Into the blue with the Kaisers

I’ve seen and shot the Kaiser Chiefs on numerous occasions, at festivals and gigs. You may remember the last encounter was Kirkstall Abbey just before Christmas.  They’re always good value but the only noticeable progression as far as I can tell is in the hair which has evolved perhaps more than the music over the last couple of years.

The other main difference is in lead singer Ricky Wilson. What has happened to him these days?? He used to be as bouncy as Zebedee and I’d be running round like a headless chicken trying to catch him mid bounce – timing was everything if I didn’t want to end up with a portfolio of shoes or conversely the kind of mug shots you get in photo booths when you’ve forgotten to wind the seat up.

These days he’s a lot more reserved and that gave me more time to concentrate on everything else…like the fact that the O2 Sheffield lighting is still what can only be described as shocking.  The LEDs just don’t deliver enough power and what light there was on Saturday was mostly blue.

Anyhow, as always we carried on regardless and I got what I was after. I was particularly pleased with a couple of shots of Ricky which I think kind of capture the spirit of the performance.

And fortunately the O2 team redeemed themselves slightly by being much more on the ball with their social networking, re-tweeting my tweet about the gig to all their followers…which was nice!

My cousin David was there, legitimately I should say, I didn’t smuggle him in as a tripod carrier.  We’d never have made it past those over zealous bouncers. He texted me later on to say that he absolutely loved it.  According to David “they just get better and better”.  So there you go – a satisfied punter and I’m sure there were many more.

So, thanks to the Kaisers for a great gig.  Coming uo in next week’s blog – I’m at the O2 Leeds for James Morrison!!!  Ive never seen him before and..I make no apologies here…I’m getting quite giddy already.  In the meantime here’s a rare Zebedee moment from Mr Wilson.

Tags: James Morrison, Kirkstall Abbey, O2, Ricky Wilson, Sheffield, The Kaiser Chiefs, Tracey Welch Photography, Zebedee