Over the past two weeks Passenger (aka Mike Rosenberg, writer of chart-topper ‘Let Her Go’) has been performing exclusive busking gigs in association with the Big Issue. Details of timings and venues are only disclosed via social media on the morning of each gig, yet despite the short notice and unfortunate bad weather, they are attracting hundreds of spectators. The gigs are free to watch yet he asks that people buy a magazine from their local vendor to show their appreciation.

Proceedings kicked off in his home town of Brighton and I joined him at the London leg on Bank Holiday Monday, where he played to over 1500 people outside the Tate Modern. Although there were so many people watching, the gig had a real intimate feel perhaps down to the familiar way in which he chatted to the crowd, and the very nature of busking, important to him as it was how he got noticed in the first place.

It was a really uplifting experience as often gig photography can be quite stressful, particularly for the vertically challenged like me. I usually spend the duration ducking in and out the way of peoples elbows or, even worse, having my head treated as a tripod by another photographer which unfortunately happened to me at Vaccines gig (embarrassing but true). Anyway, this gig was not like the others, people were sat down enjoying the sunshine and letting the music wash over them. It was a pleasure to photograph and I believe there are still a few cities to go, should you wish to catch him. His tour blog can be read online at the Big Issue here.