Some nights, you know the photos are going to be good before the band even hits the stage.
That was the case for the two shows Tom and the band played at the Royal Albert Hall in London in June 2012. Everyone was excited to be overseas, but there was a special buzz around the Royal Albert Hall, the legendary London hall that has hosted so many historic concerts and events.
When Tom arrived in the backstage tunnel a few hours before doors opened for the first show, I knew that it was gonna be a memorable night. TP stepped out of one side of the limo, and his wife, Dana, emerged from the other side, holding a black suit bag. I was hanging about to see if they’d be up for a photo in front of a graffiti mural underneath the venue with the faces of various iconic musicians who’d tread the boards. Tom was up for it, and we snapped a few frames before he started for the elevator. “Hey,” he said, turning to Dana. “Where’s the bag?”
“Dean’s got it,” she replied, turning to their long-time security chief, who was holding the suit bag. That was the moment I knew that the photos were going to be good. Something special was in that bag.
I don’t know who designed the beautiful black pinstripe suit Tom wore onstage that night at the Royal Albert Hall; I assume it was Glen Palmer, his long-time stylist. But when the band hit the opening chords to “Listen to Her Heart” and the lights came up, Tom was standing center stage sporting that suit with a beautiful vintage yellow Fender Esquire around his neck. It was the photographic equivalent of shooting fish in a barrel; you could almost do no wrong. Just as Mike Campbell took his first guitar solo after the song’s bridge, Tom drifted to stage left, and, looking out over the sold-out Royal Albert Hall, broke into a huge grin. That’s when I snapped this photo.
— Andy Tennille
Archival pigment print, unsigned. Prints are sold unframed.
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