01.09.08
Hello chums, it's a dreary grey morning here in the North West , Summer is well and truly over and September has come round all too soon…
First things first - I just wanted to say how pleased the H household were with Sarah Millican's 'IF' Best Newcomer award, I've been blogging to everyone that will listen about the quality of her work for a couple of years and it was a genuine delight that all her graft paid off. I think that Sarah sold out every night of the run and during a lean year for ticket sales; that was no mean achievement. Much planning between myself, Sarah and her management went into the pictures for her poster, flyer, press and website shots - it was great to play a small part in her success . Well Done Missis!
In stark contrast the Judging panel's decision to award the 'Spirit Of The Fringe' award to all comedians working at the Fringe was frankly…poor! To leave cash behind the bar as a 'prize' after most of the acts had trudged home was not the best decision. I agree with Steve Bennet when he said on his Chortle blog :
"The awards panel's heart may be in the right place, but their solution smacks of an disappointing cop-out. Was there really no one who encapsulated the spirit of the Fringe? It's hard to define exactly what that spirit is, but I'm sure it's not letting a banking giant swoop in and buy you a couple of drinks, then reap the publicity benefits of its largesse. Some comedians will have lost around £7,000 bringing their shows to Edinburgh; yet their share of the prize, should they have taken it, would be less than £10."
Robin Ince's comment that all returning comedians should paste the 'If Comedy Award Winner" on their poster next year was a beauty!
I posted up a gallery of Latitude shots and have had some terrific comments and messages, thanks to all. I covered all three days of the Comedy Stage and as with last year; the line-ups rivaled the World's best Comedy Festivals. It was great to meet up with Ross Noble who I hadn't seen for several years. At the end of his set, Ross decided to lead the entire crowd in a mass conga down to the main field, across bemused onlookers to a vegetarian food stand to ask for a 'Sausage Roll' - just brilliant! Highlights for me were Bill Bailey, Tim Minchin's new songs and Carey Marx. It was a real thrill to photograph John Cooper-Clarke.
At the end of each day after shooting for 8 hours without a break I collapsed in a heap on the floor of the Literary tent, got an hours kip and was then dragged around the site by Danny and Alan in search of interesting treasure – Crystal Castles and the Dance Stage were just fantastic!
I don't usually photograph rock gigs but did some work for my old pal Conrad Lambert (Merz) on his recent tour with Yazoo. Vince and Alf seemed genuinely surprised at the rapturous reception they were receiving on the 'Reconnected' tour, the last 4 numbers were particularly joyous and I wanted to get across the madness of the crowd around us as they raced into 'Situation' – hopefully the new gallery of pictures shows that I just about nailed it!
There's lots of new work on the horizon and as ever I'll update pictures regularly on the run up to Christmas – don't forget to go and see Jason Manford on tour! Thanks for all your photo comments and messages of support, they make maintaining the site so regularly genuinely worthwhile.
Andy
XXX