Ross Halfin Is Funny

I posted about famed hard rock photographer Ross Halfin last October. I told you all to check his daily diary entries, dating all the way back to 2002.

The guy is tremendously witty and does not pull any punches about the characters he has to deal with as he shoots a who's who of the rock world. One of his BFFs is Jimmy Page - need I say more?

Iron Maiden, Led Zeppelin, KISS, Mars Volta, Areosmith, Velvet Revolver, etc. The list goes on. He has shot them all and partied with most. And he hate hate hates Metallica. His anti-Metallica rants are gut busting. His first hand account of the Zeppelin reunion is also great, as are his photos from that event.

Anyway, I have a lot of new readers so I wanted to re-post about Ross.

For example, check out an entry this week about going to Dubai to shoot a festival:

March 7
At 2am Dave Clarke and his posse of British press and photographers arrive. 'Order us a drink,' says Dave. I stagger to the bar. 'Twenty two pints of lager please and two double rums and coke.' The women behind the bar and everyone along it look at me as if I'm mad. I repeat the order. They all arrive - Dave says 'Same again please.' No wonder foreigners hate the British. I go to bed at 3am and leave them to it.

The Dubai Desert Rock festival is next to a huge mall, bigger and better and faker than anything you would find in America. I like it a great deal and would happily stay there shopping, instead I go and see Machine Head starring Rob Flynn. Rob says 'Raise your fists in the air and headbang, motherfuckers,' followed by a guttural 'Uuuuurghhhhhhh!' at least fifteen times in the space of ten minutes. Rob's communication skills, bringing the west to the Arab world, are enlightening.

In the middle of the crowd is a platform hanging from a crane holding a disco with a DJ and cocktail bar. I go up with Dave Clarke and Scott Rowley, who is dancing in the disco, completely open at 300 feet above the crowd. You can see through the floor straight down into the flat concrete. I am terrified, pretending to shoot Machine Head from up there while re-discovering God, thinking 'please don't fall, I'll never blaspheme again' as Robb screams 'UUUUUURGGGGHHHH MOTHERFUCKERS' another twenty times. As the crane descends I find religion, at least until I've got off. Thank you God...

His site is here. Click on the diary page to get to the posts.