Frank Sinatra, his Las Vegas Mushers & me!

Not forgetting, the lead singer of Iron Maiden, Bruce Dickinson.

My car was broken and in the garage for repair, I loved that car. It was the first car I had bought, a convertible Triumph TR4 IRS. It was my pride and joy, but, as I said, it was broken at that time. So, a noisy double-decker London bus got my then sidekick and fellow photographer, Matthew Taylor, and me to the Royal Albert Hall. It was February 1977, and for some strange reason, I always thought that I photographed Frank Sinatra in 1976, but after checking, I have since found out that it was 1977. So, it was a very cold February day in London, and I had a good reason to wear my winter coat. As we stepped off the bus opposite the Royal Albert Hall in Kensington, West London, we both did our usual routine of hiding our cameras, lenses and film. There were camera bodies tucked under our armpits, with lenses secured in our underpants. Although this looked impressive to anyone wondering what the tiny bulge was, it was rather uncomfortable. It took a bit of fiddling to get myself back to normal.  I always got amusing looks when I was inside a venue and quietly in the dark somewhere, unzipping my trousers and pulling my lens out. That could often cause quite a stir if I wasn’t careful. The film had to be smuggled in, too. Yes, we used film in those days and tucked film away in places I didn’t know I had. For your own safety, don’t get a visual of where I poked them!

Once we were ready and all camera equipment was hidden, we would grab the tickets we had bought on the black market and aim for the busiest-looking entrance. Obviously, the bigger the crowd trying to get in, the easier it would be for us. The staff were under more pressure to let people in swiftly with the minimum of fuss. More importantly, we stood less chance of being properly frisked and caught with cameras. Matthew nearly always got caught and thrown out before most gigs. But, on this occasion, we both managed to get in safely. Then, the next thing is knowing where to hang around without drawing attention to ourselves until the show starts. We didn’t want to be at the top and back of the Royal Albert Hall where our seats were. We needed to be somewhere near the front. That’s where we will get our photos. However, that’s where we would be spotted very quickly and thrown out. So, we separated as usual and tried our own luck. The Royal Albert Hall could often be a game of cat and mouse. As we wandered into the beautiful Victorian venue, I had no idea quite how much of a game that day would be!