Louder Than War Photographers: Our Favourite Photos of 2022

It’s that most wonderful time of the year again, and Louder Than War’s music photographers have chosen four of their favourite shots taken over the last 12 months. With gigs slowly getting back to normal, 2022 brought a raft of fantastic shows, putting our talents to great use. We’re looking forward to an even better 2023…

MELANIE SMITH: 2022 was about me being a bit more selective, not always through choice, but due to personal circumstances. I photographed a combination of pop, indie, rock and folk. Well, I think I just about covered the whole music genre, life is all about being diverse. I was happy with the shows I covered and it was hard to select my favourite shots, but here goes. My favourite show of the year had to be Peaches.

1. Peaches, O2 Ritz, Manchester The Teaches of Peaches Tour stopped off at O2 Ritz, Manchester in June. I was in heaven shooting the whole show, with the pit to myself, and fantastic lighting. What an honour. She is such a brave, creative, fun personality, who has a fabulous rapport with her audience and truly mind-blowing costumes. She really knows how to capture theatre and best of all she “doesn’t give a fuck.” I think this image captures her energy. Gotta love Peaches.

2. The Pretty Reckless, Academy 1, Manchester Frontwoman Taylor Momsen has come a long way since I first shot The Pretty Reckless back in 2014 and she was brimming with energy and sensuality. It was such a buzz and the pit was rammed with photographers eager to get the shot. This is my favourite shot from the session. She is in control and she goddamn knows it.

3. Robbie Williams, AO Arena, Manchester always puts on a blazing show, he was right down at the front, in with the crowd of fans and obviously loving it. I adore the kind of rock n roll arrogance in this image. He is such an all-round musical entertainer. I have a lot of time for Robbie, despite it being a bit controversial for some LTW fans.

4. Billy Idol, AO Arena, Manchester is one of my all-time favs, I’ve followed his career since 1977. It was the first time I had shot him in an arena though. The backdrop was stunning and this shot is a typical fisted Idol pose. He is showing he is still the King Rocker, even though he is now a grandad – a doting one at that.

So many great shows shot this year for LTW which deserve a mention, (whilst not technically live music related) – I really enjoyed shooting Dita Von Teese Glamonatrix and Cirque Du Soleil – I just love theatrical shows.  Other highlights were My Chemical Romance playing in Warrington which was really special, with Starcrawler as support, and Nova Twins packing out the small Academy room. Next year I am hoping to photograph yet more incredible female artists, I might jinx it to name them, so I won’t – plus a couple of festivals on my horizon.

NAOMI DRYDEN-SMITH: Lots of great shows for me this year with the opportunity to work with some of our great writers. Highlights included Pearl Jam, Courtney Barnett, Johnny Marr, Psychedelic Furs (both in the UK and in Australia) and the return of EMF (so much fun). Looking forward to seeing what 2023 brings.

1. The Cure, Hydro, Glasgow Do they say never shoot your heroes? If not they probably should, it definitely adds a bit of shake to the button finger. Plus resisting the temptation to just stand there and gape. But despite the rushing emotions, sometimes you get lucky. I got this shot in Glasgow, the first of four Cure shows I attended. It was right at the end of new song Alone, a split second where the lights turned inwards onto Robert Smith, revealing a huge smile, wrapping his body in a shroud of spotlit smoke. Godlike…well, of course.

2. Bauhaus, Brixton Academy Will they ever play live again. The situation looked bleak shortly after I shot this show, but since then there have been snippets of a more positive outlook.  Who knows.  Once again, the lights came together for this one and Peter Murphy looks like some kind of powerful wizard. Surely he can magic them back.

3. The Rolling Stones, British Summer Time I was very lucky to get this show at all, it was notoriously hard to get passes. This shot involved me standing on a step on tiptoes literally clinging with one hand to the edge of a runway that seemed to have been increased to colossal proportions overnight. It was a privilege, if a bit hazardous, to shoot Sir Mick, who has still has it in droves.

4. Fontaines D.C., Hammersmith Apollo I do also shoot newer bands, and you can’t get much better than this one.  The show was stunning, great energy, strings, and the entire standing area became one seething moshpit. Their latest stunner of an album has also only just missed the top spot in our Albums of the Year feature.

PAUL GRACE: 2022 was banging! Fave gigs include Girls In Synthesis, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Amyl and the Sniffers and, of course, Download Festival. Now with live music back in full swing after the pandemic, next year I’m hoping to get out to photograph a lot more gigs and festivals. Merry Christmas everyone!

1. Interpol, Roundhouse, London I’d photographed the first three songs from the photo pit but the light was pretty poor for photos and definitely lacking any sort of drama. I was about to leave the Roundhouse at the end of the photo session but I looked back at the stage to see they’d illuminated the massive disco ball behind the stage which was casting shards of light all over the room. So I quickly ran up the balcony and fired off some quick frames. I got lucky as singer Paul Banks was stood in front of the disco ball, its harsh light creating a silhouette with light shards splattering everywhere around Roundhouse’s iconic arches.

2. Frank Carter, Download Festival Frank Carter is always so much fun to shoot! Here he is at Download Festival owning the pit – he never disappoints and spends more time surfing the crowd than on the stage!

3. Amyl & The Sniffers, York Hall, London Another super fun band to photograph. The Aussie punks took over a boxing arena in East London and put on such an explosive performance that even Mike Tyson would have been knocked out. Here’s singer Amy in typical tongue-out pose, as our reviewer Jazz put it, “The Australian wreck-heads are a four piece, but I’m going to describe them as a five piece because I count Amy Taylor’s permanently out tongue as their fifth member”.

4. Fields of the Nephilim, O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire This was literally only last weekend! Fields of the Nephilim were the soundtrack to my time at university in the early ’90s so I was stoked to capture them last weekend. Never an easy shoot with heavy use of dry ice and moody lighting, I was really happy with this dramatic shot of singer Carl McCoy which looks like he’s engulfed in flames.

SIMON REED: I have too many highlights to feature; I’ve had the privilege to experience many fantastic events in the last 12 months. Some historic names in Yes and Peter Frampton, Incredible lighting at The Prodigy, wild pyros at Bloodstock Festival and the theatre of Ghost at the O2 Arena all stand out.

1. Mother Vulture, Steelhouse Festival If I’m picking my favourite image this year, it is this one: Brodie Maguire, guitarist with Mother Vulture (a ‘hectic blues punk band with a live show so chaotic it will leave you with horrific injuries’). He’s captured here at Steelhouse Festival, during one of the many periods when he wasn’t on his feet.

2. Hard-Fi, O2 Forum Kentish Town This one is a stand out, not because there’s anything particularly special about the photograph, but because it’s one I certainly didn’t expect to take. If you told me at the start of the year I’d be photographing the noughties post-britpop four-piece that October – in a gig at The Forum that sold out in minutes, I’d have suggested an appointment with a medic. The band had been in hiatus for close to a decade and nobody thought they’d ever play again. When posters with a very recognisable CCTV logo and a date appeared on the London Underground in the spring, the unimaginable started being imagined. They’re a band I never thought I’d get to see again, let alone get to photograph. Here’s frontman Richard Archer in full-throated roar. This one was special.

3. Counting Crows, Hammersmith Apollo This next one is an easy choice too. Counting Crows are just about my favourite band that are still performing live gigs and they’re not in the UK very often. Last time was in October 2018 at the O2 Arena. I was lucky enough to photograph that one, but when the more intimate surroundings of a night at Hammersmith’s Eventim Apollo were announced last year, I was all over it. Adam Duritz is such a passionate performer and to see him up close doing his stuff is a privilege. There were lots of photographs from this show I could have chosen, but this one of Adam flailing with the mic stand during the last few bars of Mr Jones is my favourite.

4. Wilko Johnson, New Theatre Royal, Portsmouth The last one is hard, and possibly wouldn’t have made it into my list were it not for the events of last week. I photographed Wilko Johnson, the amphetamine fuelled guitarist who made Dr Feelgood such an exciting live act, in February at the New Theatre Royal in Portsmouth for what was sadly to become the final time. Wilko was a personal hero, who I’d seen perform many, many times before I latterly went on to photograph him many, many times – and his loss is deeply felt. Here he is from that February gig with his four-string compadre, Norman Watt-Roy. The two met during Wilko’s stint with Ian Dury & The Blockheads in the 1980s and they have been a force of nature ever since. RIP Wilko, and thanks for all the memories.

TREV EALES: 2022 – Another year when Louder Than War has given me the opportunity to photograph some great performances: Many thanks to the editors who’ve made it possible.

1. Beauty School Dropout, Leeds Festival Saturday lunchtime on the small Festival Republic Stage at Leeds Festival.  This Los Angeles old skool rock band may have been out of place among all the pop/hip hop/indie guitar acts but were simply great performers who never stopped moving. I like the composition and for me the shot captures the energy of the band. A fraction of a second earlier I’d caught vocalist Cole Hutzler as he jumped but this image, as he comes to land, frames the drummer and manages to capture the whole band. Widescreen cropping adds to the impact.

2. Gary Numan, Liverpool O2 Academy. This was probably the smallest venue on Gary Numan’s Spring tour. It may have lacked the full stage production of other gigs but made up for it with intimacy and energy. He’s just very photogenic; I could have chosen any from 4 or 5 images but just like the simplicity, his expression and the whites of his eyes in this one.

3. Courteeners, Y Not Festival I wanted a shot of all three members of the band rather than just Liam Fray. On their own they would have been lost on the stage but the large disc screen provides a focal point. I like the symmetry and the way that all 3 key band members are looking intensely at each other. Lighting and torrential rain lashing across the image add to the impact

4. Nova Twins, Academy 2 Manchester. This is another incredibly photogenic band who never stop moving. I struggled to decide between this shot and an image featuring both women but chose this, mostly due to her expression and eye contact with the camera.

SVENJA BLOCK:

1.Blu DeTiger, Tempelhof Sounds Festival Very pleased that my photographs of US American singer-songwriter & guitarist Blu DeTiger playing Lollapalooza Berlin turned out well. Physical movement and flying hair mid performance are hard to beat.

2. Florence + The Machine, Tempelhof Sounds Festival Our photo pit access for Tempelhof Sounds Berlin’s day one headliner Florence + The Machine was restricted to two songs but whirlwind Florence Welch made it all worthwhile, causing a man-made minor earthquake measuring 1.4 on the Richter scale. I was lucky to capture a moment of calmness before the storm that followed and made it the talk of the town the next day.

3. Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes, Astra, Berlin May the light force be with Frank Carter! A grainy photograph, shot indoors under very low light conditions only revealed the amazing high jumping, light surfing Frank during post-production and courtesy of Adobe Photoshop.

4. Die Fantastischen Vier, Lollapalooza Berlin  Younger children are a rare sight at music festivals in the evenings but since Lollapalooza Berlin is a festival for all the family, this excitable bunch of front row youngsters and fans of German hip hop legends Die Fantastischen Vier caught my eye during day two.

What’s in store for 2023? Hopefully a couple of music festivals, club gigs, The Distillers, Blink-182, and the discovery of emerging, talented artists.

JACK FLYNN:

1. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, All Points East Festival Straight into my top 5 gigs of all time. Electrifying rollercoaster ride through the darkness with Nick Cave commanding the London crowd like a messianic preacher man. Loved watching Warren Ellis wrangle squeals of feedback from his distorted violin like Jimi Hendrix, exploding inside songs like sonic fireworks.

2. The Libertines, Kentish Town Forum A touching moment between Pete and Carl caught onstage. Pete had been feeling ill and nearly cancelled the show, but soldiered on, arriving onstage wrapped up in his dressing gown. The gig still had all the ramshackle energy and improvised setlist that are the hallmarks of a classic Libertines gig.

3. Anna Calvi, All Points East Festival Some of the most creative guitar playing I’ve seen in years. Calvi took the murky essence of blues music but reinvigorated it, adding swirling dark synthesisers and industrial post punk chaos to create a swaggering atmosphere of distinctly British desert rock

4. Kid Kapichi, Electric Ballroom, Camden I thought this photo looked like a scene from a zombie horror movie. “Kid Kapichi versus The Horde!”. This was from their headline show at Electric Ballroom. Absolute carnage. Monstrous riffs and bone shaking bass underpinning searing politically charged beat-punk anthems.

SELENA FERRO: This has been my first year shooting for LTW and even if I didn’t do many shows, some of the ones I did they were amongst my favourites from the year. I’m trying to be more selective on which gigs I shoot, but still trying to the catch smaller artists that deserve to be in the spotlight, and the main thing is that I do love shooting live music especially for the energy you can experience in a live show.

1. Spiritbox I had the pleasure of being asked to cover this gig and it was mind blowing. Lead singer Courtney LaPlante is sensational and knows how to own the stage.

2. Wargasm First time for me shooting Wargasm and after hearing so much about them, I was really excited. As this was an intimate gig, we were all squished down and you could really feel the sweat and the energy in the air and this is what this picture reminds me of. Looking forward to shooting them again.

3. Baby Queen I kept seeing her tour poster all around social media and I took it as a sign, and managed to shoot her as my first LTW gig. She made a boom in 2020 and managed to capture Gen Z’s attention, and it was bursting with them at the show. The room was packed and it was incredible to see her live.

MARYLEEN GUEVARA: My first year photographing shows for Louder Than War. Grateful to have been given the opportunity to cover some amazing shows. Here’s to more in 2023!

1.James, Castlefield Bowl, Manchester was the first show I shot for Louder Than War. It was beautiful summer evening at Manchester Castlefield Bowl and the light was just right. The show was walk down memory lane for so many on and off stage. It was a pleasure to be there.

2. Peter Hook and The Light, O2 Apollo, Manchester This was the first show I shot at the Apollo. Production gave us permission to shoot from everywhere we wanted in the venue and it was great to capture the love and respect the Manchester crowd have for the former Joy Division musician.

3. The National, Mayfield Depot, Manchester were wonderful that night. It was possibly the darkest venue I’d been to and a challenge to photograph, but nonetheless satisfying to get a shot that captures the connection between the artist and the fans.

4. Coheed and Cambria, Academy 1, Manchester This band was lovely to photograph as they’re one of my partner’s favourite bands. We have them playing around the house a lot and to capture their energy live was just great.

HELS MILLINGTON: It has been a pleasure to shoot for Louder Than War again this year. I have met some fantastic people in the pit and continue to learn more and more about the industry at each gig. Here are my top four bands/artists I have photographed in 2022. Bring on 2023, I cannot wait to get back out there next year.

1. Fontaines DC, Lytham Festival Lytham Festival was the second time I have been lucky enough to photograph these Irish post-punk legends. Epic stage presence and a beautiful venue and weather conditions (for an outdoor gig) made for some great snaps. Here is my fave of lead singer Grian.

2. The Strokes, Lytham Festival Lytham festival again (and on the same evening as Fontaines) The Strokes headlined. I practically wore out my CD of their debut album Is This It when I was 16, so to have an opportunity to photograph them was a dream come true. Here’s my favourite shot of the evening.

Source: louderthanwar.com