No Sleep Til, what can I say. The first shoot of my summer festivals and it definitely left me and my cameras a little battered and bruised. Even though this shoot was the first of the SUMMER festival season with the weather it definitely felt like a festival not dissimilar to the weather produced by the mid-year Splendour festival. A lot raining and a little bit cold, considering to throw on a scarf to shoot this festival was definitely not something that felt at home in December.

I was sitting at home while doors opened to the festival, all packed and ready to go, but thought for my and my cameras safety I should wait until the rained cleared up a bit. Alas it didn’t happen so at 2:00 I headed in the festival just in time to catch Suicidal Silence

At this time in the afternoon the crowd were definitely soaked through yet still in high spirits.

Next I headed over to the Red stage to photograph Katatonia, followed by aussie act Frenzal Rhomb. Everytime I see and hear Lyndsey I just want to smack him in the head, wholy due to his terrible, condiscending interview skills that he performs on air in his JJJ ‘day job’ gig. But photographed them I did and the crowd loved it.

Battling the rain and thoroughly soaked through at this stage I use the time after I exit the pit for Frenzal as a chance to get some shelter in the only undercover section of the festival, under the grand stands used for the Ekka. Most of the crowd had a similar idea, so all I managed to do was stand in the aisle, snap off a few pics, and reaarrange my gear in a hope to save it from getting damaged.

Back down in the pits I managed to catch August Burns Red before camera failure started occuring on my gear.

At this point my multidirectional button on my camera started to go on the fritz. The rain hadn’t let up the whole time I was there, and going from just covering my cameras with ponchos I had bought with me in between sets but shooting uncovered, was no longer working for my cameras. So at this point I made a call and went home to glad wrap, freezer bag then shopping bag my cameras. On my way out of the festival I overheard a lot of people mutter about the rain and decided after Frenzal Rhomb that they had gotten their money worth so decided to call it quits.

Back to the festival with fresh clothes, protecting layers of plastic for my cameras and a few hours left of the festival I made it just in time to catch NoFX

Next on to one of the dual headliners Megadeth and the rain still was set in. Megadeth were set to hit the Black Stage at 8:50 just as NoFX were due to finish over at the Red Stage, but I am not sure if it was due to the rain or wanting to irritate the NoFX fans over at the Red Stage (after NoFX were slandering MegaDeth and their fans just half an hour earlier) but they took to the stage ten minutes early with a very devoted but quite small fanbase taking in their set. Crowds over at the Red Stage were definitely a lot thicker, but that didn’t stop Megadeth putting on an enormous show of lights, guitar riffs and signature rock moves.

Back over at the Red Stage I shoot the final act for the night, the Decsendants, before heading home nursing a broken SLR (my main body started outputting an Err 20 during the first three songs).