Lila Iké

@ The Jazz Café

Date Taken: 14th July 2024

The journey continues at the best place on Earth! And this one is my second Photo Pass show, although I unfortunately wasn't given anything physical.

I was also given a ton of static on the way over – including a cancelled train & issues getting into the venue – but I eventually got in.

Because of all the static, I missed the support act for the first time in years. I pride myself on seeing the supports because you never know what you'll get. Some of my favourite artists became so off the back of me seeing them live as support.

For this show the support was Summer-Pearl who I saw this year @ Cross The Tracks (obligatory "Peep the Post" link here…) so whilst I'm not too sad about it, I still would've liked to get shots of her in a more intimate environment.

Calm Before…

Another ripple from the aforementioned static was that the place was packed once I got in, causing me to try and fail to find a good spot. As you'll see momentarily, I found a spot on the far left of the stage which forced me to get creative once I got to editing this set.

Speaking of which – I've chatted enough – let's jump into the set, starting with the other person involved in this intimate, Acoustic show: Grammy Award-winning guitarist Lamont Savory.

Whilst I only got five of him solo, he features heavily in the set. Partly because of where I’m stood but hey, we cook!

So I’m going to deviate just a little from the usual chronological order and instead break this set up into themes. Beit colours, monochrome or whatever recipe I was using at the time.

Let’s begin with yellow which featured prominently in the beginning.

I really loved the shots where the lights were bouncing off Savory’s guitar, mixed in with the smoke created an interesting subject. The smoke gets cut off after a point, making the photos much clearer.

The next colour was Red, which I wish I got more of because it really was hitting.

Especially so at one point where it was flooding the stage. They never went back to it which was unfortunate.

Next up is some Monochrome! I have a lot of them, mostly because I’m really into shooting mono these days.

I’ll split it into two, this one with less dedication to shadows.

Next is what I would describe as the realistic look. You'll get what I mean with the white lighting and ability to gauge that Lila is wearing blue.

Let’s head back to the Mono, with a more moody essence…

Two more to go. The penultimate is a quick one but my favourite subset of the entire set… The colours, the shadows, the composition. Everything hits for me.

And because I have to keep in chronological somewhat, we finish with the final moments of the show where Lila gets up and gives love to the crowd. She was given flowers and a drawing of herself which was a nice couple moments of the show.

I look forward to the next time she comes over and who knows! Maybe I’ll be there… IN A BETTER POSITION.