Live Music Returns with Thirsty Merc
There are some jobs you shoot, where you just sort of pinch yourself, asking whether it’s real. Shooting this project at Friday’s in February of 2022 was surreal in two ways. Firstly, after years of mask mandates, density restrictions and isolation rules that had crippled the music industry to the point of complete desolation, a glimmer of hope had arrived. Live music was back, and with long-term client Friday’s and Australian Venue Co positioning the riverside venue as the future home of live music in the CBD, one of the first concerts was there. Secondly, the artists were none other than those harbingers of Australiana, local legends Thirsty Merc.
We were brought on board to shoot photo and video content of the event, which was a packed extravaganza complete with one of the most eclectic and diverse crowds we’ve seen. With a mix of younger and older fans, a stunning evening, and the gorgeously lit up Brisbane river and Story Bridge in the background, the entire thing was a picturesque joy to shoot.
Our two man team for the evening split the photography and videography duties, so that we could capture the full depth and breadth of the event.
From a photography perspective, socials were the order of the day, with a number of group shots coupled with a series of candids. On top of that, we captured the band in their element, with close ups, action shots, over the crowd shots, and more.
When it came to the video work, we focussed on both the crowd and the band. With a little less emphasis than we usually would do on the features of the venue (that is, the bar and the interiors), we instead tried to focus on the facilities available for live music acts; the stage set up, the equipment, and the gorgeous vista framing the band behind them. On top of our standard 45 second and 15 second edits, we also pulled together a number of loopable GIFs. We also couldn’t resist making use of the band’s iconic back catalogue, but cognisant of the copyright issues associated with that, utilised a couple of specifically edited IG Reel videos. That allowed us to do specific cuts to the band’s music, and will allow the client to utilise that content on Instagram using the IG Reel feature, without having to worry about the videos being taken down or the audio being removed due to copyright issues.
You can see our highlight video from the night below!