Introduction
On this site I document some of my gig experiences as recorded on camera. To some extent it’s a blog that goes back to a pre digital time. The early 1980s when I bought my first “proper” camera. I spent much of that decade documenting sporting and family events, but also gigs with my Olympus OM10 SLR camera. Gigs are the focus of this website, although there may be one or two tangents when I throw in some other photos that mean a lot to me.
By the end of the 1980s I had a new job, working for Great Universal Stores (“GUS”) in Manchester, and for over 30 years that job was my priority, along with raising a family and my other passion Manchester United.
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Since 2019, with a hiatus during the pandemic, my passion for music has re-ignited. I fully retired from Experian, the successor company to GUS, in the middle of 2022, although I had been down to one day a week for some time before that. Experian had taken me and my family to Ireland where we now live in the sunny south-east in Co Wexford.
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During 2022 I attended 37 gigs across the UK and Ireland usually with 2 compact cameras in my pockets. 2023 involved more gigs – 42 in total, with the prospect of even more in 2024.
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What I document here is a relatively small number of gigs from the 1980s, but that does include the most special one of all. I took 550 photos at Wembley Stadium on 13 July 1985. The event – the Global Jukebox – Live Aid. I also include the recent gigs after I started taking cameras to gigs again in 2019.
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There are some other special moments and events from those gigs in the 1980s that I will also cover here. Some of those acts I saw 30-40+ years ago are still around. In most cases there has been some change in personnel, but quite a lot of the artists I was photographing in the 1980s are still performing in the 2020s. That is where the website name comes from. Lyrics from David Bowie’s Changes – highlighting some of the changes to those acts and artists, along with some things that may not have changed much.
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Of course some of the artists I have seen are no longer with us. In a separate section I will put up some pictures from the times I did see them. "Zimmer frame Rock" highlights some acts who continue to perform in their 70s, and in some cases 80s. It will be interesting to see if anyone can reach their 90s while still performing. There is also a selection of my personal favourites, both new and old.
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I started pulling together the 1980s photos in a book form around 2016. The photos themselves bring back many memories, although there is undeniably less detail than with the recent photos where I have written down my thoughts largely in real time. One thing I have particularly enjoyed, and has helped pass time when waiting for acts to appear on stage, is discussing my photos, particularly the older ones, with others around me, displaying some of my own favourites on my phone.
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I was already pulling the recent photos together in book form, albeit a rapidly expanding book. In some of those discussions at gigs people have asked if there is anywhere they can see my “collection”. This site came out of comments made by others particularly in connection with the 1980s photos.
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When professional photography started embracing the digital world I was a bit sceptical over whether digital cameras could be as good as film photography. Maybe I was a bit naïve. Maybe we did not really appreciate how much the digital world would take over our lives. When I started going to gigs again, camera in pocket, in 2019, I was already converted. The quality available from even compact cameras is incredible and hopefully some of the photos here are testimony to that. I know I put a lot of effort into getting decent photos, but I am still surprised at how much can be achieved with a phone, let alone a digital compact camera.
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I will add to this website over time, but initially will focus on some of those acts from the 1980s, and how some of them have changed since then.
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I hope you enjoy the website, the photos, and some of the stories behind them.