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Welcome to my blog!
My name is Leigh Ann and I'm a music and portrait photographer. I'm also a wife, a mom, and a music junkie. I'm a good cook, but a lousy housekeeper. My office is a mess but I can usually find what I need. I don't clean windows but I like doing laundry. I am a native to Seattle Washington who has been living in North Carolina for 10 years and loving it. I’m an animal lover and fond of most creatures, except mosquitos. I love who I am and I love what I do. Really, what could be better? My job is to bring out the inner rockstar in all of us, and to me, that's awesome.
So sit back, take a look around, leave a comment, and have fun. You can subscribe by email so that any new postings are delivered directly to your email, so you don't miss anything. Now that's what I call customer service :)
Oh the joys of getting a haircut, especially when you’re 3 years old. You’d think it was the most painful activity in the world. Tears were shed with lots of whimpering, but in the end, the lollipop saves the day. Wouldn’t it be nice if life remained this simple, where a single lollipop can make the world feel right and happy again?
Thought I’d test out my new album viewing software, so go ahead and use your mouse as you would your fingers to turn the pages. Click on the page and pull it across to turn the page.
Gwyn -love it. love him. love the book. I love how you captured all his funny faces and sadness. Now I want to have you come and document even the little things our life, like a haircut. You ROCK!
February 27, 2010 - 11:06 am
Beth -Isn’t it great how a lolipop can change the world
February 28, 2010 - 7:22 pm
Angie Loche -He’s adorable, even when he’s crying! Great job capturing it all
March 1, 2010 - 1:52 pm
Paul Thom -why don’t they make cool shirts like that for grownups? Great job.
March 1, 2010 - 8:53 pm
Anne -the album viewer is cool. can it do magazine type pages too? Did you write it, or is it a product I can buy? Easy to work with?
Frank turner performed a great set at The Fillmore in Charlotte NC Friday night. He was supporting the celtic-punk band Flogging Molly and won the audience over by the end of his set. That’s no small task for a support band but Turner has a way fo connecting with the audience. This was the first time I was able to hear Turner with his full band. Stellar. Incredible musicians and a full band has filled the songs and given them great depth. If you are unfamiliar with Frank Turner, check out his site and his music. http://www.frank-turner.com/
Martin -Incredible. I don’t know how you do it but you seem to capture a show so perfectly. I suppose that’s why they pay you the big bucks, huh?!
February 24, 2010 - 12:24 am
Peter Pippin -FANTASTIC! I went to his concert in London. He’s incredible live. You capture him superbly.
February 26, 2010 - 10:22 am
Suzz -how do you get such cool pictures? They’re crisp. Do you use film or digital? What kind of camera do you have? My little camera doesn’t take good pictures and I always end up with blurry concert pictures. How do U get your black and white ones so good? there must be a secret to it. When i turn my pictures to black and white they don’t look very good.
March 1, 2010 - 8:25 pm
Janice Wall -You know that you were the person who tuned me onto Frank Turner, right? I adore his music. Fantastic photos!
March 2, 2010 - 12:18 am
Anne -so cool.
March 4, 2010 - 9:23 am
Becky Bush -incredible pictures. I’d love to see one of his shows, especially after seeing them through your eyes.
March 4, 2010 - 9:27 am
Paul Stills -That first shot is incredible! I know the type of lighting he gets and it amazes me how you are able to capture so much light. Amazing.
Its pissing down rain today. Oh how I would have loved to sleep in and enjoy my nice comfy bed, but I forced myself to get up early, grab a nice breakfast, and explore Killarney a bit. Today is a travel day with no concert, so my schedule is my own. Let me first say how much I LOVE Irish breakfast, at least the ones they serve in hotels. Most hotels include breakfast in the price of your room (love this). OK, I
m not a Full Irish lover, but a scaled down version is to my liking. Breakfast usually consists of glorious irish bread, irish butter (nothing better), irish bacon, eggs, and various other items. And let’s not forget the tea. Lets just say that I’ve stuffed myself with all this wonderful irish bread and butter, and I think I’ve eaten a side of bacon in the 3 days I’ve been here. Wash all that down with hot tea with milk and sugar and I’m in heaven. It’s what sustains me on this adventure. Add to this wonderful morning taste delight the usual free WiFi in the hotel lobby and a comfy chair with a nice view of the outside streets and weather, and it’s hard to imagine leaving my breakfast spot. But leave I must, or I’ll miss seeing what lies outside.
First purchase today: Umbrella. I kept hearng um-ba-la um-ba-la um-ba-la in my head (the chant you hear constantly in NYC when it rains as the street vendors sell umbrellas).
This town is wonderfully cute and filed with fun shops. I wish the weather was nicer so I could see more of this gorgeous area, lakes, and picturesque landscapes. But with this weather, I’ll stick to seeing postcards featuring these beautiful images. I must come back in the dry season. Is there a dry season? maybe I should say less soggy season. I did take advantage of my exploration to be a good tourist and buy a few irish wool sweaters, doing my duty to help stimulate that Irish economy.
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THINGS I LEARNED TODAY
Irish bacon Rocks
Irish tea rocks
Mars bars rock
paper shopping bags are no match for the irish rain.
Paul Green -We only have one season here. Rain. God on you to enjoy it in all it’s glory.
February 4, 2010 - 9:16 am
Becky Bush -everything looks wet lol next time we need to meet for drinks my treat
February 17, 2010 - 11:22 am
Vinita-Thanks for a lovely peak into your trip!
So close to us!
February 22, 2010 - 9:15 am
Janice Wall -Lovely. Where are the rest? I know you were here for awhile. get with it and get them posted. Dying to see.
March 3, 2010 - 4:20 pm
Christina-Gorgeous images … just the *getaway* I needed midweek! You should sell some of these *hint*
March 4, 2010 - 9:18 am
Tom -wasnt aware we had a sunny dry season. if you find out when that is, let me know and I’ll put it in the diary to be sure to take a look out. Can’t be more than a few hours long
Gary Lightbody & Snow Patrol Reworked Tour rumbles through Killarney
A rainy wet and cold night after a long rainy and wet day. Everything is damp and soggy and Im ready to be in nice warm dry venue. Second venue on the Ireland leg of the Snow Patrol Reworked Tour is the INEC in Killarney. As a venue it’s nondescript and generic. There’s no charm or beauty but it gets the job done. There was some confusion with fans about the seating, as some who had bought first and second row center ended up being on the side with almost no videw of the stage. I felt a bit sorry for those fans who obviously were expecting incredible seats but were stuffed in locations where they couldn’t see the stage clearly. The rest of the audience was outstanding. Loud, excited, and enjoying the show. I always love it when the audience provides such energy.
Gary Lightbody
I guess I should say a bit about the Reworked tour. This is not the typical Snow Patrol tour. Snow Patrol Reworked is a celebration of the band’s 15 year career, specially reworked and reinvented. Being a multi-million selling sucess story, selling out massive arenas and headlining the top festivals, this tour gives fans a chance to look back on the early days as well as being able to hear their songs interpreted in a whole new way. Each show is filled with 16 or so musicians on stage plus special guests that join for a song or two for one particular show. So, we see (and hear) a harp, violins, cello, french horn, trumpet, piano, and lots of various percussion instruments. In addition to the regular Snow Patrol lineup, we see Johnny McDaid (Vega4) on guitar, Ian Archer on guitar & slide guitar, Miriam Kaufmann on piano and backup vocals, Colm MacAthlaoich on trumpet, Richard Colburn (Belle & Sebastian) on percussion and drums. In addition, in many of the shows we are treated to special guest appearances, with tonights show featuring Maria Doyle Kennedy
SETLIST
Finish Line: The show kicks off with a dramitic start , a single light on a solo harpist paying Finish Line. She is shortly joined by Gary Lightbody, then eventually more strings. Perfection.
Crack the Shutters, arranged as a duet featuring Miriam Kaufman with piano. A lovely arrangement and Miriam Kaufman’s voice brings such emotion and depth to the song.
Batton Down The Hatch. Lovely. One of the older songs from their first album, Songs For Polar Bears (Jepster, 1998)
You Could Be Hapy
An Olive Grove Facing The Sea, accompanied by Colm on trumpet. This is one of my faovorite songs so it’s wonderful to hear it played live.
The Golden Foor
Grazed Knees
Cartwheels
Take Back The City.
~INTERMISSION~
Dark Roman Wine: one of the new songs on the Up Til Now compilation CD. This is stunning live, with heavy organs and Gary Lightbody’s vocal, almost feels as though we’re in a church.
Spitting games
You Are My Joy, reworked with the addition of slide guitar, which gives it a bit of a country tinge.
Run, arranged with only strings, french horn, trumpet, and Lightbody’s vocals.
Set The Fire To The Third bar, featuring special guest Maria Doyle Kennedy.
One Day LIke This, a stunning cover of Elbows tune and it stands up to the original. Again, slide guitar added. Amazing. Epic.
Lifeboats
The Planets bend Betwen Us. This has been my favorite reworking. It starts with Johnny McDaid (Vega4) jamming on guitar and builds from there. It’s now much more upbeat than the original. It’s fantastic and to my ears, an improvement on an already stellar tune. Bravo. I’d like to see this released in a live CD.
You Are All I Have
Chasing Cars, reworked with more bass and beat, building to a climax. A great improvement on a song that I’ve never loved.
If There’s Rocket Tie Me To It
~ENCORE~
Just Say Yes: fun and wonderful all at once. It makes you want to move your body and clap your hands.
Chocolate
Shut Your Eyes
One of the highlights of the night was when they played Run. the new arrangement is wonderful, but tonight Lightbody didn’t get a chance to sing but a couple lines. the audience sing along was so loud the Lightbody stepped away from the mic and let everyone sing it for him. It was incredible. As he said, it was the absolute best and loudest any audience has done on the tour. While he always lets the crowd sing part, this time the crowd was so loud singing that he let them sing the whole song, not that he had much choice, as he wouldn’t have been heard over the voices of 1000+ voices singing their hearts out.
Other interesting observations: Watching the audience it was obvious that there were many folks who obviously only knew the current hits, or maybe only Chasing Cars and Run. They tend to look rather bored through most of the show, especially the first set. It was also interesting to watch fans try to identify songs. Since most songs has new arrangements, and some were very diferent than the version from the albums, they weren’t always instantly recognizable. It was fun watching fans trying to figure them out until a signiture line or melody became apparent.
janet wallis -sounds like a great night. Is that the same Maria Doyle Kennedy from the commitments and Tudors?
January 2, 2010 - 11:25 pm
Gazzy Gaz -love youse. great to see you.
January 3, 2010 - 10:30 am
leighann-Janet, yep, same Maria Doyle Kennedy. She’s pretty awesome.
January 4, 2010 - 2:24 pm
Julie Julie -Hey, remember me? I know you must have loved the rest of the tour. Great to meet you that night. You were a blast to chat with. next time down here, drop me a line.
January 4, 2010 - 6:22 pm
Paul Sensis -Awesome. wanted to go to one of these shows.
January 6, 2010 - 10:22 pm
Peep -loved this show. it was sooooooooooooooo great. My first ever Snow Patrol concert and I was wowed.
January 9, 2010 - 6:31 pm
leighann-Julie, of course I remember you And next time, I’l buy you a drink. I owe you one. thanks for the laughs and the pint. you rock!
January 16, 2010 - 8:37 pm
Andy Andy Andy -This was a tremendous concert. It was great to meet you. Next time let me buy you a pint. You should have joined us at the pub later, we would have shown you a great Irish time. Cheers.
January 22, 2010 - 11:26 am
Patty -jealous. can i b u when i grow up? i want to travel the world 2
February 6, 2010 - 10:28 pm
leighann-Andy! haha. Next time.
Patti, Im still not grow’d up, or at least that’s what I tell myself.
February 7, 2010 - 1:37 pm
James Williams -Love these. emailing you about using them for something. Will you be working the Ward park or Glasgow shows this summer?
February 8, 2010 - 1:36 pm
Jez -Awesome. Ta.
February 27, 2010 - 9:19 am
Tom -you totally rock. awesome.
March 1, 2010 - 9:20 am
Jim White -I agree, everyone was fantastic. One of the best audiences I’ve ever seen or rather heard at the shows.
Day 2 in Ireland. The long train journey from Dublin to Killarney in the south west of Ireland was definitely woth the effort. What a lovely town filled with lovely people. As I stood on the sidewalk looking lost, the nicest gentleman offered to help, and didn’t just point me in the right direction, he actually walked me all the way to my hotel reception, pointing out good restaurants and stops along the way. The Scott’s Hotel was wonderful with very friendly and helpful staff. Prior to the concert I met with a couple friends at Hannigan’s Pub for a pint (or three). It felt wonderful to sit by a warm fire to take the damp off.
Now, isn’t this the prettiest Irish Coffee ever?
Off to the INEC for the show (review & images to follow). After the show, much waiting around, and the horrible rain, we headed to a pub for a drink (or three). Most of the pubs seemed loud and crowded, until we found one that was empty, so we chose that one. I think we were the youngest people there by at least 30 years. They had folk band playing traditional irish music. There was a group of “mature” women having a great time, dancing and enjoying themselves so I decided to go meet them, and hear their stories. Turns out they have all been friends for 40+ years, and every year they take a trip together. Unfortunatley, as they age, the group is getting smaller and smaller. We had lots of laughs, and they tried to teach me some irish dancing. I was awful. my friends watched from the other side of the pub, laughing, taking incriminating photographs :). It was a fine time, finished off by the singing of the national anthem (which of course I didn’t know and couldn’t even understand, being in gaelic and all). Oh, what a night. Once the pub closed, I walked back to the hotel, realizing I was starving. Again, I didn’t get around to having dinner, but to my luck (or the luck of the Irish) the hotel clerk directed me to a Burger King (yuck, but hey, it was open and serving food at 2am).
THINGS I LEARNED TODAY:
watching from the sidelines is not nearly as fun as jumping in.
Irish Coffee tastes better when you’re in Ireland
Trains don’t always run on time, in fact I’ve yet to be on one that has been on schedule.
Ladies from Cork are a lot of fun. I think there must be a limerick about that
mika -Did you get any sightseeing in? that area is so beautiful. I agree, the nicest people. Great shopping too.
December 7, 2009 - 2:14 am
Johnny -So, where are those incriminating photographs? I wanna see! I bet you were a lovely dancer.
December 8, 2009 - 11:16 am
Paul Castle -I’m not much for irish coffee, but it does hit the spot when you’re cold and wet. And you can’t fault a drink that looks that nice. Enjoy our beautiful soggy weather!
December 9, 2009 - 3:17 pm
Daniel -haha. I think I’ve met the same group of ladies. They’ll drink you under the table, then dance on it!
December 9, 2009 - 7:18 pm
Keenan -I love reading your stories. It all seems like a blast.
February 1, 2010 - 1:34 pm
Christina-I’m not a coffee drinker, but as pretty as that one is, I’d have to give it a try after photographing it of course!
My name is Leigh Ann and I'm a music and portrait photographer. I'm also a wife, a mom, and a music junkie. I'm a good cook, but a lousy housekeeper. My office is a mess but I can usually find what I need. I don't clean windows but I like doing laundry. I am a native to Seattle Washington who has been living in North Carolina for 10 years and loving it. I’m an animal lover and fond of most creatures, except mosquitos. I love who I am and I love what I do. Really, what could be better? My job is to bring out the inner rockstar in all of us, and to me, that's awesome.
So sit back, take a look around, leave a comment, and have fun. You can subscribe by email so that any new postings are delivered directly to your email, so you don't miss anything. Now that's what I call customer service :)
. I did take advantage of my exploration to be a good tourist and buy a few irish wool sweaters, doing my duty to help stimulate that Irish economy.
by leighann
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