every once in a while you gotta treat yourself, right ? in my case i decided to get some more ink under the skin.
a few months earlier i had asked MARK from GOOD KARMA & CO to do me a tiny red favor. tiny in size but big in meaning (and it grows with every day),
and then later on i did some portraits of him and tobi for the vienna tattoo convention.
so yesterday it was mark´s turn again and it so happened that i brought my camera along ;-)
so... here is my point of view

09/12/18 PINK

final show of the year was "pink´s funhouse" performance last night at the stadthalle in vienna.
we had no space to move, cause we were only allowed to stand in an area of aprox. 4 squaremeters ;-) which sucked of course,
but at least she had good stage light. needless to say, the show itself was pure entertainment.
i saw her a few times before, doing much more rock a like shows, but the pop thing.. hmmm (<--this "hm" doesn´t count,ok ?) i don´t know.
all in all i photographed around 120 shows this past year, met many interesting people and still love what i do and hopefully will be able to continue doing it.
there are many many people who supported my work over the last years. i honestly appreciate every little and big thing you all did for me.
thank you all so much, you know who you are.
take good care everybody and try to smile more often ;-)
ah .. right.. here are some PINK images for you to enjoy

09/12/06 bb king painting by tom noll

so after TOM NOLL finished the "dave matthews" painting he started right away to work on another image,
using my BB KING photograph as a draft.
and again the result is mindblowing. it is a pleasure to see, with how much discipline tom is using is incredible talent.
looking forward to receive the #1 print and think i need a bigger apartment if we continue the collaboration ;-)
so if anyone is interested in buying some of tom´s art,
this link will take you to his website, or contact me and i hook you up with tom ;-)
love your work tom... keep on pushing it.. you rock

09/12/05 THE SOUNDS

sold out "arena" last thursday night, "the sounds" were about to abso'fuckin'lutely rock the building.
i met the band before the show to give em hardcopies of the portraits we did in august this year.
clumsy rené forgot to bring the one of johan.. again my appoligize.
"matt & kim" from new york rocked as the support... very interessing i have to say.. only drums and keyboard..real good sounds.
so good in fact , that by the time "the sounds" hit the stage the crowd was already cooking.
they put on an amazing set with lots of energy and even did a little "cowbell" action with one of their fans from front row.
for those who missed that night... watch out for their summer dates ;-)
thanks again to the guys and girls from "the sounds" for letting me do what i love to do .
ah yeah right.. and to "depeche mode" .. see you in budapest ;-)

09/12/01 YELLO

it is a great, great pleasure of mine to show you the two portraits of YELLO we did yesterday,
before their virtual concert premiere of "touch yello".
if you get a chance to see this concert movie, you should take it. pretty amazing show with an incredible sound of course.
i think i got my first YELLO record in the mid 90´ s and i remember my mother laughing her ass off because of the "funny" sound.
later on she actually bought the "baby" record twice in order to help me out with some money ;-) luv you mom.
and then yesterday i finally met dieter meier and boris blank and it was simply amazing. both of them are very charming and down to earth.
we met again in the evening and i gave em prints of the portraits and dieter said, that the one of boris is the best picture of him ever taken ;-)
they both seemed to like the images and so do i.
again thank you dieter, boris, kim and peter for letting me do this and a big thank you to romy,
who, as always, did a great job encouraging my work and helping me along.
see you all tonight at the "billy talent" show and maybe later on with our heros of "biohazard" ;-)
take good care everybody and smile.

09/11/23 RAMMSTEIN

it was 14 years ago when i first saw rammstein perform. back in those days they played in front of 500 people.
things have slightly changed since then...and so they entertained some 14.000 in vienna last saturday.
of course we had to sign a contract in order so take pictures. a contract in which we agreed,
that if rammstein would like to use any of the images we take, they can do that without paying!!!
ahm.. how about the rights of other artists ??? does it always have to be the way,
that the once who make millions have to rip off everybody else and take everything they possibly can ??
i just don´t get it. why is it so difficult for humans to share ??
but..back to the show.
needless to say that they brought as many pyrotechnics as they possbily could and there was fire everywhere.
kinda too much fire...but besides the great show the actual sound was horrible, way too much echo in the arena and
also the setlist was a weak one. ok, they just released a new record...
i understand that they want to promote it, but they almost played the whole album and only ONE, you read right,
only ONE song from their debut record "herzeleid".
in my opinion still their best record. viennese audience was once again a boring one.
it must have really sucked for the band, after playing in spain and portugal the days before.
when all the smoke is gone, we see them at "nova rock festival 2010" again.

09/11/22 SAINT LU

"hard rock cafe munich" last thursday...it kind a felt like my second living room after being there with the guys from shinedown two days earlier.
but this time there was some live music involved.
lovely "saint lu" was about to rock a really crowded cafe.
she just released her debut on friday i suggest listening to some of her tunes here
after al ong night at the cafe it was time for a sold out "muse" show at the olympiahalle in munich on friday.
i like the venue cause of the really nice architecture. actually the whole olympiapark is a great place to be and enjoy some live shows.
"muse" had a great great stage set up and of course some crazy lights. but somehow their vienna show a few years ago was much more catching to me.
i would say it was much more experimental.
beastie, thanks for the business seats, my back really appreciated it ;-)
their support-act was "biffy clyro", which i have seen several times before and finally met them at the atershow party later on.
very nice guys and incredible musicians.
they will be in vienna on the 10th of december at the flex. a show you should not miss.

09/11/19 SHINEDOWN

After a sunny ride to munich with a quick stop at the „chiemsee“ it was time for rock n´roll again.
Met „shinedown“ at the venue and then we drove over to the „hard rock cafe“ (no, i didn´t order the burger)
where they did an hour of meeting&greeting. I was nice to watch all the people having a great time.
Part of the m&g took place in a private room, where the wall decoration was designed by gold & platin records ;-)
hung out with germanies most know rock n´roll dog „carlos“ who walks side by side with the great great „beastie butterfly“.
If you ever need some tour assistance..she is your girl.. check out her site.
Later on the guys of „shinedown“ entered the stage at the „theaterfrabrik“.
The stage wasn´t to high and they really had some action going on .
unfortunately barry hardly ever saw some stagelight so it was impossible to get a decent shot of him
but i honestly had a great time at the show and they pretty much killed everybodys brain by playing
„devour“ as the last encore.. amazing.
on my way home i got pulled over by the cops. Actually this happens almost every time i am in munich.
i guess it has something to do with the „long-hair-guy-drives-a-grappy-car“-theory. Last time they pulled me over,
the first question was „anything up your nose ?“ ... excuse me..?? „ you know speed, cocaine or anything else?“...
i mean honestly what kind of answer do they expect ?? „ yes, sir i have 2 pounds of the finest columbian cocain in the trunk,
you get some if you drop the charges“..this time i told them that i don´t even drink...
but somehow the THREE cops didn´t get it and asked me „and how about last week ? did you drink then ?“
and even if.. what would that have to do with today ?? all those conversations immediatley end after they want
me to show them whats in my suspicious black suitcase. I guess expensive camera equipment puts you back in the clear...
don´t drink and drive fellas
luv

well the hardest part on shooting the guys of "gogol bordello" was to get "eugene" to sit still.
if you have ever seen them live, i am not telling a secret when i tell you, he is the most hyperactive person you might ever get to see ;-)
when they walked in my studio the whole area was field with excellent vibes emited by very friendly people with positive energy in their hearts.
i had a great time meeting them.
if you can, spread love my fellas, nutil next time a big hug from the huugybear.

09/11/10 GREEN DAY

before i took off to berlin to meet with the "eagles of death metal" it was all about some mainstream punk-rock ;-) in a sold out arena in vienna.
green day entertained some 12000 people at the stadthalle.
before the show there was some award-happening (platin or gold for sold records in austria) scheduled but however those guys didn´t show up to except the awards.
i would say it was a very rude and emberassing action not to show up.
there are many people involved in order to get to a point where a band is able to receive an award for their work.
so not showing up to receive it is in fact an act of disrespect to all the people who worked hard on those achievments. shame on you .. honestly.
but lets not forget, that in most cases the band does not even know about it and its some super-motivated tourmanager screwing things up.
don´t know whos fault it was ;-)
however here are some images from their show and the opening act "prima donna".
see you all tonight at the " gov´t mule" show
stay classy everybody..luv

09/11/05 RISE AGAINST

back in august, when frequency festival was thundering over austria, i met with the guys from "rise against".
they were already prepared to go onstage but still took those few minutes to let me do some shots.
very nice humans and as you can imagine we had a fun time.
so maybe "the baseballs" tomorrow but for sure "green day" on friday and the off to berlin for the "eodm/arctic monkeys" show.
see ya and stay with the funk fellas

09/11/02 PORCUPINE TREE - ANTI-FLAG - ALEXISONFIRE

after a weekend of rock n roll with 5 shows in 3 days its time to get some rest... just kiddin ;-)
"porcupine tree" at the gasometer was ok, not to special. it seemed like they were always slowing down whenever the groove was going.
so it was actually a bit strenious to follow as a listener.
later that evening i saw "baaba maal" at the porgy. that show was amazing.
none of the numbers ended under 10 minutes.. pure groove and lots of ganja-smeel in the air.
on sunday it was time for some punk again. anti-flag and alexisonfire destroyed the gasometer. fun to watch but pain to shoot. very very low light.
take care everybody and smile. see you at the massive attack show tonight
luv

09/10/29 EAGLES OF DEATH METAL - PART II

as announced, here are some more images from the "eagles of death metal" show in graz.
see you all rockin in berlin next week.
take good care everybody

09/10/26 EAGLES OF DEATH METAL

on their current eurpean tour the "eagles of death metal" stopped to play some decent rock n´roll tunes in graz.
i accompanied them with my camera and love to show you some of the images before they went onstage.
a real big big thank you to boc, david, jesse, joey and the lovely koko for letting me do this. a special thanks to anna for gettin me connected ;-)
i had such a great time and their show was simply amazing (including some heavy rocking with qotsa/sweethead guitarist "troy van leeuwen").
you know.. when someone scratches down your spine and you get a huge kick out of that feeling ...i had that feeling througout the whole show...
good vibes and energy.
stay tuned for some images from the show
luv

09/10/19 dave matthews painting by tom noll

earlier this year i received an email from "tom noll", an american painter,
asking if he can use one of my dave matthews images as a draft for his painting. i took a look at his website, saw his incredible paintings and felt honored.
today its my pleasure to show you the painting he did after my photograph.
he did great work and they will go in print late november. so if anyone is interested in buying some of tom´s art,
this link will take you to his website, or contact me and i hook you up with tom ;-)
tom, you do amazing work .. keep on rockin

09/10/16 pixie lott

a week ago i did the first x-mas shooting of the year.. with pixie lott. ok it was not the first one..
i remember doing some back in april this year ;-) weird world
felt kind a strange doing the christmas thing more than two months in advance.
and especially when you are not very attached to the jingle jangle ;-)
.. ah right.. pixie who ?? she is a young british singer and makes the kind of music you get to hear on mainstream radio.
soulpop ? i think thats how she described it.
anyhow.. the shooting was fun.. especially cause VIVA tv was around..
and they were told that i can be very rude if they are in my way.. i had to laugh my ass off..
me ..rude ?? WTF..
it was fun but also a very tight shedule to work a few images out..
here are some.. the rest will be published
take care

09/10/11 cemeteries

after enjoying i nice walk with the birthday-girl, a deer and some rabbits its time for more images.
whenever there is time or when i am traveling i try to visit a cemetery. i like the silence and all the figures around.
one of the most interesting graveyards i have seen, is in munich. it is an old jewish one and it is more used as a park then anything else.
people actually take their sunbaths inbetween the graves and one time i was able to watch a childrens birthday party with baloons between the crosses.
"hide & seek" was also very popular ;-) i don´t think it is a rude way when people do that, it´s more an nice way to assimilate another part of life.
and if you ever wondered if the decomposing bodies are bad for our drinking water... i did the research... nothing to worry ;-)
hope you all had a great weekend
double "x" for the white rabbit, hurry hurry

09/10/07 stalker

i guessed it for a while but now i know for sure, that i have a very cute stalker checkin my blog frequently.
sweetheart, i am working on some new images, but i would like to leave you with this performance of david gray´s "shine"
hope you like it.. think of you .. xoxoxo

09/10/05 peter fox

back in august i was able to meet up with peter fox, member of the german band "seeed". he was touring with his own band by that time.
to get him in front of the lens was not that easy. and once it happend he thought it would be the whole band on the picture and almost canceled our meeting.
i would have loved to picture every one of them but unfortunately its not a decision i make. however here is the photograph of peter..

09/10/01 greenpeace

looking at the world as it is, it is obvious that many things have to change.
i know that as long as we are not affected in our small worlds, we often are not able to imagine how important other things are.
there are many organizations trying to make a statement.. one of them is greenpeace.
a current project of them are "polarbears". their home is melting and this is not only a problem for a far away living bear..
it will affect all of our lives sooner or later.
a good example of stubbornness was one "fiaker" driver in vienna, complaining about the action and why we picked such a grounded place...
hmmmm maybe to get some attention??
but go on aggrieving horses by driving round silly tourists.
i also recognized that kids don´t really care about food anymore.. i saw so many fat children eating fu**** mc donalds food..
unbelievable.. i guess no one cares about them. anyway here are some polarbear images ;-)

09/09/30 the sounds

continuing my portrait series with some images from "the sounds". we did them after their show at the "frequency festival".
can´t remember who but one of the guys asked me for a copy of the "joey castillo" portrait i did. he wanted to surprise his nephew who is a big fan of him.
hope he was surprised and has some new wall-decoration now ;-)
see you in december

09/09/27 a self-portrait

well it has been a while since i posted some images but finally i finished working on my selfportrait.
i had a really interesting conversation last night about the responsibility of a photographer.
we say what the images are and show, and the majority mainly takes that for granted.
which of course leads to a lot of missinterpretation. in the case of this fictive portrait of mine,
i am pretty sure someone would come up with some strange suicide theory. not someone who knows me, but then again not everybody does ;-)
so i´d like to narrow it down a little. the image is about life and its many roads. too many to easily get lost.
the whole life thing can get really out of control sometimes and then i feel like a headless chicken running around trying to find some path again.
there is of course more to the image but i think not everything always needs to be explained. its to much talking going on anyway.

leave you with some wise words from the anchorman:
stay classy everybody

09/09/09 my grandmom

a month ago, for the first time in my life, i had to experience the loss of a loved one. after suffering from cancer,
my grandmother passed away while sleeping and hopefully dreaming of a secret place.
she was in fact the most patient and most love giving person i had ever met and probably it will stay like that.
even with all the pain she must have had, she was still smiling and comforting the others.
i cant tell you how much respect i feel for her and my lovely mother and brother, for taking so much care of her and us.
for the last couple of months i captured some of the remaining moments we shared together. lots of memories are being brought back while looking and working on those images.
to me it feels right to show and share them since everything we rely on, are feelings.
life, a stairway to heaven (yes, zeppelin are on right now), which obviously doesn´t exist anyway. so i assume its just a weird ride we are on ;-) (yes, you and me too)
thanks for all the comfort over the last weeks and remember:
don´t fake the funk, or ya nose will grow

love and miss you

09/09/07 IN EXTREMO

we did those images right before they went on stage, as usual ;-)
i think there is a strong relationship between the images and the music they make.
it´s their faces telling the story of their sound.. might sound strange, but still the way it feels.

09/09/01 DIMMU BORGIR

earlier this year i portrait norwegen metal-band "dimmu borgir", they had the dressing room next to my studio at the "nova rock "festival.
i was able to watch them prepare for the show by putting on tons of make-up and heavy costumes.
i didn´t watch the time but i would say it took them almost two hours, if not more to get ready and still they were patient enough to let me do a few shots.
they had been really focused while we did the portraits and i highly appreciate that ;-)
a big thank you to the boys and of course to the lovely yvette ;-)
hope to see you soon

09/08/26 LEONARD COHEN

full photopit in wiesen, high stage and they gave us one song time to get a couple of shots on leonard cohen.
shouldn´t be a problem.. but as soon as he starts to sing it shivers down your spine. you pretty much freeze.
i am very happy with the image i picked cause it somehow brings back all the feelings on certain moments last night and reflects his music and person perfectly. at least to me it does.

09/08/25 FREQUENCY FESTIVAL

coming right after any festival.. postfestival depression. anyhow i got over it and remember three really cool days at "frequency festival".
got to portrait some nice bands and will post those images as soon as i develope them.
however none of this would have been possible without the great help of many good characters.
in alphabetical order a BIG BIG BIG THANK YOU to:

ANNA, CHRI, EVA, EWALD, DANI, HARRY, HAUBI, JOSEPHA, JULIA, KRUSTI, MO, MARTINA, NURI, PAUL, QUAXI, ROMY, SALLA, SABRINA, STEFAN, SUSI, TERESA, TOMMI, ULI
enjoy some more live shots from the festival

09/08/24 THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM

i used to live in new jersey for a while, somwhere around the area where the guys from "the gaslight anthem" come from.
meeting & chatting with them brought back lots of memories and probably i will move back there one day ;-)
to those who haven´t listend to their sounds yet i suggest to do so ;-)
here is a great version of "the 59 sound" with some special appereance click here

09/08/22 FREQUENCY FESTIVAL DAY II - MARC ALMOND & GRACE JONES

what a day it was, all kind of problems the whole day.. including some equipment damage. buuuut.. finally i got to see marc almond.
most of the audience were watching some boring german act on the main stage while marc was on. shame on you ;-)
but those who stayed were treated with his marvellous voice and got to enjoy wonderful music.
later on it was grace jones entering the stage and changing hats for every song ;-). very impressive lady.
the two of them really made my day. here are some images,i will post some more later on.. see you at frequency day III in a while ;-)

09/08/21 FREQUENCY FESTIVAL DAY I - EAGLES OF DEATH METAL

got to meet jessy from the "eagles of death metal" and gave him some hardcopies of the portraits we did earlier this year.
jessy really liked the portrait and is going to hang the picture over his bed ;-)
their show kicked ass, but unfortunately the light was a bit poor, i did a few shots from onstage and got some nice onces of joey.
one of the most powerful drummers i have ever seen.. unbelivable !!

>

09/08/19 DUFF MCKAGAN´s LOADED

legendary "guns n´roses" bassist, duff mckagan together with his new "loaded" bandmates geoff reading, mike squires and jeff rouse.
you could tell they had a good time together and enjoy what they are doing, fooling around and not take things to serious.
by the way i am still waiting for the webisode i am in ;-)

rock on
>

09/08/14 CONTACT FORM PROBLEMS

hello, during some server maintenance i found out that the "contact form " on my website was not working due some server difficulties. there is a big possibility that some message haven´t been delivered to me.
i apologize for any inconvenience this error might have caused. in case you are still waiting on any reply, you might have to send your message again.
thank you

09/08/08 TERA and WAYNE STATIC (STATIC-X)

still working on some portraits i recently did. STATIC-X played at NOVA ROCK festival this year and wayne and his wife tera wray stopped by to let me do some portraits. enjoy them ;-)

09/08/06 PHIL ANSELMO

i was just going through some files and wanted to share some images of phil anselmo. he was actually touring with "down" when i took those, but we had "met " many years before when he played with legendary "pantera".
i think it was 1994 or 95 when they played a show in my former hometown "wels".
i was backstage having a leek and so did phil. he had his back turned against me and when he turned around he still held on to his dick.
he looked at me and started to swing his dick around and yelled something like "he guys, see you after the show" and left the toilet.
ahm yeah..thats the story of me and phil anselmo ;-)

09/07/19 DAVE MATTHEWS BAND

finally i found some time to get those images up. the actual show took place on the 7 th of july, at the heineken music hall in amsterdam.
as always their show was a blast and for me the last one of three in a row.
unfortunately the stage was very high and made it impossible to get a good chance to picture every member of the band. anyhow i am very happy with the once i got.
a big "thank you" to carrie, for letting me do what i love so much. i honestly appreciate it.

09/07/17 BB KING

this was one of the more difficult shoots so far. not because of poor light or what so ever, but the crowd was just a pain in the ass. during the break everybody went up front stage to picture every single cable they could find. i still ask myself what for ? someone even told me he is a professional photographer as well, while he pictured some micstand with is ixus camera, whatever ;-)
however they wouldn´t start until the crowd had taken their seats again. unfortunately that didn´t last for very long. when BB King entered the stage everybody was on their feet again and upfront of the stage, of course without taking care of us doing a job. crowd went nuts with taking pictures and so promoters aborted our phototime and we left after just 2 minutes of shooting.

anyhow i got what i wanted ;-)
hope you like em
see you at NUKE festival tomorrow

09/07/15 LOVELY DAYS FESTIVAL WIESEN

deep purple, foreigner and mothers finest

09/07/03 DIJON - impressions

on my way to montreux i stopped for a couple days in dijon. rings a bell ? yes the famous mustard´s hometown.
met a few kids in the park, and 30plus degrees made them turn the park´s fountain into a public bath.

09/06/29 PARIS - impressions

after almost a week in paris we finally left the dirty city. i dont understand why people say "it is the city of love"??? anyway we had a blast at the "dave matthews band" show on our last night. amazing setlist and everybody was in a great mood. unfortunately no concerts images this time but i leave you with some impressions of paris instead.
take care

09/06/29 PARIS - Bouleplayers in paris

while walking through paris i met new friends ;-)
some friendly boule players didn´t mind me taking a few pictures.

09/06/28 PARIS - demonstration against the sri lanka government

currently i am in paris and today there was a demonstration of "tamil" people against the sri lanka goverment. i was talking to "shiv" who explained me the situation in his homeland.
he told me that the sri lanka government, which is run by 3 members of one family !!! killed over 20.000 tamil people between january and may 2009 using chemical bombs.
doctors and victim´s parents have been locked away by the government so they can not report about that tragedy.
international help has been refused by the government.

it was really shocking to hear all the stories "shiv" told me. i know the media keeps it short with reports about the happenings. so please make some research on your own and spread the word.

09/06/23 NOVA ROCK FESTIVAL

first festival of the year and it was amazing. cant say that about the weather but who cares when there is so much rock n roll around.
had a little studio backstage and got to portrait many interesting people but without the help of many others this wouldnt have been possible.
so i´d like to thank (alphabetical;-) anna, beastie, christian, christoph, dani, david, eva, ewald, franz, haubi, harry, julia, josepha, martina, mo, muck, nuri, paul, sabrina, salla, stefan, thomas, tommy and uli for all their effort.
hope i didn´t forget someone ...
here is one of the images showing new placebo drummer steve forrest

09/06/15 KORN

last week KORN played in vienna. they spared some time and we did a shooting right before they went onstage.
hope you like em and you can also see the images on the bands website click here

09/06/13 LENNY KRAVITZ

after a week of sickness lenny rocked the stadthalle in vienna.
the arena was far away from being sold out, but the show kicked ass. it´s simply amazing watching him rockin & funkin with his marvellous band. if you get a chance to watch, go and do so.. you wont regret. enjoy some of the images

09/05/15 METALLICA

you want heavy ??? metallica gives you heavy ;-)
few days ago metallica played in vienna..i´ve seen them a few times before but never performing on a centerstage.
those circumstances added a little more creativ freedom to me as a photographer.
and of course the fact, that they are not paralyzed stageactors like many other bands, helped too
see you in a month when they will give us heavy again ;-)

09/03/10 PETER FOX

some images from the "peter fox" concert
cheers

09/02/13 SHINEDOWN

update on the portrait section with photo from US-rockers SHINEDOWN.
a big "thank you" for taking the time after a strenious european tour.
see all four of them in the portfolio
cheers

09/01/15 ALICE COOPER/ olympiahalle/ munich

actually this show took place november 08, so its not brandnew but still scary ;-)

08/12/06 KID ROCK/ stadthalle/ vienna

hell yeah...this guy is simply amazing and played an honest rock n roll show.
just wanna say thanks for a really nice evening.

08/12/05 SIDO/ gasometer/ vienna

totally different from most of the shows i attend was last nights SIDO performance
it was hiphop night and somehow a night with some human tragedies.
there was the biggest blue eye i have ever seen after someone got punched, relationships were broken up and right after that best friends tried to get a grip of the now (ex)girl of their friends.
oh and lets not forget some upset drunks hitting the wall with fists full of anger ;-)
it felt like being in a cinema

08/11/26 SLIPKNOT/ stadthalle/ vienna

just got back from a crowded slipknot show in vienna, aprox 10.000 headbangers attended this very tense concert.
but lets start right before the show, were the band was given a gold record for their sales in austria.
it so happend that i took the "group picture".it was a short proceedure as usual.
they came, grabbed their awards, i took 3 pictures, they left right on stage and it was showtime
enjoy some images from the show