As someone who also tours, it is always a treat when a familiar band is playing in the city you are in when you happen to be on your day off. This time it was Cult of Luna, in Stuttgart, Germany. And to say that I was lucky on this, would be an understatement, as Cult of Luna delivered and learning of the existence of Svalbard UK was an extra treat.
In all honesty, I don’t know where or how I first learned about Cult of Luna, but needless to say, upon first listen, I was hooked. Sadly, over the course of the last few years, our paths didn’t cross (as they were in cities I had just left or would be in the coming days), and finally last summer, somewhere at some festival, in the north of Finland, they were the direct support of the band I was out with at the time. I got to capture 3 quick photos and watched a song, before going back to work, but I was happy to see my feeling about how amazing their live performance remained. And finally, our paths connected, and I was able to catch a full performance and capture some photos as seen in the review here.
I will be honest that I am terrible with music catalogs, however, I am great at describing how the show itself goes, and as a photographer, I do hear the music and see the show in my head as I work on the photos that get seen by all.
To start, coming early gave me the opportunity to learn about Svalbard, a post-Hardcore masterpiece, and also a dual vocal team, between both singers and guitarists Serena Cherry and Liam Phelan, they simply slay it on stage. Between their musical material and their live performance as seen through my photos, they’ve certainly brought it to the crowd and the crowd was eating it up. After their set, their merch table was flooded with fans and me, I got the chance to tell them how awesome they were. I also supported them by buying some merch. One of their coolest shirts is a photo of a long-haired cat with the band logo.
In direct support was Russian Circles, also post-Metal with a Prog Rock twist, in which there were no vocals. They gave a stellar performance, but personally not my thing. I love hearing complexities in music (Tool for example), however, I personally start drifting mentally. Some enjoy that, some do not prefer it. But visually, I hope the fans enjoy the photo set.
Finally, Cult of Luna, already knowing I would be impressed, the Swedish post-Metal band of course brought “it” to their show. Singer and guitarist, Johannes Persson, known for his guitar in-the-air move, did so many times throughout the night, and giving all sides of the crowd the attention they were all craving, including me and my camera lens. Their set was magnetizing between each song, a feeling as a photographer, sometimes fades off, as we are there to focus on our work at hand, so it is a rare treat when a band can break through that barrier. I hope my photo gallery of them does the public viewer some justice.
If you have the chance to follow any of these artists on the current or next tours, as they all have big plans ahead, I strongly do recommend catching them in your town and following them on their socials.
WORDS AND PHOTOS BY ANNIE ATLASMAN