Finally got to see one of my heroes last week when Billy Bragg played the Empire. Ably supported by Paddy Nash (with no Happy Enchiladas in sight), Bragg was on top "angry old man" form, including a full-on spat with the bar staff and Amnesty officials when an Occupy Belfast poster was removed from the stage. Not a man who mellows with age. For once, the lighting in the Empire was good and workable with; no funny colour casts. All the big songs were there, and some versions of songs I wasn't expected. It was billed as a night of protest songs and didn't disappoint - the choice of Roll Over Beethoven as the most important protest song of the century was unusual but when (as Bill pointed out) you consider the effect it had on music in America and particularly the impact it had in getting white people to listen to black music, it's maybe not so strange after all.
Update! I had tweeted a few of these shots tagged with Billy Bragg's name. The man himself got in touch today through Twitter to ask if he oculd use some of my shots and would I mind e-mailing them to him. Result. And on a more practical note, yet another example of how Twitter is a good tool for getting your photographs out there and seen by people.
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