THE KOOKS, VACCINES & DAISY THE GREAT BRING INDIE JOY TO SOLD-OUT HOLLYWOOD PALLADIUM
WORDS AND PHOTOS BY KAT MANOS
Taking photos of indie darlings The Kooks, The Vaccines, and newcomers Daisy The Great at the Hollywood Palladium proved yet again why this venue is one of my favorites to attend as a concert photographer. Ready for a night of indie guitar sounds that greatly permeated the early 2000s, I brought my Canon 77D and trusty 18-135mm lens (my preferred choice for shooting from a photo pit at a show) to photograph all three acts at the sold-out show.
Openers Daisy The Great, who hail from New York City, quickly set the tone for the night with catchy and upbeat songs heavy with pop-infused harmonies, and dance-y guitar licks and drum beats. Reminiscent of British favs Wet Leg, Daisy features a female duo - Kelley Nicole Dugan and Mina Walker - on guitar and vocals, and with a male backing band. Dugan danced across the stage and swung her hair around on the stand-out track “The Record Player Song,” giving a taste of all the movement and joy of what was still to come.
The Vaccines later opened their set with somehow even more energy that it felt like they could barely be contained by the Palladium stage. Red and white carnation flowers adorned each microphone stand as singer and guitarist Justin Hayward-Young moved about the stage with such vigor that you couldn’t help but dance along with him. The Vaccines are a great example of a tricky act to photograph; trying to capture their energy and movement is equal parts challenging and exciting. In the end, it feels like a treat to quickly move around other photographers in the pit trying to grab a good shot while also singing along with fun hits like “Post Break-Up Sex.”
Headliners The Kooks closed out the evening cresting on the lively and energetic vibe from the crowd. Singer and guitarist Luke Pritchard took the stage with only his white electric guitar and began a pseudo-acoustic rendition of their classic “Seaside,” nearly being drowned out by the crowd singing back every word. Afterwards, the rest of the band joined him as swirling lights shone throughout the venue. Returning to the Palladium for the first time since 2019, The Kooks tore through notable hits from their Inside In/Inside Out record, which celebrates its 18th anniversary this year. More than once, Pritchard mentioned he was overwhelmed by the energy from the crowd - especially during “Ooh La” - which made for particularly great moments to photograph.
As a concert photographer, you couldn’t ask for a better type of show than this one; shows with evocative acts that aren’t afraid to move or show emotion under colorful lights make for both an entertaining and creative environment to take photos.