Stephen Booth Photography Rock and Roll Eyecandy – Australian Music Photography

Katy Perry – 5th May 2011

Katy Perry knows how to make an entrance, do a pop song, and leap around a stage set straight out of Dr Seuss via Willy Wonka too. Not my usual kind of show to shoot, but you know what? It was fun. Big bubbly American candy flavoured fun.

Even though 80% of the crowd was snapping away madly on their phones for some reason it was deemed unsuitable for press photographers to be any closer than the halfway line of the venue, about 200 metres away. Odd for such a visual show, but I've kind of stopped trying to work out the logic behind these things anymore, it hurts my brain.

After shooting the first three songs through what was essentially a telescope, I head upstairs to join my friend and watch the show. After a couple of dumb questions from me about what it all means, I'm advised by my more pop-savvy companion to stop thinking about it so much, "detach" was the word I think? Ok then...

And there was pop music and singalongs, costume changes and dance routines, audience participation, giant exploding cup-cakes and a dude in a purple cat suit. They really had gone to some considerable effort with it all, thanks Katy!

And it was over, and it was good, and it was super wholesome, fun and upbeat, much like our Katy herself. There were thousands of smiling faces and lots of croaky voices from all the screaming (did I mention the screaming? Louder than Kyuss. Not joking).

Strangely though on the post show walk to the car I realised my mind was full of, well, nothing really, hyper coloured, brightly lit, expertly choreographed nothing. And that is entirely ok, because a pop concert isn't supposed to be intellectually challenging, confronting or difficult, it's just supposed to be entertainment, fun, time out from the real world isn't it?

I don't really have an opinion on whether that's a good thing or not, pop stars like Ms. Perry  exist in the world, and can be fun to spend some time with now and then. This guy has put together a neuroscientific defence of pop music . His thesis is that pop music affects your brain chemistry differently, and actually makes you feel better than nasty dissonant music, one of his sources is a Dr Blood, so it's not to be trifled with. You could expend some energy getting all ranty and post-post-post modern about it all, and people have, but that just seems futile. If you fancy a bit of candy pop go for it, if not then, you know, don't.

I've always like the revised entry for planet Earth in Douglas Adams' Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and think it applies to the Katy Perry school of pop music quite nicely - "Mostly Harmless".

Next up, Kyuss, rock beasts from the olden days, pretty much the exact opposite of KP, it's a funny old world...