Hanging out with Jarvis Cocker’s family and friends in the VIP section at The Plug in Sheffield was an unexpected bonus during my latest photo assignment for South Yorkshire newspaper, The Star. The former Pulp frontman returned to his home town of Sheffield to play two warm-up gigs prior to the start of the Australian leg of his world tour. Jarvis now lives in Paris, France with his French wife, Camille and son, Albert.

Retna Pictures, one of the world’s largest independent photo agencies, commissioned me to cover the recent Kaiser Chiefs concert at the Doncaster Dome. The highly publicised one-off gig, hosted by Radio One, featured material from their new album ‘Yours Truly, Angry Mob’ including their first No.1 hit, ‘Ruby’. If you click here, you’ll see I really was there! That’s me in the corner. (Now who sang that?)

A chance phone call to Live Aid/Live 8 promoter Harvey Goldsmith provided me with the opportunity to photograph legendary Saxon vocalist, Peter ‘Biff’ Byford, backstage at the City Hall, Sheffield. The band were featured in Channel 4’s new series called Get Your Act Together with Harvey Goldsmith during which Harvey helps to set them back on the path to the big time. The band, formed in Barnsley in the late 1970s, was once one of the UK’s all-conquering heavy metal bands. Can they recapture their former glory?!