‘No Cameras Allowed: My Career as an Outlaw Rock and Roll Photographer’ tells Julian David Stone’s story of sneaking his camera into concerts to capture stunning rock and roll photos. Jason Barnard talks to Julian about capturing the 1980s greatest acts and his new coffee table book covering 40 different music artists and hundreds of never before seen photos.
Your book is called ‘No Cameras Allowed’ – when and why did you get the idea to sneak your camera to gigs?
It really started at an early age when I realized I was not going to be the next Eric Clapton or David Gilmour. I had no musical ability and I needed to find another way to be part of rock and roll, which I was crazy about for as long as I could remember. I loved photography and when the Ramones were coming to town, I decided I was going to photograph them. But the real moment came when I, with my camera bag over my shoulder, was turned away at the door to the club by a security guard — No cameras allowed!! At that moment, I decided I would find another way to get photos of the Ramones and I snuck my equipment in. From that moment on, I was hooked.
Where are you from and what is your background?
I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, eventually relocating to Los Angeles to study filmmaking and then enter the entertainment business. I’ve had a nice run as a screenwriter writing screenplays for Disney, Paramount, Sony, and MGM. Continuing my love of my music, I wrote the full-length play, The Elvis Test; and made several short-form documentaries on Frank Sinatra for Warner Bros. I also wrote and directed the hit cult comedy feature film, Follow the Bitch, which played to packed houses all around the country and received numerous awards. Most Recently I began writing books, with my award-winning debut novel, The Strange Birth, Short life, and Sudden Death of Justice Girl, about the world of the 1950s live television, currently being turned into a TV series.
Had you much experience of taking photos before you started?
I had dabbled with photography through most of my teenage years, but it was only when I started shooting concerts that I got really serious about it and really starting experimenting with different approaches and techniques for getting a really good photo.
Your shots are very clear and evocative – what camera did you use and how close were you typically to the stage?
I started with a Canon AE-1 and then quickly switched to a Canon A-1 which I used for the vast majority of my photos. I always tried to get as close to the stage as possible, and over the years I not only developed techniques for getting my equipment into the shows, but also for getting as close as I wanted to. But I never liked to stay in one place for too long – partly so I wouldn’t get caught, and partly so I could get different vantage points and thusly more interesting photos.
Were you ever caught? Were there any dangerous moments?
I definitely had my share of crazy run-ins with security at various shows. In the book, I include several stories in great detail, but a few that stand out: At a Joan Jett concert, I had a roadie jump off the stage and chase me through the crowd. Fortunately I was able to get away from him – Just barely. I was also caught at a Duran Duran show by their group security. They ripped the film out of my camera and tossed me out of the show.
What are your memories of capturing Bono and U2?
I had the great fortune to see U2 twice in the early 1980s, both times at pivotal moments in their career. The first was in Dublin, Ireland, in mid 1983. The concert was an all-day affair, outdoors, under the bluest sky I had ever seen, and I happily discovered that Irish security was just as vulnerable to my camera-hiding techniques, and I easily got my equipment in.
I don’t know if I was the only American in the crowd, but it sure as hell felt that way. By the time U2 hit the stage as the headliner, the emotional energy in the crowd was palpable. The band had not played in Ireland for almost a year and, more importantly, not since the War album had come out and made them international stars. Adding to the intensity and the feeling of home, it was also the Edge’s birthday. Near the end of the show, a cake—complete with lit candles—was brought out on stage, and the crowd sang him “Happy Birthday.” When it finally ended, well after the sun had set, the festival crowd dispersed into the darkness and, en masse, sang “40” over and over: “How long to sing this song? How long to sing this sing?” They were taking the show home with them—because, after all, this was their band.
The second time was just a year a half later, in San Francisco, California, in late 1984. When they hit the stage on that cold December night, it seemed like several years had passed. They were returning to America with their new album, The Unforgettable Fire, rushing up the charts—proving that the success of the War album had not been a fluke—and with their first top 40 hit with “Pride (In the Name of Love).” They beamed with a well-deserved confidence, and this show was where I first really saw what U2 was—and would be for the years to come: a powerhouse rock and roll band that could produce a stunning amount of theatricality and often by very minimalist means.
A photo I took that night of Bono highlights exactly what I am talking about. In it, Bono is pointing at a lucky fan, who will then be pulled out of the crowd, brought up on stage, and handed the Edge’s guitar. Quickly taught a single chord, the entire band then exited the stage, leaving this lucky fan alone, strumming the guitar over and over under a single blazing spotlight. Wow.
What venues did you attend the most and what were your favourite live shows?
I didn’t particularly have a favorite venue, each had their own pluses and minuses, but I did always enjoy when I got to shoot in a new venue for the first time. It added to the excitement of seeing the performer — being in a new and unfamiliar space, too.
You took some great pictures of Prince, can you describe how you managed to evade security to get in?
I was not born when Elvis first hit, and I was very, very young during Beatlemania, but the biggest musical craze I do remember was Prince during the Purple Rain era. I can vividly remember walking through the dorm of my college and hearing the Purple Rain album pouring out of room after room and after room.
Prince was everywhere.
And when he toured in support of the album and its namesake movie, I made sure I was there. Prince was in his absolute prime, and I knew this was going to be something special, so I decided to buy a special new lens for the occasion—a powerful, super-fast telephoto lens.
The problem was, it was too big to hide in my pants! And too big for the peacoat that I had specially modified for hiding my photo equipment! Making matters worse, I didn’t discover this until I was in the parking lot, just about to head into the show.
Fortunately, the fact that I was attending this show with a female friend and that this was the ’80s saved me. By 1985, hairstyles had started to get big … super big—so big that my ever-fashionable friend always carried with her a giant can of Aqua Net, and fortunately today was no different.
Confidently, we headed toward the entrance, and once we closed in on security, I could see the guard we were approaching narrow his eyes as he focused intently on my friend’s giant white purse and the outline of a long cylindrical object pressed against the tight white leather. When we reached him, I offered our tickets as a diversion, but he didn’t bite. Instead, he went straight for the purse. He pulled it open, ready to expose some sort of contraband, but then broke into a big laugh as he stared down at a giant can of Aqua Net.
He let us through, oblivious to the fact that just under the can of Aqua Net was a giant telephoto lens.
Prince put on a show for the ages—dancing, singing, playing guitar, sermonizing, writhing on the ground, doing splits in mid-air … and all of it in heels.
How did taking photos at stadiums compare to smaller shows?
Like the previous question about venues, each had their unique plusses and minuses. Smaller shows the security was often harder to deal with because the crowds were smaller and security had more time to check you out as you went in. Also, because fewer people were involved over-all, it was harder to get lost in the crowd. As I mentioned earlier, I learned this at a Joan Jett show when a roadie jumped off the stage and chased me through the crowd. Larger shows were often easier to get into in the first place because security was so overwhelmed with the crush of the crowd. But once inside, because in many cases people had been in line overnight, they were very territorial and it was really battle to get close to the stage. When I saw The Police at Shea Stadium I was fighting my way closer and closer, a yard at a time, when a quick downpour unleashed on the crowd. Everyone scattered, but I threw on a rain poncho and was able to take advantage of the situation. I moved forward in the chaos, eventually spending the entire show in the front row. Sometimes you get lucky. Then again if I hadn’t starting carrying a rain poncho as part of my kit… well, as the great golfer Arnold Palmer once said, “The more I practice, the luckier I get.”
What are your favourite pictures and why?
I have so many favorites – Sting standing shirtless at Shea Stadium, looking out at the crowd, the very definition of a Rock God. Bono pointing into the crowd for a fan he wants to bring up on to stage. Chuck Berry playing a county fair on a bare stage illuminated in a single spotlight – an image that could be 1955 or 1985. But my all time favorite is a shot of Prince I took where he’s standing with his hand above his head, about to hit a mighty power chord, but because it’s Prince, there’s a big flowing pink boa as part of the action.
What’s the biggest lesson you learnt in concert photography?
It’s a lesson that works for most things in life – the more you do it, the better you get. And never turn down a chance to shot a show no matter the size of the band. At the small gigs, when there is a comparatively little at stake you learn all the things that will make you successful when shooting the bigger bands when everything is at stake.
You started to get press passes to shoot, did that change things for you?
Yes, first it was so strange to show up at a show with a camera bag over my shoulder and not have to worry about security. Second, it was so different being in the pen, in the very front, almost looking up the performers noses. They only wanted you to shoot the first three songs and then go home. This is where my old “Outlaw” training would come in handy and I would disappear into the crowd and keep shooting the show.
Why and when did you give up photographing live shows and what did you do next?
Inspite of my rock and roll photography career taking off like gangbusters, I had decided I wanted to be a filmmaker. I was in college studying film, but was getting calls all the time to shoot shows. I was having a hard time sustaining the two career paths. After an incident at a Bruce Springsteen show — which I cover quite extensively in my book – where I had a mechanical malfunction causing almost all of my photos to come out blank, I took this as a sign and hung up Rock Photography for good. It’s a decision I question to this day.
‘No Cameras Allowed: My Career as an Outlaw Rock and Roll Photographer’ by Julian David Stone is available at Amazon.com, or for signed copies, check out juliandavidstone.com
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