Those that know the Brisbane music scene might be aware of the apparent disdain that the recently opened HiFi has for its patrons, or at least for responding to patrons’ concerns.

Unfortunately, it’s fast developed a reputation amongst local photographers as a difficult venue to shoot in. Sometimes they have a photo pit, sometimes they don’t. More often than not, the lighting is terrible. Support acts are generally bathed in red lights, and both support and headline artists are primarily backlit. The result – artists taking on the appearance of raccoons, with sunken, dark holes where their eyes should be. Tonight was no different on either count – no pit, crappy lighting – but it did throw up something unexpected.

As Josh Pyke came on, someone nudged her way next to me up near the stage. A few seconds in and her pop-up flash was firing away like nobody’s business. After the second song, Josh leaned down and asked her to stop because it was too distracting. A couple of songs later and it seemed he couldn’t focus anywhere else but on the lenses pointing up at him. He stopped partway through the song, said the cameras were too distracting and asked us if we could finish up. He did have the good grace to take a seat on one of the foldback wedges and strike a pose for one last shot though. Unfortunately, I’d already packed my flash away by this stage, so missed the shot. Next time.