Ole Børud band in concert

Ole Børud is a Norwegian musician who his known from his time in extreme Christian metal band Extol as well from his solo recordings. In Extol he played guitar and provided background vocal. As a solo artist he plays guitar and handles the lead vocals. Ole has also moved back to his musical roots which is soul and funk.

I saw Ole Børud band when they played at Gullbranna outside Halmstad in Sweden on the 7th of Mai. The band consisted of a horn section, keyboards, drums, base and two guitars. They took the definition tight sound to a new level, and delivered a concert that was filled with a smart combination of Soul, Funk and West Coast Rock with a touch of Jazz to the excited audience.

The band who played at Gullbranna consisted of Ole Børud - vocals and guitar, Markus Lillehaug Johnsen - Guitars, Frode Mangen - keyboard, Ruben Dalen - drums, Lars Erik Dahle - base guitar, Jens Petter Antonsen - trumpet, Even Skatrud - trombon, Børge Are Halvorsen - saxophone,

Click the following link if you want to see more photos from the concert: https://www.flickr.com/photos/chasid68/albums/72157668866198146

Text and Photo: Mikael Good

Make me some noise

The Gospel artist Kirk Franklin encourages his fans to make some noise at his concerts. But as much as Krik loves when his audience make him noise as much hates Rock Photographers disturbing image noise when they shoot indoor concerts in low light. 

I took the photo of Kirk with a good old Canon EOS 1D MK II N and a 300 mm lens at 1000 ASA and it has some visible noise. I need a full frame DSLR that is usable up to 25.600 ASA in order to capture the flying moments at concerts without limitations. The Sony A7s is such a camera and it's image noise at 25.600 ASA are comparable with the 1D MK II N at 1000 ASA! I will buy one as soon as it has come down in price. And then I will say goodbye to disturbing image noise.

Text and Photo: Mikael Good

Previously unpublished photos from Switchfoot's first concert

A couple of days ago I wrote an article about Switchfoots first concert in Sweden. When I did that I also found some previously unpublished photos from the concert that I want to share with you. You can find the pictures on my flickr page: https://www.flickr.com/photos/chasid68/albums/72157637314479984 

Text and Photo: Mikael Good

Welcome to the Revival Party

It's impossible to make a correct description of LZ7 as they blend elements of hip-hop, RnB, pop and dance culture and mix them with deep bass lines and awesome beats and create fresh and spiritually powerful music that they serve their audience. 

  

You might not heard about the Manchester based band LZ7 before. But the band are one the venue of getting bigger. They have released their fourth album - Home and 2016 might be the year when they reach a much bigger audience and have a major breakthrough. LZ represents an individual and 7 is the number for creativity. The meaning of the name LZ7 is that humanity are designed to be creative by a living God.

  

I covered LZ7s concert at the Gullbranna festival outside Halmstad i Sweden on july 4th 2015. And like the rest of the audience I was completely blown away by their performance and the strong presence of the Holy Spirit. LZ7 are a Christian band that not compromise with their faith and communicate the truth to both believers and nonbelievers with their modern sometimes groundbreaking music.

  

LZ7 gave the audience a really good revival party that was visited by the Holy Spirit. Many young people met with the Lord that evening and I'm glad that I decided to go to the show and not to the caravan for a good nights sleep. Later I walked away from the show with a big smile on my face thankful for what I just had experienced.

    

LZ7 will play at Skeppet at the Gullbranna festival on Saturday 9 July at 23:00. The band will be supported by the ex member of Family Force 5 Solomon Olds. It's really a concert to look forward to, I believe it's gonna be pretty awesome - Welcome to the revival party!

You can listen to LZ7s latest album here:


Text and Photo: Mikael Good

Switchfoot - Dare you to move

I took this photo of Jonathan Foreman from the band Switchfoot a couple of years ago when the band headlined the Gullbranna festival outside the Swedish town Halmstad. The band's performance was great and they captured the audience attention from the very first tone. Switchfoot dared us to make moves and participate in the concert. Switchfoot are one of the best live bands that I ever seen. I hope that you can feel some of the atmosphere from the concert in my picture.

Text and photo: Mikael Good

Leica M8 - The Rock'n Roll Machine

Some people believe that a rangefinder camera from Leica is a camera for hipsters and collectors and not a camera for serious concert photographers. I don't listen to the believers. I use the equipment that I need to capture the pictures that I want whatever comments I might get.

There are still some self proclaimed knowers who believe that a high ISO and quick SLR from Nikon or Canon with a autofocus 70-200/2,8mm lens is the best companion for concert photography. They often believe that a manual focused rangefinder camera with a 20mm or a 50mm lens are quite useless in the challenging light conditions of a fast paced concert. I don't listen to the self proclaimed knowers. A Leica M is a Rock'n Roll Machine for me and it's my instrument for getting the pictures that I want. At concerts I like to get in close with a 20 or 50mm lens and a Leica M is perfect for that purpose.

It happens every now and then that I need a longer lens than 50mm. And in such cases I use a Sony A7 with a Konica M-Hexanon 90mm or a Carl Zeiss Sonnar 135mm. The best thing with shooting concert is that you don't need a expensive equipment. Even cheap cameras and lenses will give you good pictures as long as you get in close, follow the rythm and enjoy the music.

Click the following link if you want to see more concert-photos that has been taken with the Rock'n Roll Machine: www.flickr.com/photos/chasid68

Text and Photo: Mikael Good

Dirty Loops Live - Gullbrannafestivalen 2014

It's clear that Dirty Loops enjoy playing live and thanks to their charisma and technical brilliance they soon have the 2.000 people strong audience in their hands. Dirty Loops singer and keyboardist Jonah Nilsson exclaims spontaneously: – Wow, what a big audience! When he looks out over the expectant crowd at the scene Skeppet (ship) in Gullbranna.
Dirty Loops concert is a showcase of instrumental skill spiced up with a really good vocal performance from Johan. The audience is very mixed and it consist of people in different ages from youngsters in their early teens to seniors. As an encore delivers Dirty Loops their hit "Hit me".



Even if they soon shall take the plane that shall take them from Sweden to Montreal Jazz Festival the band takes lot of time to talk to their fans and to sign albums and T-shirts after the show. And before they leave they socialize with their fans at the festival site.



Dirty Loops are a Swedish Jazz-fusion band from Stockholm who broke through on YouTube in 2011 thanks to the groupes jazz and fusion cover of Lady Gagas "Just Dance" which generated millions of klicks. The band consists of Jonah Nilsson - vocals and keyboard, Henrik Linder - bass and Aaron Mellergårdh drums. The song "Hit Me" that came out earlier this year has been a smash hit in Japan. And in april the groups first album Loopified became number 1 on the album pop chart in the same country. Dirty Loops music can best be descibed as a hyper energic mix between pop and jazz and it suites festivals like the Montreal Jazz Festival as well as pop and rock festivals. Dirty Loops have many fans in both places.

Click the following link if you can't see the slideshow on your phone or on your tablet: https://www.flickr.com/photos/chasid68/sets/72157645382654348/
Text and Photo: Mikael Good

Låt musiken sköta snacket

En av de sakerna som jag uppskattade mest under fotoåret 2013 var möjligheten att åter få arbeta som konsertfotograf. Jag är kanske mest känd som reporter och dokumentärfotograf. Men det är alltid kul att få jobba på konserter och skriva referat och fotografera. Min vana trogen föredrar jag att vara mitt i händelsernas centrum med vidvinkelobjektiv, men det händer även att jag använder längre tele än 50mm för att få större variation i bilderna.

Öppna det övre bildspelet i Youtube och ställ in kvaliteten på max om du vill se det i bra kvalitet. Tyvärr går det inte att får riktigt samma tryck i skärpan på Youtube som på min dator men med tanke på begränsningarna är det ganska så ok. För er som inte kan se flash i era mobiler så finns det länkar till bildspelen nedan.

Med det här inlägget vill jag även passa på att tacka alla Er som följt min blogg under året och jag vill passa på att önska Er alla ett riktigt Gott Nytt År!  

Gullbrannafestivalen 2013
Alive in Concert

Text och foto © Mikael Good, All rights reserved

Concert Photography With a Leica M

Some experts and self proclaimed knowers say that you can´t use a digitala Leica M8 at the low light conditions in a concert. I choose not to listen to them.

I set the ASA to 640 the aperture to 2,8 and the shutter speed dial to 1/60 and start capturing the flying moments with the aid of the excellent rangefinder which gives me the extra control that I need. Back in the good old days I used to use a SLR and a Tri-X 400 film set to 800 ASA with a 35mm or a 85mm lens. Today I prefer to shoot concerts with a rangefinder and a 50mm lens.



As you can see the Leica M8 is still a really good camera for concerts. My EOS 5D Mark II is a much better choice for concert photography especially in poor light conditions. But I prefer to work with my slightly obsolete Leica rangefinder cause it´s a joy to use it and I really enjoy the picture quality that it delivers. Some people might call me a hipster, but a hipster for me is someone who buys a camera to show of with. The best cameras to show of with is a professional Canon or Nikon. Ordinary people often knows that brands and if you use a big fat Canikon with a huge lens then you must be a professional photographer. For most people Leica is just some old nearly useless crap from eastern Europe. One guy even asked me if Leica was made in DDR (German Democratic Republic).



I took 20 pictures at the concert and then I sat down and enjoyed the show. The most important thing to do when you shoot concerts is to take time to enjoy the show. The artist in the pictures is Jimmy Needham who gave an excellent acoustic concert at Kungsporten in Husqvarna. Jimmy's music and his deep and very self-revealing lyrics called for reflection. He was accompanied on the stage by his guitar, harmonica and the very talented drummer Will Hunt. If you never heard of Jimmy Needham before then please click on the following link and listen to one of his best tunes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6smGew7dGto



Leica M8 is still a amazing camera to shoot with. But it does have it's limitations. Used in the right conditions, the good old Leica M8 performs like a champion. However there are no perfect digital camera for every situation. Eventually I really hope that I will find a perfect camera. Until then I will stick with my Leica M8 and it´s backup the hipster fanboy Canon EOS 5D Mark II :)

Text and Photo: © Mikael Good, All Rights Reserved.

Switchfoot's first concert in Sweden

 



















Like the nearly 3000 other persons in the Concert Arena Skeppet (The Ship) at the Gullbranna Festival I was knocked to the floor by the power of the music and the exellent live performance of the band.

The San Diego Band Switchfoot´s performance in Gullbranna might be the rock concert of the year in Scandinavia. I doubt that a rock concert can be much better than this. The Swedish band Soundtrack Of Our Lives are one of the best live acts i've seen - Switchfoot is equally good. I hope that you can feel some of the atmosphere from the concert in my pictures from the concert.

Switchfoot is clearly a band for bigger venues. The only negative thing about the concert is that only 3000 persons were able to see the band and be part of this historical moment. Even if I'm sorry for all the music lovers who missed the concert I'm grateful that I was there and that I got one of my life's greatests concert experiences in the small village Gullbranna on the westcoast of Sweden.

If you shall book a main act for one of the major music festivals in Sweden next year. Book Switchfoot - That's a direct order.

Text and Photo: © Mikael Good, 2012. All rights reserved.

Switchfoot Gullbranna, Sweden

I promised to show some pictures from the Switchfoot concert at Gullbranna in Sweden. But due to technical problems I can´t show more than this picture right now. (Even Mac computers can break down..). The concert in Gullbranna was the first concert ever in Sweden for the multi million selling band Switchfoot from San Diego.

I shall show some more photos from the concert as soon as the technical problems with my Mac is solved. Some of the photos are really good and I might say that one or two of them are among the best photos that I have ever been taking at concerts. Stay tuned folks.



Text and Photo: © Mikael Good, 2012. All rights reserved.