Why the best gig shots don’t happen in the first three songs
Anyone who’s photographed live music has come up against it: the dreaded “first three songs only” rule.
It’s been around for decades, venues or individual acts insist photographers only stick around for the first three songs and then they must leave the photography pit.
And we have The Boss himself - Bruse Springsteen to thank for that. To be fair it’s actually Madison Square Garden to blame, let me explain.
In the early 1980’s Springsteen was playing this iconic New York venue and back then The Garden was less fussy about who it allowed in the photographers pit - professionals, amateurs and die hard fans were all let in so you ended up with upwards of 30 people with varying levels of experience and photography knowledge all trying to get their shots.
Some of those less experienced photographers either assumed they’d need to use a flash or their cameras just automatically fired in the low light venue.
As you can image, for Mr Springsteen this was frustratingly distracting and he asked the venue to do something about it.
And so they did…
Instead of saying no flash, or restricting access to only a select few professionals, they went with the “first three songs only” rule and before you knew it venues around the world started to adopt the same approach.
Some acts even insisted on it as they felt it was the thing to do.
But here’s the crunch: the best photographs, the ones that actually capture the spirit of a performance, rarely happen in the opening fifteen minutes. Artists are still warming up and the crowd’s not yet riding the high. The real magic, the sweat, the emotion, the unguarded connection between performer and audience builds later.
Three reasons to rethink “first three songs only”
The golden moments come mid-set
The opening numbers are often there to ease in gently. By song four or five, the band’s found its rhythm. Faces open up, bodies move more freely, and the atmosphere starts to crackle. That’s when the truly compelling images emerge.We don’t need flash anymore, honestly
Today’s gear can handle low light without breaking a sweat. Fast lenses, full-frame sensors, and high ISO performance mean flash is not just unnecessary it’s at best ineffective and at worst counterproductive. A burst of artificial light flattens the mood, kills the stage lighting, and quite frankly, ruins the moment, that is if it’s light can even reach the stage.No seasoned photographer would dream of using it unless absolutely essential. And at a properly lit gig? It never is.
Flash is a vibe killer
Not just for the performer, but for the punters, too. You’re there to be swept up in the music, not to be jolted back into reality by a strobe in your peripheral vision. It’s distracting, intrusive, and disrespectful to everyone who’s paid to be transported somewhere else for an hour or two.
Let the visuals tell the real story
For photographers, those later songs where the singer’s drenched in sweat, the bassist’s grinning like a Cheshire cat, and the crowd’s arms are stretched skyward, that’s the real stuff. That’s what we’re after. Not those awkward early poses.
Some of the most iconic live shots were taken long after the third number. They tell stories. They live and breathe. They feel like the gig did.
A message to venues, promoters and tour managers
Scrap the “first three songs” rule. Just say no flash.
Simple as that. Trust photographers to do the job properly. These days to get access to the photographer’s pit you need to have proved your worth to the venue organisers. Gone are the days when anyone and everyone is given a media pass.
So let the professionals do their job and give them access beyond those opening numbers. No need to hamstring creativity with arbitrary limits from the 1980s.
Because if we’re all there to serve the music, and we are, then let’s make space for the people capturing it to do just that. Respectfully, creatively, without interfering with the show.
It’s time to update the rulebook. Don’t hamper those who know what they’re doing and allow them to tell the visual story of the gig .