When Matthew “met” Noel Gallagher

When Matthew “met” Noel Gallagher

A brand new Career High has just been achieved

Throughout the next few paragraphs I’m going to break a couple of cardinal sins when it comes to blogging and acting professionally.

I’m going to:

Boast and brag about my job as a photographer
Not offer any guidance or advice to any of my readers
Talk about a celebrity encounter that has left me feeling on cloud nine

Tonight I have just photographed the one and only Mr. Noel Gallagher. Of those of you reading this who know me quite well, you’ll no doubt be aware of how influential this man has been to me since the age of 14. When so-called friends laughed and poked fun at me for being an Oasis fan back in the 90s it made it quite difficult to feel confident about declaring ones musical tastes. So I just tended to keep it to myself. Until I started at Buxton College in 1998 and met a new group of friends who were on board with the Brit Rock scene and helped me to embrace it. And so life went on.

Noel Gallagher, Roskilde Festival, Oasis, Live Music, Music photographer, music photography

Since then I have fallen in with different groups all around the world and finding Oasis fans amongst them has never been a problem. On the contrary; I’m fortunate enough to have a great bunch of mates who share (or have shared) the love and its been a huge part of the bonding process.

Which leads me to tonight’s encounter with Noel and his High Flying Birds, who took to the stage at the Roskilde Festival in Denmark at 8:30pm. I rushed to get here from Copenhagen, where I had a race to shoot for about an hour. With just minutes to spare (I’d bagged a reserved parking space and legged it to the press area as fast as possible) I was slightly pissed off to discover that my ‘press pass’ wasn’t valid in the photo pit, because it was missing the letter P. Bollocks, thought I. Nevertheless, I still found my way to the front of the crowd and began papping away like the enthusiastic little monkey that I am.

Three songs in and the photographers were told to leave, as is always the case after three songs at a gig. But I, on the other hand, had a prime spot at the front and managed to continue taking pictures. And the gig just kept getting better and better. It was pretty Oasis heavy, to be honest, but the crowd definitely didn’t seem to mind.

Lo-and-behold the end was nigh and Noel and Co. left the stage in my direction. Now’s the time, I thought, and clicked the shutter as if it was about to go beyond its use-by date. Which is when I got this little beauty – a keeper for the portfolio, I can tell ya.

Noel Gallagher, Roskilde Festival, Music Photography, Music Photographer

Noel Gallagher exits the stage at the end of his Roskilde Festival performance

I exited the arena too and meandered back to the press area, which just so happened to go right past the Artist Entrance / Exit. And who was coming out at that very moment? I don’t need to tell you, do I?

Not wanting a repeat of my Chris Moyles showdown, I managed to cooly give him the thumbs up, which he promptly returned before disappearing with his entourage to the safety of the Artists’ Camp. And that was that.

Writing blogs can be difficult, mainly because of the time it takes to write something thoughtful and constructive, whilst trying to be passionate and honest. It can take research and lots of will power to get to the end before you’re happy to press Publish. Which is why, just for a change, I wanted to give you, dear reader, a quick passionate insight in to why I fucking love my job.

Maybe I can offer some advice to you after all. Don’t waste your time hanging around with people who don’t support or respect what you do or love in life. I know I did. Instead, take the time to find people who share the same interests and feelings and run with them. They will be the ones who set you free on the path to an enjoyable and fascinating life.

I’d like to dedicate this post to Matt Lomas, Alan Cope, Johnny ‘Cakes’ Millane, and Jamie Knowlden.

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