Music festivals are great, aren't they?!
Food. Booze. Music. Facepaint. Wellies. Atmosphere.
Bloody marvellous!
Recently I was contacted about being the official photographer for the LIVESTOCK festival, a modest one day music event at Forty Hall in London. How could I refuse?
Livestock is a wonderful little festival, with live music across three stages and plenty of family entertainment (children under 11 free!).
The weather forecast looked suspect but soon enough it was time to open the gates to the public and it was SHOW TIME...
The event kicked off at 12pm, opened by the Mayor of Enfield no less! This wasn't solely an official visit though - after the formalities were completed, she changed into her festival gear and joined in the fun!
As the festival goers flooded through the gates and headed off to their chosen stage, the music began. 'R' Voices Choir got the music going in the Black Barn.
It was going to be a good day!
There are three live music stages at Livestock: The Woodland Stage, The Black Barn and The Feel Good Stage. Covering as many bands as possible meant I had my work cut out!
There was a flamboyant start on the main stage (The Feel Good Stage), with some glam rock creating a great atmosphere as people arrived at the festival...
Moving between the stages gave me plenty of opportunity to interact with people and see what was happening away from the music...
Everything was going perfectly... then came the rain!
Many liked it and just got on with it...
But some didn't...
Either way, there was nothing anyone could do with the weather, so it was on with the show!
I headed down to the Woodland Stage next for some Chicago Blues, a short walk from the main arena...
I then retreated to the shelter of the Black Barn to dry off!
On the way I stumbled across a few of the many volunteer helpers that make Livestock possible...
Obviously it takes a huge number of people pulling together to co-ordinate a festival, and Livestock is all about the people!
Jacob Thomas even found time away from organising and overseeing such a huge event to play on the Woodland Stage...
Again, a short wander allowed me to observe festival goers doing their thing...
One thing I love about festivals is the colour.
Festivals effortlessly inspire creativity...
There were glittery shoes...
And face paint of course...
There was plenty for the children to do too, including a field full of circus fun.
As the evening kicked in, so did the alcohol...
The main stage was keeping morale high, with plenty of sing-a-long fun...
The rain came and went...
...and came and went.
But the music played on!
And the crowd partied on....
That was the pattern for the whole day really, and what a day it was.
The weather didn't stop the fun, and there was always The Black Barn to retreat to if necessary...
The talent on display and the standard of performance was incredibly high across all three stages, for the whole day.
There was gypsy jazz, Delta blues, rock, indie, pop cheese, soul and Motown... basically, something for everyone!
With daylight fading, the Feel Good Stage (main stage) took things to another level with a fantastic light show to enhance the festival experience.
As the day wore on and dark descended, The Kubricks performed a storming set to close Livestock 2017 in style...
And that was that. To finish off the day I used the great lighting to create some interesting promo shots for future Livestock events...
A great day and a monumental effort from all involved.
It was ace documenting it all with my camera and I strongly recommend you check out LIVESTOCK 2018...
Here are a collection of shots from the festival,
Sonny
(ALL IMAGES IN THIS BLOG POST ARE TAKEN AND OWNED BY SONNY NATHAN)
