24 February 2010 – White Rabbits are one of my favourite live bands I have ever seen and tonight I photographed them opening for Hockey at Koko.

Unfortunately they were the support act so I feel their set was too short because I could watch them for ages. I am not going to make this long because I have photographed these guys live quite a few times and don’t want to become boring going on about how incredible they are live but they are. Haha.

Matt had a broken hand and played as if it didn’t matter. I love that. These guys are cool, their albums are great and they will blow your mind away if you are lucky enough to ever see them live. These are a few of the photos I shot of the guys. Make sure to check them out.

28 January 2010 – Those of you that follow this blog will know that one of my greatest and favourite finds of 2009 has to be the band White Rabbits and every time I see them live I am slapped in the face and reminded exactly why I feel this way.

Tonight was another one of those nights. These guys are amazing. Their album just dropped in the UK and it is good but the band definitely has something going on with their live show. I cannot pinpoint one specific thing to name or even remember now what it is exactly but at the time I am dumbstruck because its just perfect. I’ve photographed them now on 3 different stages with 3 very different crowds and when they finish I feel sad that it’s done and I have to wait again before I get to see / hear more of them. I think the thing I really appreciate the most is that they seem to love what they do. I’ve always found it incredibly enjoyable watching someone do something they love and even more when they do it well. It seems as though they give as much effort as they possibly can for every live show. That’s great and I have so many people I can think of that I would love to witness these guys at work but distance between countries make that a bit hard.

Anyway, I am not going to go on. The lighting for taking photos was terrible. I don’t care because I got to party. I did my best and these are a few of my favourites. Check out White Rabbits if you haven’t. That’s important.

Hope everyone is well. Marcus

31 December 2009 – I normally find “BEST OF” lists kind of cheesy but for this entire year I have been thinking of what my favourite shows have been, not only from a work point of view but taking into account the entire experience including things like the sound, lighting, venue, crowd, set list and performance.

I am a really big lover of music, especially live music, and I have a pretty open mind as to what types of music I listen to but there are obviously preferences to what really gets my foot tapping and I feel honoured to have worked with some of my favourite bands this passed year. Some of the ones disappointed possibly because I might have built them up too much in my head, while some lived up to the expectations I had and then there were ones that completely blew my mind.

This is not a formal post and doesn’t necessarily include my best photos for the year but just a personal Top 10 live performances for this year. It was an INCREDIBLY year and it’s only a few hours away from being over so Happy New Year everyone. Thank you for the support this year. Hopefully 2010 will be even bigger and better. I’d love it if you took the time to let me know what your favourites were. Till then, have a super one. Marcus

01) Editors
Hop Farm Festival – 05 July 2009

02) Gaslight Anthem
London HMV Forum – 04 June 2009

03) Bloc Party
Brighton Centre – 24 October 2009

04) White Lies
Brixton Academy – 19 November 2009

05) Billy Talent
Brixton Academy – 01 November 2009

06) Rise Against
London Roundhouse – 06 March 2009

07) White Rabbits
Monte Water Rats – 18 November 2009

08) Kristopher Roe
Camden Underworld – 23 January 2009

09) Steel Panther
Shepherds Bush Empire – 16 September 2009

10) Juliette Lewis
The Lexington – 14 July 2009

12 December 2009 – One of my favourite band discoveries this years has to be White Rabbits and I was lucky to have already worked with them once this year since then. Last month they were back in London and I got to shoot with them again and enjoy their live set which seemed to have gotten better.

While they were out I shot a portrait of the group of them to go with an interview that was done with them a few days before. They don’t have many portraits so I wanted to try and make something different so that they don’t come across different to how they are as musicians and people so I watched them set up and soundcheck and then set up some lighting in the venue infront of the stage they would play later that night so that I could get a slight feel of the vintage style old room. I really like the way it came out.

The guys are super nice and I hope that HUGE things happen for them.

18 November 2009 – I had been looking forward to tonight since the last time I shot with the guys from White Rabbits because the last show was incredible and I have since really gotten into their music.

Earlier today I met with the guys to shoot some quick portraits for an interview that they had done and I ended up staying for a bit of their sound check which I really enjoyed because it felt like my own private show. That got me even more excited for tonight so I raced home to drop off my gear, eat dinner and spend some time with my misses before I headed out with only my camera to the show.

The start of their set is like a slap in the face because it immediately makes you concentrate on what they are doing. You almost forget about everything else and just pay attention to the music. I have seen and worked with so many bands over the years and these guys have without doubt made their way close to the top of my list of live favourites. The stage seemed really small for the six of them with all their gear but they didn’t seem to mind and the only way I can describe the live show is to almost compare it to a rehearsal as if the guys are together in their own room just jamming together perfectly and the lucky audience gets to witness it.

They have just announced the UK release of their album that will be happening in January next year which is really exciting because that means the guys will be playing here again soon and I will definitely be at their show. They represent what I imagine live music to be about and you should definitely check them out.

The venue was really intimate without a photo pit which is fine but a little hard to work in when there is so many people crammed in the space. I couldn’t really move from where I was so unfortunately I couldn’t get good shots of all the guys but there are a few shots that I really like. These are a few of them.

28 July 2009 – Tonight was INTERESTING. I stumbled across White Rabbits about 2 months ago accidentally and I cannot even remember how but for some reason I came across their music video for their single Percussion Gun and I was hooked immediately.

The music video and the song reminded me of all the stuff I love about Mute Math and I bought their latest album (It’s Frightening) the next day and it has been played hundreds of times through in my office. It’s good but I had a feeling, for some reason, that their live show was going to kill the album and just put it all into perspective for me. Tonight was that night. I shot a review for Clink Music Magazine of their show in London which was at a small venue just off Old Street tube station called Hoxton Bar & Kitchen. We arrived at the venue and while the band was setting up I started noticing their equipment and within seconds I knew that tonight would be something good. I couldn’t wait and it seemed that neither could the crowd jammed into the venue.

The first song started with a really chilled intro and with everyone tapping their feet I joined in. It was good and so clear and then all of a sudden the drummer, Jamie, yelled one, two, three and all hell broke loose … but in an amazing way. The kind of way that I will never ever be able to describe on here, and sadly that so many people will never get the chance to experience. The first thing that popped in my mind was “why isn’t the venue bigger” and I think that it’s just the early stages for these guys. I think the next time I see them (which cannot come soon enough) will be in a bigger venue and it is just going to take on from there.

I spoke with a couple of the guys after the show and they were all really nice guys and I got the feeling of REALNESS that they really appreciate the positive feedback and that they just enjoy doing what they are doing. I loved the show and cannot help but wish them the biggest returns on their efforts so that they can keep growing and I can be sure that their music will keep flowing. I am going to try and arrange to shoot some portraits with them the next time they are in London but until then these are a few shots of their live show.

If you haven’t heard of them before, do yourself a favour and check them out on their myspace at www.myspace.com/whiterabbits and be sure to go see their next live show so that you too can be blown away.

For me there live show sums up everything that I think a live show should be and it is definitely joining my list of favourites except this is one of the ones that will need to be printed in a permanent ink because it will stay there for a LONG time.