Babyshambles - Tonhalle (Munich, DE; Feb. 16, 2008)

I am a huge fan of the rock and roll insertion mission.

Put a time constraint on a concert-going experience or some complex travel logistics or both of those things and I am usually inclined to entertain a way to make it happen. My photo pass for Babyshambles wasn’t confirmed when I woke up yesterday morning so I had decided that it was not happening and figured out other ways to entertain myself and while away my Saturday. At 16:30 I got word that I was in and the insertion mission was on.

First step, listen to some Babyshambles to decide if this was going to be a show I wanted to see or just shoot. This is a dark and twisted thought, but a small part of me was hoping that the drug-addled trainwreck that is Pete Dougerty was going to make some terrible scene and I was going to make some money with my photos…as it turned out, he was coherent and I wasn’t particularly interested in rocking the show so it made the insertion mission all that more slick.

Second step, surf flickr for some shots of Babyshambles to see what I was in for and, perhaps, see if I could get a clue about how to nab a photo that hasn’t already been shot a thousand times. Mostly, it just psychs me up to shoot a show…

Third step, pack the gear, print the map and hit the road.

I left my flat in Austria at 19:30 and returned to it with a flash card full of Babyshambles by 22:30.

I arrived too late to shoot the first band which was some German version of the Strokes. I was uninterested in everything I heard from them especially the Sunday Bloody Sunday cover they jumped around to as their finale. Shortly after they left the stage a queue of about 15 huge, German photographers clamored around the entry to the pit to jockey for the best spot. They all had about 3 feet and 2 hundred kilos on me so I just surrendered to the flow and managed to nab a fine space in the middle.

The crowd seemed young to me, donned with fedoras and suspenders. They seemed sweet enough and I didn’t anticipate too much insanity but then the lights went off. The frequency of screaming that commenced when Pete Dougherty walked on stage seemed, sonically-speaking, impossible. I feared the glass in my camera lenses could perish as I began to fire off some photos of their first tune. My ears had just gotten used to the high-pitched, teenage-girl frequency and I thought things were cool, but thats when the red bull cans and beer began to shower down on us. Seriously, it was like everybody in the crowd decided to throw their drinks at once. My hair, my gear, my bag—all soaked. Having shot from the front row of club shows for the likes of bands like Ween, I am no stranger to the risks associated with expensive gear and rock and roll. In fact, I think it might be part of the fun for me.

Anyway, I acclimated to the screaming, the raining red bull and had just about hit the groove that comes with the 3rd song when 2 kids came flying over the barrier into the arms of secuity guards poised there for that reason. At that point, kids started raining along with the red bull and it was like a fucking rugby game in there. The photographers, security guards and kiddies were making things tight in the pit and, for that reason, we were all booted before the 3rd song.

I headed to the back of the club to see if I had managed to get even one shot, listened to a song and then got the hell out of dodge. It amazes me that people, especially children, find Pete Doughtery sexy.

Set List
Carry On Up the Morning
Delivery
Beg Steal
Pretty Sue
Baddies
Unstookie Titled
Side of the Road
Boy David
Unbilotitled
The Blinding
You Talk
Sedative
Albion
Pipedown
Killamangiro
Back From Dead
I Wish

Encore:
Fuck Forever

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