Jug of Ale, Moseley, November 12th
Full set of 24 photos
Went to see Dufus on Sunday. They were very good indeed as were the support Mr Bones & The Dreamers who I intend to check out again on the 30th. I’d seen Dufus supporting Jeffrey Lewis last May and wrote about them here but that review can pretty much be discounted as representative of this gig as the lineup was completely different. Except the drummer. I think he was the same. Looking at their recent CD I realised that Dufus is basically lead bloke Seth with about 24 other musicians who come and go so every tour is probably different. Last time they were a bouncy bloke-heavy party rock band. This time they were more of an intense, performance art-ish folk-rock band. Maybe. Definitely on the odd side of the spectrum and in a really good way. The monstrous beard that Seth has grown in the last 18 months only added to this dissonance and it was only when they played songs I recognised from the Ball of Design CD that I was 100% they were the same band. It was a terrific set lasting for what seemed like a good hour or so and I’d highly recommend seeing them again, whatever their construction.
This was also a slightly different gig for me as I’d been asked by Mark of Iron Man Records to take some photos of the band in return for some quality schwag, the closest I’ve gotten to a paid shoot in this regard. I’ve done gig shoots on a pro-bono basis before but this felt different somehow. Kinda professional and very enjoyable. It helped that Dufus were a very photographable band but I’m really pleased with the results (slideshow). Of course I can’t take all the credit. The new 50mm lens did most of the work and I took 580 shots so the chances of them all being shit was slim, but even so I think some kind of corner has been turned and it’s got me pondering. This, of course, is assuming Mark is happy with them.
You know, I think you can take rather more of the credit than the 50mm lens, however good it is. And part of the skill of getting a couple of dozen very good shots from 580 is the selection process. Face it, man, you’ve got a bit good at this photography malarkey.
Yes, these two shots are so good they’re excellent!!! As Dave says, the lens is merely a tool that only comes alive in a creative pair of hands. The upper (B&W) photo is so good it could grace an album cover (if album covers were rectangular!)
Mark should be happy. . . . .