Po Lazarus At Théâtre Corona

The opening act for our return to the Théâtre Corona was Po Lazarus, a self described passion rock band from here in Montreal.  That title does seem to fit them well as you could feel the passion oozing out of lead singer Joshua Carey as he walked along the stage and belted out their songs.  The groups beginnings lead back to their time at Concordia University and I read a story about them once taking the shuttle bus between the Loyola and downtown campuses in order to play at Reggie's the University student bar.  That's a tale I can appreciate as I ended up taking that shuttle ride a few times during my days at Concordia as well.  Their set was rather short, but they were still on stage long enough to leave a positive mark in the minds of all who were in attendance.  They were promoting their most recent EP, Despair, Too, which has some strong Canadiana to it as it was recorded at The Tragically Hip's Bathouse Studio.  A little of that Hip magic must have rubbed off on them because they sounded great.  The first photograph was taken at f/3.2, 1/125sec, ISO 6400 at 33mm.  Here are several more photographs that I took during their set.

f/3.2, 1/80sec, ISO 6400 at 28mm

f/3.2, 1/125sec, ISO 6400 at 50mm

f/3.2, 1/500sec, ISO 6400 at 70mm

f/3.2, 1/640sec, ISO 6400 at 28mm

f/3.2 1/500sec, ISO 6400 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/500sec, ISO 6400 at 70mm

f/3.2, 1/200sec, ISO 6400 at 50mm

f/3.2, 1/500sec, ISO 6400 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/500sec, ISO 6400 at 31mm

f/3.2, 1/160sec, ISO 6400 at 24mm

Po Lazarus played a terrific set, even smoothly asking for a mop to deal with a spilled adult beverage early in their set.  If you'd like to find out more about Po Lazarus and their music, follow the link to their website.  If you'd like to see the photographs that I took of The Damn Truth, who performed next, you can follow the link to see them.

Venerable Leaf

Spring is commonly known as the season or rebirth, so I guess that would make Fall the opposite.  I don't really feel comfortable calling it the season of death, so how about we call it the venerable season.  The season that has been around the block a few times, has seen and experienced many things. It is beginning to show the ravages of time, but still looking pretty sharp at the same time.  That's what I was thinking about when I saw this leaf.  In the right light, it kind of resemble the skin of an older person.  Looking a little worn and leathery, but also still vibrant and eye-catching.  The photograph was taken at f/8, 1/400sec, ISO 400 at 70mm.  There aren't that many venerable leaves left out there, but that's the fun thing about nature, a fresh batch of them will be back next year.

We Remember

On November 11th we take a moment to remember those who came before us and made the biggest of sacrifices so that we could live in freedom.  I always loved Remembrance Day back when I was in school because we would be visited by some of the veterans who served in either the Korean or Second World War.  Sadly, all of those fine folks are likely no longer with us, but I remember them, as well as the veterans who would sit at a table at 'The Day Job' and sell Poppies.  I also try and take a moment to think about all of the other nameless and faceless souls who were packed up and sent to far off places, many of whom never to return.  This year, along with my Poppy I also picked up this nice little pin so I thought that I'd take out my Macro lens to photograph a small item for a large cause.  The photograph was taken at f/4.5, 1/250sec, ISO 100 at 60mm with some flash bounced off of the ceiling to make it really pop.  Always remember, never forget.  To find out all kind of interesting things about Remembrance Day, follow the link to the Veterans Affairs Canada website.

Anti-Flag at MTelus

There was an energy buzzing around the MTelus on Friday night as Pittsbugh punk rock legends Anti-Flag had finally arrived.  This show was originally schedued to take place in March of last year but it became one of the first victims of The Plague.  As the band hit the stage, you could feel the 20 months of anticipation build up through the crowd.  As the lights went down and once the first notes of Hate Conquers All began to play, the crowd, which had remained seated during the first two bands, erupted in a wave of humanity that crashed towards the protective barrier.  It sent everything, including Your Friendly Neighbourhood Photographer, crashing in its wake.  Luckily I'm a large enough guy to withstand the waves, though getting brushed around did cost me a nice jump shot which is rather disappointing.  They were promoting their most recent album, 20/20 Vision which was release in late 2019, but their setlist had a selection of songs that span the last 25 years.  The first photograph was taken at f/3.2, 1/320sec, ISO 6400 at 24mm.  Here are several more photographs from the show.

f/3.2, 1/500sec, ISO 6400 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/250sec, ISO 6400 at 42mm

f/3.2, 1/125sec, ISO 6400 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/160sec, ISO 6400 at 35mm

f/3.2, 1/250sec, ISO 6400 at 70mm

f/3.2, 1/320sec, ISO 6400 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/200sec, ISO 6400 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/320sec, ISO 6400 at 39mm

f/3.2, 1/50sec, ISO 6400 at 50mm

f/3.2, 1/500sec, ISO 6400 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/320sec, ISO 6400 at 67mm

f/3.2, 1/160sec, ISO 6400 at 24mm

f/2.8, 1/200sec, ISO 6400 at 70mm

Just as quickly as it had began, my night was over.  It was so great to get back in to town for a show.  It was odd to see the people all seated on the floor in chairs at the MTelus, but as I mentioned, that didn't last very long once Anti-Flag hit the stage.  A big thank-you to Jesse Jones of Anti-Flag management for getting me a photo pass for the show.  If you'd like to find out more about Anti-Flag and their music, don't forget to follow the link to their website.  If you'd like to see the photographs of FOMO and Bad Cop Bad Cop that I also took, you can follow the links to see them.

Bad Cop Bad Cop At MTelus

One of the things that I like the most about photographing concerts is having the chance to discover bands that I never knew before and then having them rock me out of my seat.  Such was the case with Los Angeles based foursome Bad Cop Bad Cop, who were second on the bill at the MTelus on Friday night.  Both guitarists, Jennie Cotterill and Stacey Dee, as well as basist Linh Li share vocal duties in the band which makes for a nice mix of voices during the show.  They're also great musicians as well, which makes me all the more disappointed that I had never heard of them until now.  They certainly left their mark with me though as I left the building with their two most recent albums (Warriors from 2017 and The Ride from last year) for my collection and a T-Shirt for The Heir Apparent to wear when she gets older.  The first photograph was taken at f/3.2, 1/400sec, ISO 6400 at 50mm.  Here are several more photographs taken during their set.

f/3.2, 1/400sec, ISO 6400 at 50mm

f/3.2, 1/160sec, ISO 6400 at 30mm

f/3.2, 1/160sec, ISO 6400 at 61mm

f/3.2, 1/200sec, ISO 6400 at 50mm

f/3.2, 1/250sec, ISO 6400 at 45mm

f/3.2, 1/320sec, ISO 6400 at 45mm

f/3.2, 1/250sec, ISO 6400 at 35mm

f/3.2, 1/60sec, ISO 6400 at 33mm

f/3.2, 1/100sec, ISO 6400 at 50mm

f/3.2, 1/125sec, ISO 6400 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/640sec , ISO 6400 at 41mm

This was just the thing that I have been missing over the last almost two years.  If you'd like to find out more about Bad Cop Bad Cop and their music, you can follow the link to their website.  If you'd like to see the other photographs that I took of FOMO and Anti-Flag the same night, follow the links to see them.  Hopefully Bad Cop Bad Cop will be coming back around one day.  I'd sure like to see them again and so will you.

FOMO at MTELUS

It was due to happen eventually.  My camera and I made our return to the MTelus, formally known as The Metropolis, in Montreal on Friday night for our first visit in almost two years.  It was a three band bill and the shoe was opened by local punk band FOMO.  It seems 'The Plague' ended up playing a roll in their appearance as the opening slot was supposed to be filled by another band who had to pull out of the tour after couple of members tested positive.  Bad news for them, meant good news for this local band as they found themselves in front of a packed venue and they played a pretty good set.  You could also tell that they were really happy to be there as they were all smiles through their set.  To be honest, so was I.  They played us some songs from their upcoming EP which should be released shortly.  The first photograph was taken at f/2.8, 1/500sec, ISO 6400 at 70mm.  Here are several more from my allotted three songs.

f/2.8, 1/160sec, ISO 6400 at 70mm

f/2.8, 1/250sec, ISO 6400 at 41mm

f/2.8, 1/640sec, ISO 6400 at 70mm

f/2.8, 1/320sec, ISO 6400 at 70mm

f/2.8, 1/250sec, ISO 6400 at 50mm

f/2.8, 1/200sec, ISO 6400 at 70mm

f/2.8, 1/160sec, ISO 6400 at 24mm

f/2.8, 1/160sec, ISO 6400 at 70mm

f/2.8, 1/125sec, ISO 6400 at 31mm

f/2.8, 1/125sec, ISO 6400 at 70mm

What better way to mark my return to Montreal shooting shows than with a hot up and coming band from Montreal.  These kids are just getting started so who knows, maybe our paths will cross again one day.  If you'd like to find out more about FOMO and their music, don't forget to follow the link to their Facebook page.  If you'd like to see the other photographs that I took of Bad Cop Bad Cop and Anti-Flag, follow the links to find them.

Train Bound For Nowhere

Over the last few years I've become a fan of shooting silhouette style photographs.  I really like the contrast between the dark and bright colours.  My favourite time to shoot these kind of photographs are during autumn sunsets.  The sky seems to have a touch more colour to it than at any other time of the year.  After that, all you need is some open spaces or some large buildings and you're set to go.  I think we all know that the sunset you see here in the photograph has been adjusted somewhat, but that's part of the fun silhouette shots bring.  It's almost kind of a comic book view.  I took the photograph near some railroad tracks that led to a view of Montreal off in the distance.  I completely darkened the bottom of the photograph so that only the tracks, and the red of the sky that they were reflecting remain.  You get two long metal lines leading your eyes out of the darkness and towards the bright lights and the big city.  By underexposing the photograph and then adjusting the levels in Photoshop and adding some red and blue to the final image you get what you see here on the left.  The photograph was taken at f/4, 1/160sec, ISO 100 at 70mm and then, as previously mentioned, was played around a little with in Photoshop.