A festival in Germany is what started it all for me as a professional photographer, and I still return to the same small town festival in Luebbecke most years to soak up the atmosphere and take a few photos 
whilst catching up with old friends and making new ones.
This year was no exception and as ever the theme running through the weekend was people having a good time. There’s no place here for introspective emos; this is all about up beat music and audience involvement.
Barney, off Boogie Train fame
First up was a band called Barney’s Boogie Train who had the local Outlaws MC along to support them.
One of Barney's singers....
The eponimous Barney was ably supported by a bassist and drummer and later joined by three very decorative ladies playing rock and blues standards.
Barney's bassist, DT Shepherd
The second band on the Friday night were called High Above L.A playing a mixture of their own brass driven feel good songs and well known covers. These guys come into the old friends category as I saw them last year and they now use my photographs. The stage alone was no where near big enough for this band , so they took to playing/singing in the audience space too. They have possibly the worlds bendiest bassist.
The world's bendiest bassist? Bernd from High Above LA
Heinrich from High Above LA
High Above LA's high octane front man and half the brass section
Saturday started with an old school rock and roll band named after a brand of condom……. Mr G and his Billy Boys. These guys were amazingly enthusiastic and took audience involvement to new levels. A group of rock and roll dancers, mostly of a similar vintage to the music, came along and added to the spectacle. As an aside, the band’s bassist also plays in a Beatles covers band and is touring the UK in early October at venues including the Horns in Watford and The Cavern in Liverpool. The full list of dates can be found HERE.
Mr G himself, Guido, gets up close and personal with the audience...
This was another band for whom the stage wasn’t big enough. The guitarist came out amongst a throng of ladies, whilst the front man Mr G himself singled out just one.
On another stage at the other end of the town a band called Chickens’ Nightmare were doing their stuff amid swirling smoke., playing old school rock in the style of Thin Lizzy and Whitesnake amongst others. Christian & Co are likewise past customers of mine and it was good to have the opportunity to meet up again.
Chickens' Nightmare L to R Alex, Heiko and Christoph
High Power vocals from the Chickens' Nightmare frontman, Alex
These guys did at least keep to the stage though!
Following them was a tribute band to a German act that I have to confess I had never heard of. By all accounts though, they do an exceptional job of representing the work of Marius Muller Westernhagen, both in terms of looking like him (just the singer obviously) and sounding like the genuine article. Certainly, they were very slick and professional, and greeted with entusiastic applause. The band is named after one of Westernhagen’s songs, ‘SEXXY’.
SEXXY frontman, Michael Hahler
SEXXY saxophonist Catharina Rohlfing and bassist
SEXXY, the Westernhagen coverband
The final band of the weekend are something of a cult act, having appeared for the past 13 years; they are very much old friends and are in fact the band that started me on the path to professional photography. Major Healey are not so much a tribute to one band as a tribute to a whole era, the glam rock 70′s.
Female lead for Major Healey, Miss Kitty
Porter Ricks, lead guitar
Danny Wilde, Major Healey's shock rock front man
As well as a smoke machine, we were treated to pyrotechnics and lots of glitter and outrageous costumes. For reasons that have never been made clear, but possibly to protect their anonymity, the band members all have pseudonyms taken from old TV programmes….
All the above bands have websites and/or MySpace pages, links to which follow:
Barney’s Boogie Train High Above L.A Mr G and his Billy Boys Chickens’ Nightmare SEXXY Major Healey
A full selection of my images of these bands can be seen by going HERE and selecting the appropriate band name
