With all the bright, shiny lights, loud music, and dazzling stage routines, audiences sometimes forget that a musician is actually performing during a concert. Professional artists make singing and dancing across the stage seem effortless and easy. But, in reality, the musicians performing in the limelight are really working hard to entertain us.
Since 2005, photographer Matthias Willi and journalist Olivier Joliat have been developing a photographic project entitled The Moment After the Show. In the 144 page publication, the pair has captured the sweaty and exhausted backstage moments of famous musicians, scenes that regular audiences don’t generally get to witness. About 100 bands have participated, including popular names like Metallica, Sonic Youth, Gnarls Barkley, and The Hives. Juliette Lewis and The Licks are also featured in the book, and Lewis’s excitement is evident when she says, “That’s the only way to show who we really are.”
Gnarls Barkley – Dangermouse and Cee Lo Green
Iggy Pop
Triggerfinger – Ruben Block
Vive la Fte – Els Pynoo
Queens of the Stone Age – Joey Castillo and Josh Homme
Die Aerzte – Farin Urlaub
Peaches – Merill Nisker
Matthias Willi’s website
The Moment After the Show website
via [Twisted Sifter]