Mr Eazi & Young Zilo Boiler Room event photography
A couple of weeks back I had the pleasure of capturing some event photography for Boiler Room x Ballantine’s True Music In The Round. This was the first proper socially distanced live music event that I’ve documented since the pandemic so it felt really exciting to be in among the action again.
It came with a whole new set of challenges and considerations, however - face coverings and restricted movement of the audience made me realise how much of my event photography relies on body language and facial expressions. The power of this photo from the last Boiler Room event that I covered for example, is most definitely in the facial expressions!
I think it must have been hard for the crowd at this event not to move around and dance as the artist’s - Zilo and Mr Eazi were both so brilliant. The ultimate perk of my job is being introduced to artists that I’ve not heard before and I absolutely loved both of these artists. Zilo has a sweet voice and powerful lyrics and talked a lot about keeping on with your creativity during this weird and crazy time. That was so nice to hear.
In between his incredible soulful and up-lifting music, Mr Eazi who was born in Nigeria used his platform to call for an end to SARS which has had a fatal impact on the young people of Nigeria. He also talked about music’s ability to connect people, something which is highlighted in Boiler Room’s video from the night which cuts in footage of the performances with footage of people enjoying themselves to the music from the comfort of their homes. See below for the videos of Zilo’s performance.
It’s obviously a very interesting time for the whole planet at the moment, but for me, it’s particularly interesting to see how the music and entertainment world are adapting to lockdown restrictions.
Also mad to think back to the early Boiler Room events that started 10 years ago, quite literally in a Boiler Room in a tower block and the various iterations of Boiler Room that have happened since then! When I started doing music photography, I never thought that my journey would be so tied to media and technology, but as Marshall McLuhen said, the medium really is the message.
Georgie
