A couple of weeks ago I was in Berlin for a few days. One of them I spent with the guys of Jaya The Cat capturing one day of the release tour of their new LP called “A Good Day For The Damned” - from the arrival at the venue to the sound check, dinner, the show itself and the party afterwards at “Milchbar” in Berlin, Kreuzberg.
It’s been an extremely funny night and I’m very happy that I had the opportunity to capture a cool photo story, because that’s what I like doing. So here and now I want to share this story. You will see a lot of pictures taken that night, arranged mostly in slideshows and put into context with some thoughts of mine. Enjoy!
The show was taking place at Bi Nuu, a venue which is right underneath the metro station Schlesisches Tor. When I arrived there, the tour bus was already parked in front of the club. I immediately started taking some shots. So here’s the first one of the night followed by some others taken during unloading, setting up the stage and preparation for the sound check.
At some point two police officers stopped by. Not that they wanted to enjoy some cool tunes, but to ensure order and compliance with the regulations. So Fast Eddy, the designated bus driver and music lover, had to move the bus and wasn’t seen for a while.
Then the sound check started, and I grabbed the chance to get shots from some unusual angles you won’t normally get during the show itself. For the following one I got on a ladder and used a 14mm fisheye lens.
And here you go with some other pictures of Jaya The Cat checking the sound.
After the sound check was finished, there was some time for relaxing backstage, having a shower or checking the ominous internet. At this point I tried to snap some more candid portrait shots.
For dinner we went to an Asian restaurant, a pretty cool place for sure, but I actually cannot recall its name. Of course, I also did some shooting on our way and over there including the documentation of mass arm wrestling.
Neither can I tell if the food was good, Why? Guess, whose was forgotten to be prepared…
Well, since we were kind of in a hurry to get back to Bi Nuu before stagetime, I did not reorder but had a snack when we were back at the venue. Shortly after this it was time for the guys (and me for some part) to hit the stage and do their thing. The venue was almost sold out and the crowd was full of energy and going totally crazy as you can see in the next shot.
And here you go with a slideshow full of other photos taken during the show.
After the show was over, things had to be packed up quickly, since there was supposed to be some sort of 24h rave starting at some point in the night. So everybody was a bit in a hurry, but still there was time for one drink or another backstage with some old and new friends who stopped by to see the show.
After a quick stop at the tour bus we got on our way to “Milchbar”, a very cool place with great music where I hadn’t been before. I was getting more and more focused on having a good time, so at some point I finally stopped shooting before I got on my way back to my place a couple of hours later.
This is one of the final shots of the night I took of Karl celebrating after a round of flipper and I think this shot describes the day pretty well… Oh yeah, what a good time.
And here’s something extra for you to have a good time with. It’s one of the tunes on Jaya The Cat’s new LP. Enjoy it and thanks for checking out my story! Feel free to follow me on Facebook.