Keane Xmas Concert

This was a small venue for a big band.. It was the XFM Radio stations Xmas party gig. Kean were great, lighting was average and the pit was small tight and awkward. Still it was nice overall. I only shot the first three songs and then made a run for my car as I was in a bit of a rush. Got in my car headed out of London on the A40 and saw a car have a proper crash behind me. I stopped called police ambulance etc. Made sure the driver was okay, moved the remains of the car out of the centre of the road and when the police, ambulance etc arrived I gave them my details and left. Poor girl driving said she just lost control and swerved into the central crash barrier.. She was very very lucky. I then got back to base and edited the Keane shots and sent them out.

Status Quo & Manfred Mann

Well, its Saturday night and it's Wembley Arena.. I am off to shoot the mighty Status Quo. One of the greatest bands of our generation. I have been shooting them since I became involved with them in about 1977. It's funny how, even now all of these years later I really enjoy shooting them and watching them. They are a great band and great chaps as well. Supporting them tonight was Manfred Mann's Earth Band.. Now this was also very exciting as I haven't photographed them since the Roundhouse in London in or around 1976. Bloody hell I am old now.. They were absolutely fantastic. They played some of their hits like, The Mighty Quinn (written by my mate Bob). Blinded By the Light and Davy's on The Road Again.. They were brilliant.

Bye Bye Woolworths

I was out and about in North London today and drove past one of the doomed Woolworths store. I thought I would park up and get a few photos as this is pretty much the end of an institution. So, there I was in my old stomping ground of Edgware, North London.

Woolworths
Copyright 2008 Danny Clifford













I did some quick shots outside and then, wandered into the store. The shelves were pretty empty, but there were loads of people looking around and the line or Que to the cash registers was really long.
Copyright 2008 Danny Clifford













I took some shots inside then all of a sudden a women who worked there came running over to me and said "are you taking photos" I said "yes I am". She then said " I know you are" I told her I already said that. She wasn't listening to a thing I was saying. Then she said angrily, "if you take photos, I am going to report you". I thought this was brilliant. I asked her who was she going to report me to "god perhaps" she didn't find it funny. She was then quite rude to me. I told her to fuck off and call the cops. She was obviously mental.
Copyright 2008 Danny Clifford













Funny thing is, my friend and fellow photographer Wayne Starr who shoots for the UK's Daily Star Newspaper, had an altercation with Santa Claus who attacked him when he was outside Woolworths a day or so ago taking photos.. Kind of weird.. No wonder they are going out of business, they employ total dorks and idiots...
Copyright 2008 Danny Clifford

Oh What a night !!!

Well, if you weren't there you really missed something.. If you were there you know what I mean. It was the New Seekers performing in a pub, but no ordinary pub, it was the Boogaloo in London. They had support from Mundy who was pretty cool and great guitarist. Also, on the bill was the brilliant V V Brown, she is fantastic. We did a quick shoot with VV and Mick Flin and Paul Layton from New Seekers and Adam Ficek from Babyshambles who was also there watching. We were just about to do a normal boring shot when I saw the bath in the bathroom upstairs. I said to VV how about getting in the bath, she said yes, no problem, I will do that. She was then swiftly followed by Adam Ficek, Mick Flin and Paul Layton.

It made a better shot than the usual. Sadly we only had a bout 30 seconds to do the shoot. But, I am glad we did.

Mick Flinn, VV Brown, Paul Layton, Adam Ficek
Copyright 2008 Danny Clifford













VV Brown
Copyright 2008 Danny Clifford













VV Brown was fantastic, she writes amazing songs and is a brilliant performer. I was talking to PR Guru Paul Carey at the gig. He was very impressed with both VV Brown and The New Seekers. He said VV Brown is the real deal and move over Amy Winehouse. I have to agree with him she is special.. He also thinks that the New Seekers are going to be enormous once again. Well, couldn't agree more.
VV Brown
Copyright 2008 Danny Clifford













The New Seekers went on at about 10:30 and guess what, they were brilliant. Seeing them in a small venue like that was pretty rare. The crowd loved them and really went mad and were dancing and singing along. Towards the end Mick's voice had gone. He had been suffering all day, although, he still sounded great. Anyway, they had finished with 'Teach the world to sing' but the crowd wanted more..

The New Seekers
Copyright 2008 Danny Clifford












Mick seemed to be in trouble with his voice, so, he said lets do that again and he asked the audience to sing it for him. Well, funnily enough, I had got the lyrics to the song of the Internet earlier and said to Mick I was going to bring a few copies, as VV Brown and other celebs were going to join them at the end. So, I grabbed the lyrics and handed out around 30 copies to the audience and they sung so loud they nearly blew the roof off.

It was one, if not the best gig Ii have seen at the Boogaloo and I have seen some great ones there.. It was brilliant. The New Seekers have almost completed their first album in 30 years and I cannot wait until its released and out there. It is going to be massive.. Don't just take my word for it, they are In London at the Shaw Theatre on 31st January 2009 check them out at

www.thenewseekers.com/new_seekers_web_site_549.htm

John Lennon

Well it was 28 years ago today that John Lennon was murdered in NY. What a genius he was, still sadly missed by me. On a brighter note, I had some nice coverage in the papers today in the UK from the Lacoste Party last night. It's always nice to see pictures in print.

Lacoste Party

Tonight I was asked to shoot the Lacoste Party in London. It was held at what is now becoming my second home, The Boogaloo. I arrived there at about 8pm and met up with the girls from the PR firm who briefed me. Fortunately, I knew quite a few of the celeb's who were attending. There was a real cross over between fashion and music. Remi Nicole & Lisa Morish was DJ'ing. Model, Daisy Lowe was there wearing a cool 'Pogues' shirt. Which helped make good photos. Paul Weller's son and daughter Natt & Leah were also there. Natt has been signed to a Major label and is going to be out there doing a showcase pretty soon. So, I will get down to that if I am around at the time. Leah is a model with Select Models. Both are really charming people.. There were quite few fashion people there and I didn't really know them, so, relied on the PR girls to guide me through that. All in all a nice peaceful evening with no mad tense moments, which makes change. Left there at about