“Je
capote!” Roughly translated, it means I’m really
excited. Excitement was the feeling
shared by a room full of metal-heads as they gracefully made their way in to the
legendary Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier for an evening the like of which they had
never before experienced. I heard those
words a few times from more than a few fans, and I probably even said them
myself. We were all there to take in a
show unlike any most of us had ever seen live. Due to take the stage with the MontrealSymphony Orchestra was Québec’s greatest export to the world of Metal, and
currently not subject to any tariffs, Voivod. Heavy Metal
and Classical music are familiar bedfellows.
The two genres share many characteristics, themes and melodies, though
not necessarily wardrobe. I chuckled a
little bit watching the dressed to the nines ushers leading the t-shir
t, denim
and leather clad fans to their seats. As
the lights began to dim, the first violin waved the famous devil-horns to the
fans, who were more than happy to return the gesture. Chief Conductor Dina Gilbert soon followed
before Voivod made their way to the stage themselves. Opening
with the song 'Experiement' off of their 1988 album Dimension
Hatröss was an inspired choice, as this musical experiment began with the
chants of ‘Risk It, Try It, Find It!’ The
rest of the set was culled from several of their albums, all augmented by the
masterful playing of the orchestra. As if the music wasn’t enough, a large video
wall behind the stage aired personalized illustrations for each song. All were creations of drummer Michel ‘Away’
Langevin, who also handles all of the artwork for their albums. He also laid down a thunderous beat, 
along
with bassist Dominic ‘Rocky’ Laroche. Singer
Denis ‘Snake’ Belanger’s voice was in its finest rasp and guitarist Daniel
‘Chewy’ Mongrain looked to be having the most fun of anyone in the
building. It was his idea to see Voivoid
play with the OSM and was also a key member of putting the whole evening
together. There isn’t much smiling in
Metal, but his smile on this night was as loud as the music that was being
played. This
was more than just a concert, it was a historic cultural event. Okay, that might be a bit of an
overstatement, but as the date got closer, there was a sense of anticipation and
buzz throughout the city that doesn’t happen very often. All of the photographs were taken at f/3.2 while using various different shutter speeds, ISO settings and focal lengths. Here are the rest, and there are a lot as I got a little carried away at such an awesome event, of the photographs that I took of Voivod and The Montreal Symphony Orchestra from the stage at Place des Arts.
If you would like to find out more about Voivod or the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and their music, you can do so by following the respective links. Much thanks goes out to James MacLean of Talk's Cheap Management and Christopher Gonda of V13 Media for getting me a pass to photograph the show. As always, it is very much appreciated. Musical worlds collided and the explosive
results will live on forever in my memory, as well as those of everyone who was
fortunate enough to experience it firsthand.
It’s been a few days since the show, et je capote encore. Voivod will be repeating the symphonic experience in Québec City later this year, so if you're in the area, be sure not miss the show.
