2023 was a well deserved fantastic year for Danish band Zar Paulo. They released their wonderful debut album Elendig Software and played some major festival stages, including the fantastic show on the main stage at Northside Festival, see my photo essay here. Zar Paulo then ended the year with a large headliner tour, their largest to date, that include two shows in the main room at legendary venue VEGA in Copenhagen. Two concerts where Zar Paulo played their debut album to an ecstatic crowd that resulted in a truly electric atmosphere with so much love and energy for Zar Paulo and their live performance!
Documenting these shows for Zar Paulo was just absolutely magical, 2 fantastic days hanging out with band and crew working these 2 incredible concerts. These are the days I really look forward to, the days that I live for as a music photographer. It is really only on days like these where I can push myself and make my very best work. Working with a band that I know well and have photographed several times before and I know and love their music, it all adds up to being in the zone. These are days where I feel I can make pictures where you can hear the music in the picture, where you can feel the energy and emotions. I always play around with slow shutter speeds to get that feeling of motion, like a perfect frozen still from a movie, movement, emotions and energy still evident.
The pictures in this essay is a blend of my favourites from both concerts, for the first show I focused more on wider shots, showing peak moments in a wider frame often including the crowd to show the sold out venue. For the second show I focused more on portraits of each band member from the pit and the stage, and I love the luxury of having more than one show to really thoroughly document and capture the essence of a band’s live performance.
Photographed with my favourite setup, 2 x FUJIFILM X-T5 cameras with XF16-55mm and XF10-24mm lenses. I love this setup for this size venue, I can get close and never need more reach than the 55mm.
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