KISS
22nd March 2008
Rock2Wgtn Festival, Wellington, New Zealand
Photos and words by Doug Peters.
This gig was an absolute eye opener for me from the very beginning, and it wasn’t music related. For the first (and last) time I had been recruited as an “official” festival photographer by the promoter to shoot the Rock2Wgtn Festival. The plan was to shoot the whole two days, uploading all the images as we shot them to an online store where people could view and purchase said photos. We were told the promoter had cleared it with all the bands, and a small group of us set to work capturing every aspect of the two day festival. KISS were the headliners of the first day, and I was excited to finally get the chance to witness one of the bands I had plastered all over my walls as a teenager. Unfortunately their set was less than memorable – it just seemed like a bunch of old guys going through the motions (something that seems to have changed at KISS shows these days if reports of their concert recently in Auckland are to be believed). Our small group snapped away, and uploaded our images – excited to watch the sheer number of sales going up and up for the few days following the festival. It was magical, all of my costs for the weekend had been covered and we were into pure profit… when it all came crashing down around our ears. It seems Gene and the guys in KISS had taken against the whole selling of images, and legal action had been brought against us. Thanks a lot for that Mr Promoter. I never did see any money for that gig, and these photos were archived in fear of further repercussions. That is, until now. Enjoy!
Equipment: Canon EOS 5D, Canon EF 70-200mm f2.8L
Were you at Rock2Wgtn that year? Or have you seen KISS at another one of their shows? Tell me about it in the comments below!
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