Last week, I photographed Ministry in concert during the band’s farewell tour.
I knew it was going to be an interesting night when I walked in and saw them erecting a 10-foot high chain link fence in front of the stage.
The show wasn’t easy to photograph because I had to shoot through the fence most of the time. Also, this band must be allergic to light because they didn’t have any.
Luckily, Al Jourgensen would poke his head out over the top of the low fence section every once in a while.
What’s with the “no flash” rule at a show like this? The default rule for concert photography is “three songs, no flash.” Since I was on assignment for Kerrang Magazine, I was able to shoot the whole show, but why no flash? During the set, the band had a lot of strobe lights. I can’t imagine that they would even notice a photographer’s flash going off.
I’ve asked performers about it and they never have a problem with flash. Maybe it wouldn’t be appropriate at a quiet James Taylor show, but no one cares at a heavy metal gig.
So I kept the strobe on my camera “just in case.” Of course, as soon as Al popped his head out from behind that fence, the flash somehow accidentally went off. Oops. Not sure how that happened.