A trip down mid-2000s punk rock memory lane.

Punk Rock Portraits – A Retrospective

Written by Haydn Williams
A blast from the past.
Logo.

A few years ago I ran a website called Punk Rock Portraits. As the name suggests, it was to show my photos from gigs; it was live from 2004 and eventually amassed a decent number of albums. I was lucky enough to photograph most of the bands I wanted (except Blink 182 and No Doubt!), but since I shut the site down I haven’t had anywhere to keep those older images (newer ones are on the ‘Gigs’ category on this blog). I thought it was about time to rectify that, so I’ve put some of my best / favourites on this page. Click to make them bigger first!

Less Than Jake - Rock City, Nottingham - May 2004. © Haydn Williams 2004
The first of many, many LTJ shots, but still one of my favourites.
© Haydn Williams 2004
Million Dead - Rock City, Nottingham - April 2004. © Haydn Williams 2004
Frank Turner in his Million Dead days. Not a particularly exciting shot, but one of the first decent gig photos I took, so it has a special place in my heart.
© Haydn Williams 2004
Tsunami Bomb - Rock City, Nottingham - June 2004. © Haydn Williams 2004
I really miss Tsunami Bomb – Agent M used to smile through the entire set, and that enthusiasm was pretty infectious.
© Haydn Williams 2004
The Hives - Rock City, Nottingham - September 2004. © Haydn Williams 2004
A photographer’s dream – the Hives used around 80 pure white bulbs to light their set and complement the white suits. The set was pretty awesome, too.
© Haydn Williams 2004
Babyshambles - The Charlotte, Leicester - September 2004. © Haydn Williams 2004
One of my favourite images out of all of them. With no press pit, I arrived early and shot from hard up against the barriers at the front. I don’t think I’ve ever known such a frenzied atmosphere at a gig.
© Haydn Williams 2004
Fastlane - The Charlotte, Leicester - June 2005. © Haydn Williams 2005
Drummers are great, when they slow down a bit.
© Haydn Williams 2005
Sonic Boom Six - The Old Angel, Nottingham - March 2005. © Haydn Williams 2005
SB6, a band I returned to many times. Not only are they amazing live, it’s also quite hard to take a bad photograph of them.
© Haydn Williams 2005
The Bravery - Rescue Rooms, Nottingham - February 2005. © Haydn Williams 2005
I love the combination of the pose and the blank space in this one, particularly since gig shots are usually so busy or tightly-cropped.
© Haydn Williams 2005
Hell is for Heroes - Met Lounge, Peterborough - February 2005. © Haydn Williams 2005
Hands down one of the best gigs I have *ever* been to. Also one of only a few where I ignored the ‘three songs only’ rule in the face of absolute chaos, and happily continued snapping while enjoying the music throughout.
© Haydn Williams 2005
Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards - Rock City, Nottingham - February 2005. © Haydn Williams 2005
One of the first gigs I ever shot; attitude and self-confidence by the bucket-load.
© Haydn Williams 2005
Alkaline Trio - Rock City, Nottingham - November 2005. © Haydn Williams 2005
I’m never sure if I like this image or not, but Rock Sound saw fit to publish it as the cover of their Italian edition, so I thought I’d better include it.
© Haydn Williams 2005
MC Lars - Rock City, Nottingham - February 2006. © Haydn Williams 2006
Post-punk laptop rap. Niche, perhaps, but absolutely brilliant.
© Haydn Williams 2006
Hundred Reasons - First Floor, Derby - February 2006. © Haydn Williams 2006
I’ve been to more Hundred Reasons gigs than I can remember, and photographed them four times. What made the former experience and the latter really challenging was the complete whirlwind of activity from start to finish. Here’s one that snuck through in focus and with no motion blur. Result!
© Haydn Williams 2006
Yellowcard - Rock City, Nottingham - March 2006. © Haydn Williams 2006
People have a tendency to wave body parts, lighters or mobile phones around when you’re trying to take crowd shots, so I was really pleased with how this one worked out.
© Haydn Williams 2006
Less Than Jake - Rock City, Nottingham - April 2006. © Haydn Williams 2006
Photographers dream of shots like this. Thanks LTJ.
© Haydn Williams 2006
Dropkick Murphys - Nottingham Arena - November 2006. © Haydn Williams 2006
The Dropkick Murphys were one of the first bands I ever photographed, albeit in the more personal confines of Rock City. I’m not a big fan of arenas, but the vast space of the Ice Arena gave me chance to play around with composition on this one.
© Haydn Williams 2006
Sonic Boom Six - The Vic Inn, Derby - October 2006. © Haydn Williams 2006
I’ve got hundreds of photos of set lists – I just chose SB6 because I like the simplicity of the image, and I like the songs.
© Haydn Williams 2006
Blackbud - Godiva Festival, Coventry - July 2006. © Haydn Williams 2006
I don’t know anything about Blackbud; I only went to Godiva to shoot the Cooper Temple Clause. In the end, this was the best image of the day.
© Haydn Williams 2006
Bullets to Broadway - Junktion 7, Nottingham - May 2006. © Haydn Williams 2006
I just like the movement in this one.
© Haydn Williams 2006
Less Than Jake - Rock City, Nottingham - April 2006. © Haydn Williams 2006
So many LTJ images, such little space.
© Haydn Williams 2006
Planet Smashers - Junktion 7, Nottingham - December 2006. © Haydn Williams 2006
Any band that can make an entire crowd sit down halfway through a gig is OK by me. This is what little venues are all about – proper interaction with the band.
© Haydn Williams 2006
Propagandhi - First Floor, Derby - December 2006. © Haydn Williams 2006
I didn’t really know much Propagandhi stuff before going to this gig, but it turned out to be strong evidence that a band can convert you into a fan through sheer energy alone. Incredible.
© Haydn Williams 2006
Jesse James - Met Lounge, Peterborough - March 2007. © Haydn Williams 2007
I always found horns difficult to photograph well. Sneaking around behind the stage worked really for this one though, I thought.
© Haydn Williams 2007
Big D and the Kids Table - The Vic Inn, Derby - May 2007. © Haydn Williams 2007
Drummers are really hard to photograph – always at the back, in the dark, moving really fast. At the Vic you could get alongside, which helped me get this image. Definitely my favourite drummer photograph.
© Haydn Williams 2007
The Mad Caddies - Leeds Uni Refectory - May 2007. © Haydn Williams 2007
Slam Dunk 2007 at Leeds was amazing, and the crowd went crazy for every act. As a result, this image was taken from the hottest mezzanine level the world has ever experienced.
© Haydn Williams 2007
Sonic Boom Six - Leeds Uni Refectory - May 2007. © Haydn Williams 2007
If anyone asks for a definition of punk rock, show them this image.
© Haydn Williams 2007
Paramore - Leeds Uni Refectory - May 2007. © Haydn Williams 2007
I’d been dying to photograph Paramore, who at this point had only released ‘All We Know if Falling’, peaking at no. 51 in the UK. It would be another couple of years before the first of two UK no. 1 albums, and I’m glad I caught them in the iconic Refectory before they moved onto arenas.
© Haydn Williams 2007
Iggy and the Stooges - Harewood House, Leeds - August 2007. © Haydn Williams 2008
An absolute professional, Iggy had the crowd in the palm of his hand, but did a great job of working the press pit during the first three songs too.
© Haydn Williams 2008
Iggy and the Stooges - Harewood House, Leeds - August 2007. © Haydn Williams 2008
Iggy quite deliberately hit me in the face with the mic, and I will happily tell that story to anyone who’ll listen.
© Haydn Williams 2007
Iggy and the Stooges - Harewood House, Leeds - August 2007. © Haydn Williams 2008
More Iggy.
© Haydn Williams 2008
Biffy Clyro - Venue, Leicester - February 2008. © Haydn Williams 2008
I never really ‘got’ Biffy’s early stuff, but when this image was taken they were riding high on the back of ‘Puzzle’ and would cement their success with ‘Only Revolutions’
the following year. For me the energy of this gig was the turning point in me starting to really like them. © Haydn Williams 2008
The Zatopeks - The Vic Inn, Derby - November 2007. © Haydn Williams 2007
The Zatopeks – a band clearly in it to have a *lot* of fun.
© Haydn Williams 2007
Zolof the Rock & Roll Destroyer - Leadmill, Sheffield - September 2007. © Haydn Williams 2007
Zolof stuff still works when pared right back (see the acoustic version of ‘Diner Song’), and the space in this image fits nicely with how I ‘see’ lots of their stuff in my head. I’m not sure that makes sense, but I love them.
© Haydn Williams 2007
Less Than Jake - Astoria 2, London - September 2007. © Haydn Williams 2007
Everyone loves Roger.
© Haydn Williams 2007
Less Than Jake - Astoria, London - September 2007. © Haydn Williams 2007
Less Than Jake did a six-night residency at the Astoria 2 in 2007, and I managed to get a photo pass – for all six nights! How they kept the typical LTJ vibe going for almost a full week I don’t know, but they did!
© Haydn Williams 2007
Gallows - Rock City, Nottingham - February 2008. © Haydn Williams 2008
Not normally my kind of thing, but Gallows were incredible. Frank Carter just snarled and smashed his way through the entire set, and this was about the only time he was even approaching anything less than break-neck speed all night.
© Haydn Williams 2008
Streetlight Manifesto - Rock City, Nottingham - February 2008. © Haydn Williams 2008
I looked forward to Streetlight Manifesto for a long time, and they didn’t disappoint. This kind of sums up the pace throughout.
© Haydn Williams 2008
Sum 41 - Rock City, Nottingham - February 2008. © Haydn Williams 2008
This one was manic – just as much fun as the Fat Lip video would have you believe.
© Haydn Williams 2008
Zolof the Rock & Roll Destroyer - Corporation, Sheffield - May 2008. © Haydn Williams 2008
Zolof have such a chilled-out, fun sound – I think this image shows how the live shows reflected that.
© Haydn Williams 2008
Sonic Boom Six - The Vic Inn, Derby - June 2008. © Haydn Williams 2008
Laila, ever the professional.
© Haydn Williams 2008
Sonic Boom Six - The Vic Inn, Derby - June 2008. © Haydn Williams 2008
Another shot that I think spells out the fun of an SB6 gig.
© Haydn Williams 2008
Enter Shikari - Rock City, 2008. © Haydn Williams 2008
It’s always nice to try and make something of keyboard players whenever possible.
© Haydn Williams 2008