As I write this the Lepps and Snakes should be tearing it up in Tokyo about now. Spoke to Rick Allen on Skype earlier, the jet lag was hellish apparently but I know both bands were chomping at the bit to get out there and show 'em how it's done!

Here's a couple of photos I took of Joe Elliott and "The Cov" during the UK summer tour. These were done for promotion for the Japan tour that's happening right now.... hope you like 'em.

ASH

 

June 25^th- Arrive in London early on.... Traffic Jams... The hotel is in Knightsbridge and the traffic is utterly horrible. I worked in and around London many years ago and hated every single moment of it! Stinky, polluted, expensive, congested, noisy and just not me at all.... Like Houston, only with a mass of British history..... Check in to the hotel, shower and sleep.

Wake up later in the day, check my emails, and edit a few pics... Eat three Mars Bars, sleep some more, wake up with cabin fever and then head downstairs to the hotel bar and order a meal and a Guinness... They have a soccer match on in the bar full blast and there's a bunch of noisy fans who collectively feel the need to scream together every time there's a near goal. I give up after about an hour of this, finish up my pint and stop off by the hotel shop to stock up on Mars Bars and a Crunchie and head to my room and the land of nod..... zzzzzzzzz The less I see of London the better.

June 24^th- Wake up pretty early get some breakfast. Recently I reconnected through Facebook with an old old workmate from my days as a sales rep for Cadbury when I lived in England. It had been over 13 years since I saw Lee last when I left the company to emigrate. He saw on Facebook that I was on tour in the UK and was in Sheffield today. I got a call to the room that he stopped by the hotel to see me so I headed down to the lobby to meet him. I was great to see Lee again and we caught up over coffee and tea on what had been happening in our lives. He'd been promoted and had a family, I moved away and became a rock photographer...... a huge contrast in lifestyles yet we both still gelled and reminisced about old times. It made me feel great that he took the time to come by and say hi. It's the little things in life like this that really matter more than the material. I intend to stay in touch with Lee, he's a great genuine guy that doesn't change. The hour that we caught up has been a highlight to this trip.

2pm and we're on our way on the bus up the road to sunny Newcastle. As we get further up the A1 it gets darker and more grim. By the time we arrive in Newcastle it's characteristically raining and overcast. Newcastle was one of those places that just made me feel depressed at the mere mention of it's name and time away seems not to have changed that. The venue is kind of dreary and out of date. I'm supposed to do a shoot with Joe and David Coverdale but there's nowhere decent to set up a shoot. Pop in to the Cov's dressing room and we decide to shoot him and Joe in there later on.

Set up a light in DC's dressing room and am offered a nice vintage whisky whilst setting up and as Lord Coverdale gets ready. Joe comes on in and the banter and innuendo between the two starts as I begin shooting. It's hilarious and reminds me of a cross between Blackadder and Monty Python, Classic!! The two of them together are like a couple of rude school boys. After I get done with the comic duo Viv Campbell and I find a spot in the stairwells of the building and do a quick shoot with his silver sparkle Gibson guitar. The walls and flooring in the stairwells is a nice vivid blue which makes the pics pop with the ringlight. It's like a bloody rabbit warren backstage and the Def Lep Dressing room, Hospitality and Production are each on a different floor! Ray Charles designed this layout I'm sure, not a whole lot of fun with a bunch of heavy photo gear up and down the stairs.

Each show we've done the Black Stone Cherry boys have gained momentum and added hundreds of new fans. They're on fire! Whitesnake go on after and hit it hard and nail it spot on! By the time they're off the stage the venue is a blistering steam bath of humidity and frothy fans. They're wound up and primed for the Lepps and as the intro music and video rolls they start going wild. Start off the first couple of songs down in the pit and it's so hot that it feels like I'm back in Texas. Run around the back of the stage and up on to the drum riser next to Rick where he plays up to the camera for me. Stand right behind him and get some great wide angle shots looking out into the audience. It's a full house and looks great but the place is so hot. Joe says later that it was the hottest gig he's played ever which is something considering they've played just about everywhere. Great crowd tonight and the loyal superfans are on the front row again showing their support. They keep stopping me to talk about my work. Great to be appreciated and told good things about what I do. Seems that the fold out Def Leppard tour book/poster is going down well with the fans as I am asked to sign several of them tonight. Nice to have fans too I guess.

After the show the band splits up between the two tour buses. I'm on board with Phil and his girlfriend and Joe and his wife Kristine. Poor Kristine is having trouble getting in and out of the bunk and I get some pics of her comical struggles whilst Joe is in the one above me. I tell him "No Spooning" tonight and he just smiles and winks. I'm actually ready to get my head down and rest as the last several days have caught up with me and I'm drained. A long drive down the road to London from Newcastle........ About seven hours.. I think our bus driver bought a sack of coal in Newcastle and decided to store in it my mattress, wonderful!

June 21^st- Up early to Belfast. The airline has a stupid weight limit on hand luggage so Rick Allen kindly lets me offload a couple of heavy lenses and my laptop into his bag so I'm allowed to take mine onboard. He's a gent! The bloody airlines in the UK are getting worse enforcing their rules, they're succeeding in driving their customers away more than anything else......SWINES!

Bumpy flight in from Manchester but we're on time and get checked in okay. It's cold and raining but Belfast seems like a nice place. I told by everyone that it's a nicer place than during the time of "The Troubles" which really doesn't take that much to imagine. Head down to the venue and shoot the crews setting up the stage and sound. Get some good shots of Rick mooching around in the general admission area. Pop in to David Coverdale's dressing room for a bit of a chat, he's on form as usual. Grab a few shots of him in the hallway with Doug and Uriah and then with Rick Allen. Quite the raconteur he is.

Great crowd in Belfast, actually the loudest crowd so far. I went up into the roof of the building tonight on to the catwalks. This mindless act of photographic determination almost caused me a couple of involuntary bowel movements as the walkways are metal grills that you can see right through! Right through to the crowd and stage a hundred feet below. The poor bloke guiding me up there has to do his best not to laugh at my spasmodic stumbling and baby steps as I hold the railings and attempt to shoot with two cameras around my neck. If you're looking to sweat off a few pounds quickly then this is the way!

Late leaving the venue and getting to the hotel.... Crash on the bed tired and thankful that I didn't yakk up on the Balmy Belfast crowd below.



Pics of Ash Working : Photo Credits to JAYNIE (Thanks!)

June 20^th- Catch up on a few messages and get some breakfast. Head down to the hotel gym again and get going into a good workout. My Ipod is running on shuffle and Whitesnakes "Still of the Night" comes on. A few seconds into the intro part of the song the gym door swings open and Mr. Coverdale makes a grand entry....."Ash Baby". Un frickin' Canny!! Spend some time catching up with DC whilst we work out. It's good as we haven't seen each other in quite some time and he fills me in on the latest happenings. See Uriah from Whitesnake for a little while, he's wearing a pink t shirt that shows a Unicorn shagging a Dolphin! Something tells me that he didn't have regular mushrooms with his cooked breakfast this morning......



Get my gear ready later and the tour bus picks us up from the hotel to go to the venue, the Manchester M.E.N. Nice big dressing rooms for us and a big white wall in the bathroom for doing photos of Phil and Sav for Jackson guitars. Take some shots of the guys onstage at sound check, Viv continues his ongoing tradition of flipping me off as I walk around and shoot. I have to snap myself out of it sometimes, the band sounds incredible. My Mom and two best mates are coming to the concert tonight. Mom has never been to a concert before so I'm kinda wondering what her reaction is going to be.



Head out to the box office at 6pm to take Mom her tickets and passes. I wait around a little while and see some of the folks from the Whitesnake forum that I know but haven't met. It was really nice to meet them in person. I see Mom and my mate Staffy turn up and greet them, they both did a double take like they had to be sure it was me. Was kind of funny seeing that. My mate Kev couldn't make it as he got caught up at work having to fire someone or something very thrilling. It disappointed me for him as I know he's a big fan of Whitesnake and Def Lep. I walk them both past security and into the venue and up to their seats. They're at stage right on Phil's side with a great view of the stage. I come back later on and take them both backstage where I introduce them both to the Def Lep guys. She's gushy over Phil and thinks he's dishy. I introduce her to Joe and he says "So you're responsible for him!" as he points to me! Love it! Take them both around to the Whitesnake dressing room and get The Cov to come out and say hello. He's his usual charming self and full of hospitality. We pop into the band dressing room and see Doug, Timothy, Reb and Uriah. Timothy and Doug come on over and give her a big hug and we do some pics... Staffy is unusually quiet and I don't think he can believe it all., I'm surprised his thumbs aren't steaming away as he's the king of obsessive texting.

They head back to their seats and I head back to the dressing room while the guys are getting ready. Find a white wall and set up some lights and do a photo shoot with Joe, then Phil, Sav and lastly Rick. Right in the middle of shooting Rick I have a major Dejavu moment which really throws me off my game for a moment. Strange how that happens where the exact moment is something you've had before. I seem to have had quite a few of those this year....strange. Joe is in a great mood and we exchange filthy limericks whilst we shoot. He graciously poses for the Peanut Gallery on my website and we get some great shots! I'll post the outcome in the Peanut Gallery real soon.

Shoot some video of them warming up and then head out to the stage to shoot the show. The audience are a lot more alive than in Birmingham and the band clearly feed off this with a performance that is the best one yet! Get offstage and pick up dinner in the dressing room before we're due to leave. Mom and Staffy really enjoyed the show and are still buzzing from it all when they leave. Meet some sweet Def Lep fans from the website forum outside the venue gates before we jump on the bus and head back to the hotel. Hang out and unwind in the hotel bar for a couple of hours with Joe and Uriah from Whitesnake before the day catches up and knocks the crap out of me. It's been a great one!