue. A real treat as I managed to get some fantastic shots from behind the audience. I also had the opportunity to photograph two songs from side of stage.
It's really nice to deal with a band that respect what we do as music photographers and realise the benefit of having us there to document the concert.
The Dresden Dolls were full of energy and the band was in fine form. Both Amanda and Bryan showing how good they really are.
I had put my camera away towards the end so I could just stand and listen without worrying about taking photos. I quickly retrieved it again however and ran upstairs to find Amanda sitting on the balcony and getting up close and personal with the audience. A little too personal in one case, an overly exuberant lady decided to plant a kiss on her neck, leaving a rather spectacular hickey.
All in all, it was a really awesome gig and will definitely go down as one of my favorites.