Iced Earth + Heaven & Hell

Last Wednesday was a great day. Not only did a get the chance to shoot Iced Earth (who are a great band in my opinion, I love their stuff) but they were on the same bill as Heaven and Hell, which comprises of Black Sabbaths original line-up, mostly, with Ronnie James Dio on vocals. Great Stuff!

Sheffield Hallam Arena almost put a dampener on the evening though with their over-zealous rules and regulations. Somebody need to explain to them that the public smoking ban only affects enclosed spaces for a start (car parks outdoors could not be considered enclosed by any stretch of the imagination), secondly the fact that they’ve now decided to remove their pass-out system, seemingly just to annoy people further. If I had stepped out the door, they would not allow me back into the venue, even with my photopass and a ticket. I hate arenas!

Anyway, back to the matter of photos. The stage at the arena was much smaller than I’ve seen it before (I took my 300mm f/4 to try and get shots of the drummers! It wasn’t required.) and for the first two bands, the lighting was absolutely terrible! I sometimes wonder if venues have a coin-operated electric meter backstage for the lighting. If they were to blow their 50p on the support acts, would that mean the electricity would go for the main headliner? My mind boggles! Iced Earth were brilliant, although with the poor lighting I only managed to capture a shot or two of their singer, Tim “Ripper” Owens, which was a shame. A small selection of the photos can be found here.

Lamb of God were similarly poorly lit, plus I’ve shot them twice earlier this year so I didn’t really throw all my energy into getting anything special. I still managed to eek out a couple of shots I was pleased-ish with… only a couple, but still, that’s much better than none at all.

A couple of the shots of Lamb of God can be seen here.

Finally, to Heaven & Hell. How tiny is Ronnie James Dio? He must be about four feet tall?! What he lacked in height, he certainly made up for in stage presence, commanding the stage. I really enjoyed them, probably a little too much as my shots don’t really do them justice. Or maybe they do? I’m rubbish at being pleased with my own work. Nevermind.

A selection of my Heaven & Hell pictures can be seen here.