October 31st
See Steve Gorman, former drummer of Black
Crowes (it's two years today since his last show and the
night he left the band)
and now superstar drummer to the Stereophonics. Steve tells
me he's been approached to form a supergroup with the bassist
and guitarist of STP and Chris Robinson. Also hear a rumour
that I may be shooting my favourite subject matter for Audrey
magazine in America.
October 29th
Up again at 4am, it's pouring with rain. 7am flight
to London. Get home feel jet lagged, go to bed.
October 28th
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AHHHHHHH the joys of rock'n roll. Have
to get up at 4am to go to Milan airport which is 65k
away to get the first flight to Florence (Maiden have
their own jet but there's no room). As I arrive at 9am,
walk around the city. The hotel is really really expensive
and my room is the size of a student bedsit... Florence
is full of Americans.
Show at Palasport Firenze (that's Florence in Italian).
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October 27th
Milan. Fly late afternoon from London. I've checked all
my cameras in the hold so of course we fly over the
Italian Alps which look like you are in Nirvana...
It takes nearly 2 hours to get from the airport to the Fila
Forum. The place is rammed, you couldn't get any more people
in.
Frank Noon (Def Leppard's first drummer) is shooting for
Front magazine. He tells me in all seriousness that he'll
try not to step on my toes by shooting Maiden...(oh my!!!
I'd better retire...)
Do a shot of the band with the crowd, looks amazing. The
band do a runner straight off stage into vans back to the
hotel. This is quite amusing as the hotel is a minutes walk
from the venue...
October 23rd |
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My flights not till 7pm. Go to look
at the Charles bridge and Prague castle. Maggie Wang
and
her bodyguard Melissa Barretto are also sightseeing,
they take a photo of Kevin and I. |
Kevin goes to find Rod and get intoxicated, I go
with my female bodyguards to look at a Helmut Newton
exhibition
at Prague castle. Now I shouldn't really "dis"photographers
(especially famous ones) but I have to admit it's not
very good. Shoot a very nice portrait of M.W and M.B examining
a statue in the castle grounds. |
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October 22nd
Prague. Take off really early. See amazing clouds
over the south of England. Shoot a load of photos until
I realise I'm shooting black and white, not colour...
If you think London is cold, Prague is FREEEEEEZING. |
Iron
Maiden show at the T-Mobile arena. This is a great
place to shoot live, nice low stage. Backstage is another
matter, it's a toilet.
See Geoff Barton, founder of Kerrang magazine (he
also thought up the word), we commiserate with each
other that both our sons like hip-hop/drum and bass
and are not metal gods like their fathers!!!!! |
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Kevin Shirley is there and he's trying to get me intoxicated
before the show. He gets Rod Smallwood very intoxicated instead.....
October 20th Paris. Go to see various photographers to
look at photos. Decide to go to Pere Lachaise to see
Jim Morrison's grave... Well, I think it's his grave, it
looks like a rubbish tip with
rotten flowers and poems from what seems to be sad fans in
Eastern Europe.
Take a couple of photos... Well you know, Jim's
not dead so it doesn't matter if it's his grave or not. The
best grave
is of Victor Noir, a journalist murdered by a prince. The grave
has a brass statue of him, his trousers are polished from women
trying to rub his penis (thanks to Melissa Barreto for the
penis facts).
It's so cold. Give up on the photographers and
go rug shopping in Sainte Germaine instead.
October 16th
Found a load of Metallica. I'll start adding
it soon. Here's one of them. |
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October 15th
Steven and Joe are recording. Shoot a quick roll of
Steven doing his vocal. Check out of the hotel and fly
home.
October 14th
Fly with Aerosmith to Sacramento. We land in what
looks like Iowa, real farm land nothing around for
miles. Shoot Steven on the tarmac as we get off. Police
escort to the show. Back stage are lots of Japanese
fans, it's mind boggling how they get there... |
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Run into Dave and Elizabeth Davies,
Dave used to be Bon Jovi's tour manager for his sins. He
now runs a jet charter company. It's great to see
him, he even gets me a take-away curry (how there can be one around here,
is even more mind boggling).
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Joe Perry asks me to shoot Kiss and Aerosmith together.
Do a couple of rolls of Joe and Paul Stanley and then
get quick shoot of the two bands together as Kiss go
on.
By now it's freezing. We could be in Eastern Europe
not Northern California, it's so cold. The lights
don't even
project on
the stage which makes it really
hard to shoot. Spend the most of the show in front of Joey Kramer's drum
riser.
Straight off stage to the plane, fly back to L.A.
Chat with Steven who's in a fantastic mood. |
October 13th
9:30am. Get a phone call from Kelly, P.R for
Universal Music (I am waiting for a car to pick
me up to take
me out to shoot Puddle of Mudd). They are in the
valley which is a 40 minute drive. She tells
me very pompously that Universal do not pay for cars...
O.K I say, let's not bother. I'm not paying for a
car to shoot your act... This totally throws her...
She calls back ten minutes later I've got my car.
She then breaks the news that I can only do group
shots "AS IT'S A BAND", no solo shots of
Wes... I don't even give a fuck, it's their loss,
they just get a less space in the magazine. |
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Get out
to the valley for mid day. Wes (and I mean this in the
nicest possible way) is like dealing with a naughty over
active 7 year old.
Anyway, they are easy to work with and
good fun. And Wesley seems very happy that I'm doing the
photos.
Get a call in the late afternoon from Slash (semi
famous guitar player). Go over to see him at the studio
in Hollywood where he's recording. He looks amazingly
healthy. He's even stopped smoking. He tells me laughing
this is the first
time I've recorded a solo without a cigarette.
October 10th
Out to L.A. Full flight, takes forever goes over Seattle
which is the long way.....
Go to see the highly overrated "Kill Bill". I
seem to be the only person in the theatre that doesn't like
it.
October 2nd
Scanned photos of Iron Maiden from the first Rock in
Rio, January '84 or '85.
My memory is getting bad... And some Powerslave which on my negs is written
Poland so hopefully that's right... There's also a very nice photo of me with
a beard.. |
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October 1st
Spend flight home shooting out of the aeroplane window.
Mountains of Zagros and Shiraz in Iran... Sunset over
Tehran and the most fantastic blue grey clouds over
Istanbul. |
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