It’s becoming a bit of a tradition, TSU playing their Christmas gig at The Blackflag Warehouse in Wakefield. This was the second year running, and at the end of the gig Craig proclaimed that he’d see everyone back there next year – and if that gigs anywhere near as good as this one was, I’ll be there with (jingle) bells on!

Whenever I get the opportunity to photograph most bands I’ll take it, but for me TSU are a little bit special – They were by far and away by favourite Leeds band long before I picked up a proper camera. They also happened to be the first band in Leeds I got an official photopass for, the subject of my first ever printed publish, the first band to give me an AAA, and the first band to let me shoot their entire set at a festival from side of stage. I’ve probably taken more pictures of these guys than any other band, and that’s simply because I really love their music.

The plan for this gig was the same as the gig I covered last year in Bradford, when I turned up early to shoot the sound check. Unfortunately, due to issues with the in-house PA, the sound check this time round was severely delayed. So instead I spent a lot of time chatting with the guys backstage. In particular, I had a real good chinwag with their new bassist. Scott took over four-string duties back in May this year when founding member Daley called it a day. He’s an old mate of the band from back home in Shropshire, and from what I’ve seen so far he’s taken to it like a duck to water. Elsewhere, Stu and Craig set up the Merch stand:

The Sound check eventually got underway, and I was lucky enough to get a first-listen to one of their new tracks, ‘The Same Old Ghosts’:

There were two supports on the bill, first up New Vinyl:

and Dirty Twister:

One thing that really struck me with both support acts was the number of lefties on show. Being a cack-handed bassist myself, I was amazed to see three guys sporting back to front guitars – Left side representin’! Anyways, back to the gig.

Although the light for the support for was pretty good, I wasn’t convinced I was going to be treated with the same luxury for the headliners. The guys love to play in strobed lighting, which is almost impossible to shoot. Thankfully, I could shoot the whole gig and use my flashgun (or at least, I assumed I could) So I picked my moments extremely carefully, waiting at the side of the photopit till a decent spot of light appeared then diving in to get a shot. It was probably the best way to shoot the gig without upsetting the crowd/band with my flashgun firing so often. I’m delighted i took my flash with me, as it provided a nice bit of fill light on the faces:

An awesome gig, with an amazing crowd. the reaction to the guys final track of the night ‘Put You in Your Place’ was phenomenal, and a fantastic way to end a long but fun day in Wakey.