JJ © Sean Hayes

Baz © Sean Hayes

Baz © Sean Hayes

JJ © Sean Hayes

I was fortunate enough to be invited by Het Depot in Leuven, Belgium to be the “instagrammer” photographer for a recent concert of iconic punk band The Stranglers. In between shooting with a mobile phone and uploading instantly to the instagram account of Het Depot, I managed to shoot some hi-res images with my Sony a7s. As for the scowl in the last shot of bassist Jean-Jacques Burnel: I deserved it. JJ spotted me with my face buried in my mobile phone. He read it as someone disrespectful of the music and made his feeling known by ‘gently’ placing the sole of his immaculately polished Doc Martin shoe on the top of my head. Warning noted. He smiled. I smiled. What he didn’t know was that I was frantically uploading concert photos and footage to the concert venue’s Instagram account. Shoot. Edit. Upload. Social media has its perils. Especially if a very fit karate master takes umbrage. The Stranglers deserve respect. They’ve earned audiences’ complete attention with some of the best synth punk sounds ever written. Apologies JJ. Great gig.