Proverb-of-Hell

wow...haven't been on here in years! Literally! Well, I shall change that! There'll be a lot of sports photography coming up, not as many gigs anymore...we'll see!

Howdie people!

Another year has begun and I have been as busy as I haven't been in a long time!
Writing for voltagemedia.com.au since October, reviewing so many albums/ gigs and doing band interviews, I barely manage to get in the door after work before I am sitting down working on that.

We bought a house! 2 storeys and in ground pool...our little girl is happy as can be and we're loving it, too!

Australian festival season is upon us! Soundwave is on in 2 weeks! Hanging with the boys from Dimmu Borgir for the first time in...3 1/2 years is gonna be great, and this'll be their first Australian tour, so I'll make sure they';re well looked after. Still hoping to get my hands on a photo pass though, as there are a good few bands I am DYING to shoot, some of which are BMTH(third time that would be), BFMV, Monster Magnet, Social Distortion, 36 Crazy Fists, Stone Sour, Murderdolls, Sevendust, Slayer...and of course Dimmu Borgir! I prefer open air festivals, light is just so much better! But seeing as the festival changed venue, I am not sure if it's still gonna be completely outside...ah well, here's hoping: both for outsdie stages and photo pass

My friend and I had planned going to this gig for a while now. She had a spare ticket and seeing that it was sold out, I was lucky enough to be the chosen one to go with her.

On the afternoon before the show I got an e-mail from Bring Me The Horizon's tour manager Sheep, confirming I'd be getting a photo pass for the show, don't I love that guy! Second time he helped me out, especially when you've never met them face to face? I have no idea how he remembered he had given me a press pass for the BMTH show in Berlin/ Germany last December, but he did and I was thankful for it, as I came away with a bunch of great shots of the BFMV set. BMTH just jump around too much, it's impossible for me to get more than 20 frames out of 230 taken pictures!
But the aftershow was great- even though my friend decided that deserting me most of the night for some random bloke from Melbourne was cool!

Cancer Bats gig on Wednesday, I think their music is just awesome. Woohoo! Most likely getting press pass for the Mest+ Rufio gig in November, too...I am enjoying music photography so much right now, such a challenge!

Hi boys and girls!
I haven't been checking my DA account in weeks now, and thought I'd at least try and give a reason why.

I was over in the US of fucking A for three weeks, only having returned this week Tuesday.
Having had the pleasure to be put up in a suite in New York's Millenium Hilton Hotel right next to Ground Zero by a dearly loved friend, I had 2 awesome nights in Brooklyn and Manhattan with close friends that I hadn't seen for a few years, once more partying like you're supposed to when hitting Duff's Bar in Willaimsburg. Always good when the girl behind the bar still remembers you from 4 years ago and keeps pouring you tequila and Jameson shots.

On the Friday(28th May) a group of my friends and I drove down to Baltimore to partake in the 8th annual Maryland Deathfest. 3 days of roasting in the sun, watching bands, meeting even more old friends, meeting new people, handing out promo CDs, receiving promo CDs and attempting to fool your body that alcohol can be drunk just as much as water with no unwanted side-effects. 4 days and great music, amazing people and glorious sunny weather!

After that I went to West Virginia with my sister-from-another-mister, to stay at her's for a few days, cuddle her baby boy to death(seeing that I really did miss my baby girl, having a kid the same age as her was real good), hang with her family and go out the last night. It was damn hot and humidity was almost killing me! I had a great time, and once more: having met her and some new faces is what absolutely made my time there special. It was as if I was part of the family already.

On Thursday(3rd June) she sent me off to Baltimore airport to go on the next part of my trip: Los Angeles! No, wasn't going to roam the streets by myself, but two very good friends of mine from Europe had made the journey, too, to meet up there and show that place how to REALLY party! And damn: I knew LA was a big city, but I doubt we ever made it out of Hollywood apart from heading out to Venice Beach and driving down to Huntington Beach for a night! I had a tan within 2 hours of hitting LA, and I am loving it!
We went to Bakersfield's Rockin' Roots Festival and saw some great bands, including Hollywood Undead and Wind of Plague. To the lack of a rental car we had Miles drive us there and back to LA. Miles is Jorel's dad, who is member of HU. He was awesome so we dragged him back to the Rainbow Room with us as soon as we got back to LA. Doing some sight seeing with us in his awesome Chrysler 300 Convertible the following day, we once more appreciated that he put up with the three of us, and not only took us to a great spot for lunch, but drove up to the Hollywood Hills and other smaller insider attractions. He is the coolest dad ever and I am sure he had just as much a good time as we did!
Heading down to Huntington Beach for one night, we had luck with the weather and sat down for late lunch at Ruby's on Huntington Beach Pier...and it was sooo gooood! The world needs more 50's style diners! Real cherry coke...coke with cherries!!!! Mhhh! Heading out to Main STreet in the evening, we decided against bar hopping and pretty much squatted Killarney's Irish Bar...getting to talk yet again with a lot of new, interesting people.
Returning to LA the next day, my friend Krissi and I stopped by a tattoo shop in Venice Beach to get some new ink by a guy she has known since years. Good ink for little money...don't we all like these kinda deals?!
Sight seeing, retail-therapy and more partying followed, until we went to the 1st Dodgers vs Angels game on 11th...and even though I knew before that Baseball was not really my kinda 'sport'...I can now say with confidence: BASEBALL FUCKING SUCKS! Hahahaha...but we luckily had Spring's birthday party lined up for after the game, so we went to Tantra and met with her and Larissa and Brian and other awesome people...and I quite possibly shudn't have drunk as much! But when ya have a good time, why spoil it by counting the drinks you have, right?
Meeting with Asia and her and George's daughter on my last day in LA, I was once more amazed that so many "online" friends were exactly the way in real life as they are when we're in contact online: honest, fun and no-bullshit attitude.

To sum the whole trip up: I have re-connected with old friends, met a load of people face-to-face who I have talked with online for YEARS or months and met completely new people as well. It was a great trip, even though I am already missing our party pad in Hollywood on W Sunset Blvd...I WANNA GO BACK AGAIN!

I took a good few holiday shots, but am not sure if they're really that interesting to put 'em up here.

California 2011: here I come!