Zar Paulo had an incredible 2024, and that is coming after a pretty spectacular 2023 where I posted two large essays featuring Zar Paulo at Northside festival and VEGA. 2024 saw Zar Paulo playing huge concerts at places like Roskilde Festival, Parken Stadium, Smukfest and 3 sold out nights at VEGA. I have photographed the band since 2020 and it is so wonderful to see the band deservedly hit the big stages after so many years of hard work (Zar Paulo turned 10 last year!). I shot 6 Zar Paulo concerts last year and all of them were really special, I absolutely love being a small part of the ‘family’, it is always a highlight hanging out with ZP, management and crew and working these incredible concerts. These are the kind of 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. Roll on Zar Paulo in 2025 and 2026 and thank you so much for an epic 2024!
Tivoli – May
Zar Paulo (ZP) kicking off the year at Tivoli Gardens early May and it was a gorgeous and wonderful Spring day which made the early start bearable. Soundcheck at Tivoli is at 10am because you have to be done before the park opens for the public. I actually really like shooting at Tivoli, the stage is wide with big ‘wings’ so I have space to move around and find my angles, and stage is tall too so there is space for all the lights to shine. ZP played a great show, the crowd responded with good energy, a great start. I also remember I forgot during the show that the last song has a breakdown with a ‘fake’ ending and then launches into an even bigger climax…at which point I had already made my way to the center podium, so oh hello, last part of the song, there is more, I think the village idiot will now just lie down behind the podium and be invisible while everyone in the band jumps and runs all around me. No band members were hurt in the making of these pictures hehe!
Parken Stadium – June
Zar Paulo was support act on day 2 of The Minds of 99 three day takeover of Parken Stadium so I was extra busy on this day, documenting both support act and the main band and running my photo team. In hindsight, a bit much to take on during what was already the biggest job of my life, but I wasn’t going to miss my favourite band warming up for my favourite band! The crowd responded really well to the short warmup set and the view from the stage of 50,000 people lit up in ZP blue looked awesome.
Roskilde Festival – July
ZP playing the mighty Arena tent at Roskilde Festival in front of 20,000+ people – this was a major milestone! I have to admit I was so dead tired from the giga Minds at Parken project the week before that I just remember glimpses of this day. I remember the most insane rain storm when we arrived. Fortunately it stopped and all the kids could climb out from their tents at the camping grounds and into the big tent in time for the show. The tent was packed even if it was only 2pm. The concert was a blur for me, the best memory is in that last picture, the band thanking the crowd after an incredible performance and the crowd just would not stop cheering and clapping and it felt like a loop almost, it lasted minutes and minutes, there was just so much love for the band and the amazing energy and emotion and love everyone had experienced during the show.
I shot this show with my good friend Malthe Ivarsson, on these huge festival stages it really helps to be a team as it takes forever to get out into the tent to get some wide venue pictures and Malthe made some fantastic work. I am featuring 3 of his pictures here, including the end picture, shot from a remote camera that Malthe mounted the night before in the truss above the stage!
Smukfest
ZP playing the main stage at Smuk festival in front of a huge crowd on a really warm Summer afternoon! It was hot, with the sun blazing directly into the stage area it felt like the stage was 50 degrees. I remember feeling slightly ill after the show, it is possible I should have not shot the show in a jacket but you know, once you are committed to an outfit. I can only imagine how cracked the band must have been, especially Emil the lead singer, but the energy again was amazing, and the view from the main stage surrounded by forest is the most classically looking gorgeous view of any stage in Denmark.
VEGA – September & December
Indoors! After daylight festival shows it was so nice to have darkness and club atmosphere! ZP ended the year with an Autumn and played 3 sold out nights at Vega, I was there for the first one in September and the last one in late December. I shot one of the shows on an anamorphic lens, giving that cinematic wide look with flares. I loved both of these shows, the energy and love in Vega’s main room with 1500 people was off the charts and I had such a fantastic time documenting these shows at a venue I know like it’s my home.
Finally, I love to see my work on tour posters, here is where you can catch Zar Paulo in 2025:
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