Earlier this week, I was asked to photograph the group Gomez. I knew a couple of their songs from the radio and I had done a quick shoot with them many years ago. I walked into the dressing room, and was immediately brought in to a great conversation, which proved once again that the English have much better taste in music than us Americans. Tom Gray, one of the singers and I engaged in a spirited conversation about 60’s American music, including Joan Baez, Judy Collins, Dionne Warwick and Burt Bacharach. Our conversation was interrupted by Ian, one of the other guitar player/singers, who inquired, “Where is the freaky beer?” The conversation then turned to regional breweries, then concluded with a quick shoot with the band before they hit the stage.
The first set was filled with obscure songs from their catalog, along with a tribute to Davy Jones, (an amazing cover of I’m Not Your Stepping Stone). After a five minute break, they came back to play the top ten songs that the audience voted for before the show. No one in the band played less than two instruments (and played them very well) and three of them traded off on vocals song by song. All in all, a two hour and thirty minute show, with the sold out crowd sang along with note for note.
They were celebrating their 15th year of recording and touring and seem to be the prototype for the perfect business plan of Music 2012. Write and play great songs, treat the audience with respect, and give them value for the money. They record every show and make songs available to the fans. They ask for song requests on their websites. AND….Most of all they are nice guys!