I've always heard with most types of photography you just have to put yourself out there to try to make any progress. I'd shot a couple of local bands in Dublin but nobody too big at that stage.
My girlfriend and I had a trip coming up to Paris and I noticed just before flying out Skrillex was playing a "secret but not very secret" show in Paris while we were there. It was free to the public but limited only to 200 tickets. He was big then but nowhere near as big as he became afterwards (this was a few weeks before he won his first Grammy).
I wanted to try my luck asking the venue if I could do some live shots and received an email back from the manager to say I'd need to submit my website/portfolio for approval. I sent in my details but didn't hear back. I did however remember the managers name, which is an important detail here.
So fast forward to the morning of the flight and tickets were being released online for the show on a first come first served basis. They were free but only to the first 200 people who applied for them. We arrived in Paris 30 mins before the tickets were due to be released so I found the nearest internet cafe and waited to frantically apply once they became available. To my surprise I got a ticket for me and my girlfriend so we were delighted about that.
We set about our business that day taking in some touristy things and enjoying the city, all while looking forward to the show that night. When it came closer to the time of the show I decided I was going to chance bringing my camera down and ask again while I was there if I could shoot the show. My girlfriend advised against it thinking we'd be refused entry if I had a big camera/lens with me. I thought "No this is Paris and everyone's a photographer here, it'll be fine". Sure enough the doormen at the club didn't even comment on the camera and lens and with zero hassle we were in the door of the club.
I didn't want to just go rogue and start shooting the show without approval so I asked to speak to the manager who's name I had remembered from this email. The club staff told me I was out of luck as he was not working tonight but advised me to speak to the junior manager instead. Once I found him I started telling him about how I'd been emailing the manager about shooting tonight and before I could even finish the sentence he had tore off an Access All Area wrist band and handed it over to me. Then directed me to the stage entrance where I could shoot on stage with him all night.
Now of course I knew full well this was a case of things getting lost in translation and him thinking I had told him I had already been approved, but at that moment the last thing I was thinking about doing was clarifying the situation.
The only down side was having the slightly awkward conversation with my girlfriend explaining that I had just got the one pass and that I'd potentially be up on stage with Skrillex all night. I did actually offer to pass up the opportunity and watch the show with her but she knew how much it meant to me. Also if she was at the front row I'd only be a few meters away from her, just on the other side of stage. With her approval I went off to get myself into position and ready for the show.
Looking back in all honesty I didn't get the most amazing set of shots ever partly due to my lack of experience and having some really basic equipment at the time not suited to low light photography. It was an experience I'll never forget though, and was filled with numerous "pinch me" moments such as Skrillex high fiving me after every few tracks because he was so hyped from the intense small crowd.
Another highlight was getting to hangout backstage after the show. I was able to get my girlfriend backstage to hang out and it was such a nice friendly vibe back there. Skrillex was such a genuinely nice guy too. At one stage after me geeking out for ages about cameras and lenses with his own personal photographer, my girlfriend must have looked a bit lost in the conversation. Skrillex leaned over to her and gave her a bottle of beer and told her to enjoy herself, saying to her "have fun, we're all family here".
I've shot a lot more bands and musicians since. I'd like to think I've improved quite a bit too. I've genuinely not met many other musicians (or any other types for that matter) who were as genuinely friendly, chilled out and so concerned that everyone around them was just enjoying themselves and having a good time.