andystubbs

For those of you who can actually see this...

2007-06-04T14:01:49Z

...I've decided to redo this site and use Wordpress. Looks quite tasty.

Livejournal, or its RSS feed looks to be playing silly buggers and I don't like it.

Before I do though, I'll probably post some photos of Morning Sparks supporting Guillemots in Stoke last month and From Autumn To Ashes in Manchester a couple of weeks ago...

Magazines

2007-03-29T09:47:57Z

A couple of my shots made the magazines this month. Elbow in Rolling Stone (Australia):

EDIT: Who the hell are Mark Potter and Guy Harvey? Surely they mean Craig Potter and Guy Garvey...

Mike Lewis of LostProphets in Total Guitar:

I'll post a few Ash pics soon for you.

Ash

2007-02-21T15:50:12Z

Ash tonight at the Academy 3 on the second night of their 'Higher Education' tour...sweet!

2006 - almost over now / it's almost over now...

2006-12-26T18:43:36Z

Been a while. Dropped my camera and broke a lens. Fixed it. Used it lots more. Since last time, I've done a few interesting things, including:

Slayer at the MEN Arena
Christina Aguilera at the MEN Arena
Shayne Ward signing his book at Waterstone's in the Arndale
Ricky Hatton training and messing about with the new Nintendo Wii console
The Game at Manchester Apollo
XFM Winter Wonderland at the Apollo - the Manic Street Preachers' first gig in two years
Kasabian in Leeds
Manchester United players attending a fundraiser for UNICEF at Old Trafford

I had to turn down an exclusive with Noel Gallagher a few weeks back due to other commitments - it would have been just me, Noel, Joe Whiley and a few fans sat in a lucky competition winner's lounge - sweet. I can't show you any of the Aguilera or Kasabian pics for copyright reasons, but I can show you the other stuff.

Slayer ground axe and banged head at the MEN. Pretty disappointing though, that a venue as good as the MEN had trouble finding a bright enough light bulb to illuminate the band (saying that though, Tool played their set on a virtually pitch black stage, so it could have been worse!). Here are Kerry King and Tom Araya:

Shayne Ward signed his new book, 'My Story' at the new Waterstone's in the Arndale Centre. It's amazing how someone who has achieved so little can attract so much attention.

I spent a day with Ricky Hatton and his team while he demonstrated the new Nintendo Wii console. The console was launched later that week, with some people having camped outside stores for two days prior to the release. This is Ricky training at his gym in Denton, after he had demonstrated the console:

I got a punch in the kidneys for my troubles from a winking Mr Hatton. When I say 'punch', by his standards it was probably no more than a slight tickle, but it hurt the next day!

The Game came to the Apollo - he eventually found his way to the stage a full 25 minutes after he was due to start, during which time the audience had to suffer the second DJ of the evening which, when you're shelling out your hard earned to see some one with as big a profile as The Game, is fairly bloody insulting.*

XFM held their 'Winter Wonderland' event at the Apollo and this was headlined by the Manic Street Preachers, who were playing their first show in two years. Needless to say, they shone during their brief set, which covered the early material as well as their more recent. Spirits were high, both during the set and afterwards.

Finally, I covered the 'United for UNICEF' charity gala dinner at Old Trafford, which was attended by most of the United players - some of whom were much more receptive to us photographer types than others!

Wayne Rooney signed a couple of autographs and Nemanja Vidic seems to have mastered the basics of communicating with us English...

*This was well and truly beaten by Pharrell Williams' visit last week, that lasted about 1 hour and 5 minutes. For £33 per ticket, plus fees and postage, that's an absolute pi$$ take. At least he did most of the N.E.R.D. stuff.

...and that's that! Wishing everyone all the best for the rest of 2006 and of course, 2007.

See you down the front!

Andy

Johny Marr in Total Geetarr

2006-12-15T11:08:25Z

Johnny Marr again, this time in Total Guitar. Not one to blow my own trumpet, but I do love this photo.

Big update to follow in the next couple of days...

Ooh look...

2006-10-24T16:59:45Z

Ooh, one of the photos of the week at Wire Image is mine...second row, second image, We Are Scientists. Nice.

Are I a scientist? We is...

2006-10-24T12:16:46Z

Lovers of puppies, We Are Scientists played their biggest headline show to date at Manchester's Apollo on Sunday night.

Teetering on the brink of embarrassment, thanks to some technical gremlins taking out Chris Cain's bass, they had to fill like never before, to a pretty impatient audience. Much longer and there might have been a riot.

More images can be seen here.

Deeta Von Teese

2006-10-24T12:09:24Z

Well, last Tuesday was the 10th birthday celebration of Harvey Nichols in Leeds, which saw the Queen of Burlesque herself, Deeta Von Teese, performing at the store for the public in the afternoon, and for a select list of guests in the evening. Rumours that Rio ferdinand would be turning up were quickly put out when I asked "Hang on a minute...isn't he playing against FC Copenhagen tonight?"

Oh well, here is Deeta:

She gives good eye contact...

Paolo Nutini

2006-10-04T10:02:27Z

Things are going very well for this young Scotsman. After releasing his debut album earlier this year, he has moved from playing the smaller holes around the country, to the larger venues, via the packed out Virgin Arena at this year's V Festival and to great acclaim. Last night, he stopped off at Manchester's Academy 2.

Oviously helped by the fact that he is not a bad looking lad and that this gig took place when it is Freshers' week in Manchester, he went down a storm with the swathes of gig virgins that made up the front rows - a shrewd move by the PR types. Such is his style and the 'safety' of his music though, that he has also attracted a number of younger fans to what is a good introduction to live music (happy 9th birthday to the young man in the front row...).

Known mainly for the husky voice, the Nutini live performance is much more than experienced when listening to his album, with a Franz Ferdinand intro to 'Jenny Don't Be Hasty' which sees a lively guitar duet towards the end and an energetic cover of Gnarls Barkley's 'Crazy'. If the screams are anything to go by, then the only way, it seems, is up for Paolo Nutini.

See more photos and buy reprints from the show here.

Cohesion Live - Manchester Aid for Kosovo

2006-09-25T10:50:02Z

This weekend was Cohesion Live at Platt Fields Park in Manchester. The event was a fundraiser put together by Manchester Aid for Kosovo organisation, with a little help from XFM Manchester and Guy Garvey.

The aim was to provide funding to the Manchester Peace Park in Kosovo, which was created by the aforementioned MAK organisation. Aside from the music, events included:

The 'Postcard to Kosovo' - a giant postcard put together by people attending the event, who made donations to paint tiles which made up the body of the postcard (below)...

Step 1 - paint one of these thingies:

Step 2 - bung it on here:

...and a few words by the organisers, Pam Dawes and Saranda Bogujevci, who was herself a victim of the atrocities that took place when the 'ethnic cleansing' took place. Saranda was shot in the back 16 times.

Visit the MAK website for more information.

XFM broadcasted live from their backstage studio, with artists popping in for interviews over the course of the afternoon. Gareth Brooks, in his nice red jacket, interrogated Graham Coxon, below:

Visit the XFM Manchester website for more photos from the event.

Jez and Andy Williams of Doves did a couple of DJ sets, spinning a sackful of classics between Coxon, Elbow and Badly Drawn Boy sets, while Jimi Goodwin looked on from the crowd.

Guy Garvey took to the stage with Elbow for a superb set as the sun headed for the horizon. I've never understood how they didn't hit the big time.

Finally, Damon Gough a.k.a Badly Drawn Boy wrapped things up. He didn't seem too happy for the first few numbers, clearly irritated by something in the sound department, but it sounded good from where I was standing...

Visit Photobox to buy reprints from the event - all proceeds will go to the MAK charity.

Return of the axe

2006-08-30T09:46:30Z

I managed to track down a copy of Friday's Grauniad (thank you Emily! xx), which featured a shot of Johnny Marr that I took at the Manchester versus Cancer event earlier this year.

Nice.

V Festival (again), Leeds and Creamfields

2006-08-27T14:05:46Z

I've uploaded a shedload of photos from V Festival in Staffordshire last weekend to my gallery here.

The highlights from Saturday included: This guy (I'm told he made the front cover of the Observer on Sunday):

Festival staples Faithless, who never fail to liven up even the most rain-soaked crowd:

...and of course, old Misery Guts:

I also met this guy and got to do a brief portrait session (to go with an XFM Manchester interview) on his tour bus:

He now has my hat, which I left on said bus by accident.

Sunday was a different story. The sun even came out at one point. Before Radiohead arrived on stage and shocked most of those familiar with the band's feelings towards 'Creep' by playing said anthem, a whole heap of other stuff flew by including:

Another backstage photo shoot - this time with We Are Scientists. As the interview they were doing had finished by the time I arrived, I got them to re-enact it for me. Needless to say, they were very obliging, facial contortions and wise-cracks a-plenty ensured that I got the perfect shot:

I've missed Paolo Nutini a few times now, so I made sure I saw him this time round, when he played early in the day in the JJB Tent. He is a very talented young man:

For some reason, I found myself watching Girls Aloud. My camera must have accidentally fired, resulting in the shot below. No idea how this happened:

Naturally, as the end of any festival day closes in, the queues for the toilets get longer and the patience of your average festival-goer gets shorter.

"If I'm quick, no-one will notice...":

You can see the rest of the pics here.

I went to Leeds on Friday to watch the mighty Pearl Jam play their biggest UK show in over 6 years. 2 hours. 23 songs. 1 very happy me. I would have been happier with a photo pass and the band closing with Yellow Ledbetter, but you can't have everything!

Finally, yesterday (after listening to eight - yes, eight - Pearl Jam albums), I wandered over to Creamfields at Daresbury Park in Cheshire. It is Cream's annual dance festival and this year's line-up included The Zutons (an amazing choice, given their decidedly off-genre music), Goldfrapp and The Prodigy on the main stage.

Following on from The Zutons was dance diva Alison Goldfrapp and her troupe of masked dancers. They really are a distraction when you're trying to get a decent photo and they are doing this:

It's 10 years since I last saw the Prodigy (T In The Park 96), so I was really looking forward to this one. They didn't disappoint. Keith Flint has lost none of his boundless energy, and Maxim ran things with ruthless efficiency:

In amongst the many tents across the site were vinyl wizards such as DJ Shadow, Mylo, Annie Mac and human beatboxer Killa Kela, and in the After Shock Arena, were fun and games a-plenty:

I was approached by one of the After Shock people as I was taking shots, so it may turn out to have been a profitable five minutes. That's always a bonus.

More pics can be found here.

I also managed to blag a nice Duck and Cover shirt from the VIP bit as well as a nice burger cooked by a proper chef - at last, an escape from festival food!

Not a bad couple of weekends then...

V...f*cking tired!

2006-08-21T00:01:10Z

(Not so) Fresh after this weekend's half muddy, half dry V Festival at Weston Park in Staffordshire, I've got a ton of stuff to put up for you to have a gander at. Should be up in the next few days...mammoth gallery style. Look who headlined tonight (Sunday):

I managed to get some time with Paul Weller, We Are Scientists and James Dean Bradfield (who is now the proud owner of a waterproof hat after I left it on his bloody tour bus. I'm an idiot) for some portraits for XFM Manchester, who had done interviews backstage.

Check the XFM Manchester website out for the rundown of events over the weekend.

Everybody's going surfing...

2006-08-15T09:46:41Z

Wow. It's been a while since I updated. Since the Red Hot Chili Peppers gig in July, I've had a bit of a hiatus from the photography, and have been darting around to various places in the UK for beer, wine, fine food, sun and surf.

This weekend sees me packing my bags for V Festival at Weston Park in Staffordshire. Not really sure who I'll be snapping yet other than Radiohead and the Manchester bands, but I reckon I might find myself at Sugababes and Girls Aloud at some point...

See you at the front!

Red Hot Chili Peppers at the MEN Arena

2006-07-14T10:30:02Z

WOW. It was definitely the right choice (assuming they had one): playing the MEN. Last time the Red Hot Chili Peppers visited Manchester, they played at Eastlands, to a mixed reception. The majority of this tour has stuck to the Stadium venues, with the exception of Manchester, which was treated to two nights of the Chilis indoors. Playing an arena gives so much more scope for lighting and other visuals, as proven by Coldplay here in December - here, we got treated to overhead lighting and bullet-time camera angles to keep us in awe.

I went along on Tuesday with the camera and then again on Wednesday for the full show.

Pics are in the galleries.

The Gallery...it's gone...sort of*

2006-07-07T12:16:08Z

There have been a couple of instances recently where people have downloaded images for use on their own websites without first asking permission. In one case the perp claimed they bought the photos from Wire Image, which is absolute bollocks, as Wire Image do not distribute images in the dimensions I use for web use.

I've since been having a think about how this site should be structured and, as a result, I've added a new 'Portfolio' page, and replaced the 'Gallery' link with a 'Shop' link - this directs you to my Photobox account (and will open in a new window).

The new Portfolio is flash driven and, as such, images are not 'right click/save' enabled.

The Photobox gallery does not permit visitors to 'right click/save' images, but they are viewable at the same size as they were in the Gallery (this is still linked on the front page, if you know where to look*).

If/when I reinstate the Gallery, I will start watermarking images to try and stop them being used without my permission.

***Please ask if you wish to use images on your fansite - I don't often say 'no'***

Foo Fighters - "Free umbrellas for everyone!"

2006-06-19T14:54:20Z

Foo Fighters powered through their set at a wet Old Trafford Cricket Ground on Sunday 18th June. The band, 30 minutes late in taking to the stage due to the rain and a collapse of the security barrier at the front, wasted no time in catching up. HyperGrohl promised free umbrellas and beer for everyone next time: "But hey - rain is good, as it cools your asses down when you get hot!"

Hit followed hit followed hit followed hit, as Messrs Grohl and Shiflett duelled with their guitars at either end of the walkway, Taylor Hawkins took the lead as Dave drummed on 'Cold Day in the Sun'...and Nate? Well, Nate was just Nate.

Have a look in my galleries for more photos from the day. Photos of Angels And Airwaves and The Strokes will follow soon.

You can buy reprints of photos of the day from my shop at Photobox...

...and don't forget the June Poster Print Sale that I'm currently running - ***MASSIVE*** 30" x 20" reprints on premium photo paper from Photobox - £20 + P&P (down from £75) until June 30th.

Richard Ashcroft - Old Trafford Cricket Ground

2006-06-19T14:26:53Z

Richard Ashcroft was, to use the vernacular, mad fer it, when he played to a packed Old Trafford Cricket Ground on Saturday 17th June.

He wowed the crowd with a mix of Verve classics, solo material and topical World Cup improvs as the sun blazed down on the masses, who had enjoyed sets from Simple Kid, Akala, The Feeling and Razorlight over the course of the afternoon.

Have a look here for more photos from the day.

You can buy reprints of photos of the day from my shop at Photobox.

...and don't forget the June Poster Print Sale that I'm currently running - ***MASSIVE*** 30" x 20" reprints on premium photo paper from Photobox - £20 + P&P (down from £75) until June 30th.

!!!MASSIVE!!! Poster Print Sale

2006-06-07T09:34:48Z

As Photobox has dropped its prics for its MASSIVE poster prints for the whole of June, I've dropped my prices too!

FOR THE MONTH OF JUNE ONLY, SELECTED 30" x 20" POSTER PRINTS WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE FOR £20.00 + P+P!!!

CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE PRINT SALE PAGE

The Kooks in Total Guitar July Issue

2006-06-05T11:46:00Z

Total Guitar have published an interview with The Kooks on page 56 of their July issue (out now at all good newsagents, kids).

You'll see one of my photos on the bottom left - Luke Pritchard and Hugh Harris at Manchester Academy 3 in February of this year.

Here it is:

Doug 'Dynamo' Digby

2006-05-26T08:49:17Z

Look who I bumped into last night at Rileys in Manchester. Brian Conley was playing pool on the table next to us. I used to have a PE teacher who was very much like his character in The Grimleys, Doug 'Dynamo' Digby. He once made us 'run' the length of the school field on our knees. When it was frozen. Ouch!

Photo: Miles Howson

Fall Out Boy at the Apollo

2006-05-24T10:14:46Z

Messrs Stump, Wentz, Trohman and Hurley were in town last night as Fall out Boy tore a packed Manchester Apollo apart with their whirling dervish antics.

See the rest of the pics from the show here.

Buy prints from Photobox.

James Dean Bradfield at the Roadhouse

2006-05-23T09:53:33Z

Manic Street Preachers frontman James Dean Bradfield chose Manchester as the starting point for his first solo tour ("Because it's the capital of music"), with a few of his cohorts in tow. Playing a largely new acoustic set, with only a couple of glimmers of Preachers in 'Ocean Spray' and the first stanza of 'Sleepflower', it was proof enough that JDB is capable of holding his own and still being able to captivate his audience without relying on the easy wins of the Manics' huge back catalogue.

See more photos here.

Read the XFM Manchester review here.

Buy prints from Photobox.

Monsters of Rock

2006-05-23T09:51:22Z

J Mascis, Lou Barlow and Murph, elder statesmen of garage rock, a.k.a. Dinosaur Jr stomped into town on Sunday night for a surprisingly low attendance, yet high volume gig at the Academy. Mascis, resplendent in his Kermit the Frog sneakers, indulged those present with his superlative guitar licks and technical ability, seemingly without once opening his eyes.

See more of Dinosaur Jr here

Buy prints from Photobox.

Everybody say "Yeah...er...Yeah Yeahs"

2006-05-23T09:45:16Z

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs played to a sold out Manchester Academy on Saturday night, and what a show it was. Proving that 2003's 'Fever To Tell' was not just a flash in the pan, Karen O thrilled us with singles Gold Lion and Turn Into from 'Show Your Bones' along with the modern day classics 'Pin', 'Maps' and 'Tick'.

See the rest of the pics here.

Read the BBC Manchester Online review here

Buy prints from Photobox.