Best gigs of 2009

In no particular order, what I saw, what brought my attention, what was fun to shoot and made me cry. What made me to buy the band’s CD or just Youtube their stuff for the whole day. What stuck to my skull and will be there even after this year’s concert season will finish…

…or in short: the best things I saw in 2009. Lot’s of text, links to photos so be prepared! However, if you’re looking for reviews filled with professional comments, enlisting the best chords the guitarist played that day, naming all the genres the band has stepped into during the certain gig – don’t waste your time. This list is just about the sole love for live music. And all the photos and feeling that come with it.

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Trójka Tour (Gaba Kulka, Dick4Dick & Czesław Śpiewa) @ 10 XI 2009

Trójka Tour brought together three popular polish acts: Gaba Kulka, Dick4Dick and Czesław Śpiewa. Pretty nice combination of electro-rock, jazzy pop and cabaret.

I saw Dick4Dick years ago, when they were some sort of a local attraction and gained quite a big number of fans. The shows were different there, much more energy and crazyness, however they are still great to listen to. As for Czesław, I didn’t stay untill the end of the show but he and his band were charming as usuall – it’s really hard to belive thet their music, best sung and listened to in a small club, still has the charm and moves tens of people, in a big club such as Studio. And Gaba? It was the 5th time seeing her this year, and 8th in total. It’s nice to see a singer-songwriter that you met a couple years ago, going from playing shows for 15-20 people now entering almost all the biggest polish festivals and clubs and instantly winning the crowd. However, nothing can compare to her intimate gigs at Ucho club (she played one this year, and for me, it was one of the best concerts of the 09). It’s not worst, it’s just different for me.

Funny thing, the managment phoned me to inform me that we were denied all the passes because of the DVD/program recording, but in the end I managed to enter the pit. There were 7 or 8 cameras on the whole location, so it was just like shooting Behemoth in Stodoła – looking out for the camera, not stepping on the cables and so on. Also the lights differed from song to song, the background was a red curtain (reminded me of the Red Room from Twin Peaks!). Also, it was a one-time event (on the next shows they will have only 2 or 3 cameras) so maybe I’ll end up in a DVD? Who knows;)

Big thanks goes to Piotr Miecznikowski and Damian Moskalski.

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Heineken Open’er Festival 2009 @ Babie Doły, Gdynia – 2/3/4/5 VI 2009

Some shots from the biggest music festival in Poland! The first day brought great gigs from Peter Bjorn & John and Arctic Monkeys (don’t like them on the CD’s but the concert was very nice!), and a major disappointment for me: Basement Jaxx’s concert.  Saw them three years ago and the performances just can’t compare.

I just had a blast with M83 – the best gig of the fest (along with Faith No More) and the best gig of the year. Really:

After three songs I was hooked and the pictures from it have stuck into my brain and don’t want to come out. I was so dead-tired but still managed to jump through the whole concert. One of my friends took a photo of me shooting the band so I’ve got a nice souvenir (thanks Ania!). Worth every second of it. Will the next year bring a performance such as this one for me? Pearl Jam are on their way so it will probably beat all!

All the pics here were made for Wp.pl.

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Gaba Kulka @ Ucho, Gdynia – 28 VI 2009

It was the forth time I saw Gaba playing live and third time seeing her performing in my favorite music club in Poland – Ucho (located in Gdynia, my hometown). Now, promoting her new album “Hat, Rabbit”, her set is extended to almost hour and a half. A set full of her ideas, melodies, lyrics and great music! The number of people suprised not only the club’s manager (funny seeing the whole stuff running and looking for more chairs) but the band themselves. The club was full, just like year and a half ago, when Gaba last played in Ucho.

And I love shooting in this club. I mean, all the challenge and fun…And all the imperfections are the reasons I love the place. Sadly, I visit it once or twice every two or three months. And to think that I used to come there and shoot bands two or three times a week…

One of the best gigs I’ve seen this year (with a great performance of “Niejasności” and Madonna’s “Papa Don’t Preach“) and I’m looking forward to see how Gaba will tame Open’er’s Tent Stage on Friday. But knowing her, she and her band will come of as winners. They always do.

Hello world!

We’re finally up!

A big change from Viewbook(which I wouldn’t recommend) to Wordpress, a more powerful, but harder to deal with, platform. Also more stuff was added to the portfolio, with six categories to choose from and two more to be published. But the blog will be the most updated part of all: on Monday we’ll be publishing photos from Gaba Kulka’s gig in Ucho club and from Thursday you can expect daily updates from Poland’s biggest and baddest music festival: Heineken Open’er ‘09!

Hope you like it, and write down if anything crashes/stops/goes 404 ‘couse it’s the first day so anything can happen;)

Big thanks goes to Cloudi, Utek and Yuras for helping us with all the technical stuff we couldn’t figure out for ourselves. We owe you guys!