Florence + the Machine at The Riverstage

Bianca Holderness February 10, 2017

“And I never wanted anything from you,

Except everything you had and what was left after that too”

Florence + the Machine photographed for AAA Backstage at The Riverstage.

Glass Animals at The Triffid

Bianca Holderness July 27, 2016

In Review - January

Bianca Holderness February 2, 2016

Having photographed 25 bands in the space of 4 weeks, January has proved to be an exceptional month of music in Brisbane. It was only when I was finishing my editing of Holy Holy that I realised just how much live music I had seen in such a small amount of time and I felt the need to summarise it all because it was fantastic!

Also I even created a lil playlist you can listen to if you want to hear the bands that i'm talking about and photographed!

I welcomed in the New Year at what I think is the most magical and lovely place ever, Woodford Folk Festival. I watched the last sun of the year go down, I embraced my friends in an amphitheatre of thousands at midnight and then spent the early hours of the morning dancing away to Tijuana Cartel. It was pure magic, there was no way this year could have gone badly with that start!

With the novelty of the New Year worn off the party then continued when I got to photograph the co-headlining tour of Bootleg Rascal and Boo Seeka, two bands that really flew up on my radar towards the end of 2015. They both totally exceeded my expectations and Boo Seeka in particular were so captivating that I must have looked like an idiot staring so intently at them wondering how those incredible voices could be real.

January has always been an exciting month for me with Big Day Out touring the country and Soundwave, Future Music and Laneway closely following but this year the festival circuit took a huge hit with most of those now not existing. Fortunately this year was the first year that FOMO was introduced to Brisbane and with such a killer line up it definitely filled that gap.

With headliners including RL Grime, Flight Facilities, Jamie XX and Skepta I was pretty darn excited to shoot it (and witness it as they are some of my favourite bands!).

One of my favourite moments was when Jamie XX reached the end of his set and began to play Loud Places. Everyone was on the hill having a boogie and out of nowhere it started to sprinkle with rain and it felt like pure bliss.

Um, I photographed Fatboy Slim?

It's been a week and i'm still in total disbelief. I literally have the coolest job ever because I get to stand metres away from my idols and capture them at their happiest and doing what they love.

Like how have I even gotten to this point?

I think this gig means so much to me now (and will continue to in the future) because he was one of the first artists I remember listening to with my parents. To think that he played such a huge role in my music tastes when I was growing up and now I can say i've photographed him, it's just the absolute coolest!

Since i'm already walking down memory lane it made sense that two days after Fatboy Slim I got to photograph Hot Chip at the Tivoli, another band that played a huge part in my music tastes when I was growing up.

I made a vow that i'd photograph three songs of Hot Chip and go home (since it was a huge week already) and then as soon as they graced the stage I realised that i'd be an absolute idiot if I left and I instead grooved on till the very end.

The photos I ended up taking on the night made me a little disappointed just because the lights were either all blue or all red and that really doesn't look that nice in photos. But instead of being all mopey I went back to my old friend Photoshop and started to play around like I did when I was learning and I ended up with the photos below. I'm actually so proud of how they turned out and it makes me happy because there some of my favourite photos I have in my archives.

And finally we've reached the last gig that I photographed for the month of January, Holy Holy. I've been a fan of this band for months now and after missing them at Splendour and never actually seeing them live, I was really happy to finish off my excellent month by seeing them.

It really felt like an intimate gig. 15 minutes before the band were due to start they started to come on stage and fine tune their instruments and stare off into the crowd and it felt nice to know that they are human and probably have nerves before gigs and that seeing a crowd is still an exciting thing.

They ended up playing a fantastic set and it was so beautiful to finally hear their album in the flesh. The lighting was heavenly and although there was no photography pit for me to stand in, the crowd let me run around and take photos which I am so thankful for as it allowed me to get the below snaps.

And finally, that's it!

So many experiences, so many memories and so many god damn catchy songs stuck in my head.

Hoped you enjoyed my stories!

The Royales

Bianca Holderness October 2, 2014

When I was running around at Valley Fiesta a few weeks ago I ran into a bunch of guys who turned out to be pretty awesome. I had no idea who they were or why they were there but before I knew it we were running around to get on stage to watch the main act and they were still complete strangers to me. Turns out that they were all members of "The Royales" and had played Valley Fiesta and I didn't even know!

Fast forward to Saturday night and I got to photograph their gig at the Zoo celebrating the launch of their brand new single with their pals "Outliers" band supporting. The gig ruled and was full of a lot of people going crazy and having a good time and was exciting to see a good bunch of dudes doing what they love.

Now here are some of the photos I took!

B.

Valley Fiesta - Live

Bianca Holderness September 19, 2014

(Not so) Recently, Brisbane had it's huge free festival within the streets of the Valley and it was a huge success. Last year it was my very first festival that I had gotten to shoot and unfortunately due to the weather it got rained out before the headliners could even grace the stage. I almost thought we were going to have a repeat but fortunately the weather cleared up for an excellent two nights.

This year the main headliners were The Preatures, Dan Sultan and Allday as well as a bunch of well known / up and coming artists from Brisbane and the rest of Australia. The festival was over two days and with three different stages and it was very chaotic.

Whilst I was running around frantically trying to photograph everything I ran into Lauren Carney who was face painting at Beach Burrito. I didn't really get to chat to her due to the chaos but her going all creative on peoples faces made me realise how great this festival is for bringing local talent together and letting everyone experience it.

If you want to check out the other things this magical lady does then click here.
Anyway, back to the music!

It was about at this time I got a phone call telling me to go to the end of a laneway, walk up to a door, say a name and then walk up a flight of stairs. Once I reached the top I realised that I was in the Artist Lounge and that I was about to meet everyone (screams internally!).

The Preatures were absolutely lovely and the entire interview I kept copping cute little glances from Isabella who refused to say anything to save her voice before her gig.

The Preatures - Killing me with cuteness

And then there was the heart-throb Allday. I was a fan of his songs whilst in the photo pit and once I walked around the side after the gig had ended this huge crowd of fans sprinted to him to get photos and autographs and it was absolutely terrifying. I could see on his face that he just wanted to be alone but he stuck it out and gave the fans what they wanted.

When I was up in the artist lounge I got myself a drink and out of nowhere he walked in the door, walked straight up towards me and introduced himself. I tried to act cool (obviously did a horrible job) and I chatted to him a bit and then took a photo of him I really like.

The main thing I got from his interview that he is still trying to figure out how to adjust to crowds. It really made me understand what he must have been feeling when he saw that huge mass after his gig but it was kind of humbling to know that it's still all new to him.

When I was hanging upstairs I befriended the guys from The Royales and I don't know how but they convinced me to follow them backstage to get a better view of The Preatures gig. I was absolutely terrified walking up there thinking security would throw me in the gutter but to my surprise I got to watch all of the show from on the stage and sneak a few photos of Izzy going crazy and being terrific. Probably a giant highlight for the gig.

After the craziness of Day 1 it was a little bit calming knowing that Day 2 only had a few acts and only one stage. It started off with a little interview and photo with Jeremy Neale for AAA Backstage which was a lot of fun. I befriended Jeremy at Valley Oporto at about 4am last year at Bigsound and he is probably the most interesting person i've ever met. His thought process and take on life is so refreshing and anytime I see him (which is in small doses spread throughout the year due to being the most popular man in Brisbane) I always feel motivated to kick butt and do more.

I then stole him, put him up against a wood wall, told him to look cool and took a photo. And then the other photos of those of the great people in his band that I made friends with that night so it was really nice.

In summary, Valley Fiesta ruled. It was the wildest two nights for me running off to After parties and sneaking into places I wasn't supposed to be. It was all very harmless fun but I feel like that's what it's all about, socialising with new people and creating wild memories. I was fortunate enough to meet a lot of new and creative people, catch up with friends / musicians I haven't seen in forever and I got to take photos of them all at their happiest. Can't wait until next years adventures!

B.

Violent Soho

Bianca Holderness July 29, 2014

I think everyone in my life now knows how much I love Violent Soho. It started off with their self titled album getting played on Triple J a few years back and then last year I was lucky enough to score a ticket to see them live which completely blew my mind. Since then I have seen them perform seven times and been lucky enough to photograph them four times with this set of images now being my fifth.

I don't know what it is but the more I see them the more I want to see them. They're just a group of genuine guys making good music and offering up an awesome experience for everyone who attends their shows.

Their most recent tour which ended at the Hifi in Brisbane was a National tour playing their killer album "Hungry Ghost" to the masses. And by masses I mean fourteen totally sold out shows and performing to one of the biggest crowds i've ever seen at Splendour.

The last time I saw Violent Soho perform in a venue (not at a Festival) was December of last year when they played Crowbar which can hold a max of 200 people. To think that in a matter of six months they were able to book out a 1200 person capacity venue three times in one city, in one week is ridiculous. And I swear every single person in that place was wearing a Soho shirt or a Soho beanie. It's just so great to see some local talent getting the recognition they deserve from their hometown.

Anyway I don't need to say that they performed an excellent show because they always do. If you haven't seen them yet, do it. And while you're at it have a look at their most recent music videos because they will mess up your brain trying to figure out how they will filmed.

Cheers!

The Strums

Bianca Holderness July 28, 2014

Earlier this month The Strums had their EP launch in a hidden little nook in West End known as The Bearded Lady. After getting told I was able to shoot it on behalf of AAA Backstage I also got told to watch out because they like to jump on / off things so I knew I was in for an interesting night.

The gig started with Dead Zephyr, a local Brisbane band who I had never heard of, going absolutely crazy with just two members making such incredible music which completely surprised me as they were the first support. The next act Cafeine had flown in from Canada and within seconds I felt like I was watching a Future Islands live performance with the lead singer busting out some very interesting dance moves and getting the crowd involved by jumping off the stage whenever he could and then ending the song with a dramatic stance or prayer. Needless to say they were extremely catchy and with the atmosphere of the place, it felt like I was in an underground venue listening to The Cure so huge props to them.

Finally with the room at what seemed to be capacity The Strums came on and even though I had once again never heard of their music it felt like the entire room was singing along to their songs. Between the beautiful lights, the rock and roll music, the smoke machines and the members jumping onto the drum kit it was definitely an exciting gig.

I'm really glad that I got offered to photograph this gig because if I hadn't have I wouldn't have gotten to know some crazy bands and a really nice little venue.