The Knights of Leon 16th March 2009 PSLC

I know what you're saying, "That's not the Kings of Leon!!" And yes, you're right, it isn't. It's the Knights of Leon, a fine tribute band from South Africa/Portmarnock. The Portmarnock part is the lead singer, James Smith who nails Caleb Followhill's voice perfectly. The other members of the band which consists of Danny Van Rensburg on guitar, Eugne Theron on bass and Marius Appelgryn on drums are very competent musicians, and together they really do the Kings of Leon justice. If you closed your eyes you'd think it was the real thing, they're that good.

The venue for this show was the Portmarnock Sports and Leisure Centre. I was a little apprehensive heading up as I remember The Martello Room being very dark when I was there for a local boxing event. But I needn't have worried as the band had brought in their own lights. And what great lights they were, the brightness was better than many dedicated music venues in town and meant I could happily shoot at F2.8.

The drummer and bassist proved hardest to shoot as both were in relatively dim areas, especially the drummer who was only lit by the leftovers of the stage lights. The bassist's side of the stage was also a little dim and he kept moving fairly quickly and so freezing him proved difficult. I had my flash with me but as I was the only photographer and the lights were fairly static, I felt it would have been too much of a distraction.

The show was similiar to Summerfest as far as freedom of movement goes, and I could sit down between bouts of shooting to have a nice cold beer. Towards the end of the set people started getting up and dancing, and I didn't want to be getting in their way so I called it a night and sat back down with my friends and reviewed the shots. I got to show the lads some of the pics after the gig and they were very happy with them.

Hopefully the Leisure Centre will host more gigs in the future, and have the same lighting as it was one of, if the not the best lit gigs i've ever shot. Except for those in the day, but nobody's going to beat the ole Sun when it comes to illumination are they?