Machine Head At MTelus

At my previous concert, headlined by The Sam Roberts Band, feel free to revisit the photographs by visiting the link, I somehow managed to lose my ear plugs.  Luckily, thanks to the wonders of the internet, a new pair was quickly in my possession because on Tuesday night I was in a Sold-Out MTelus for a night of Heavy Metal Madness, headlined by the King's of what was the New Wave of American Heavy Metal, Machine Head.  Self described as the "undisputed masters of murderous riffs, pugnacious grooves and ferocious hooks since 1991", you know what you are in for with a Machine Head concert.  Straight ahead music that will leave your head banging until it can bang no longer.  The band was formed, poetically enough, in October of 1991 at a Metallica concert and lone original member Robb Flynn has been churning out his music ever since.  Their first album, 'Burn My Eyes', is celebrating its 35th Anniversary this year, but it was their album 'The Blackening' from 2007 that made the world take notice.  Machine Head's single 'Aesthetics of Hate' from that album went on to be nominated for a Grammy Award, and though it wasn't included in the three songs we were able to photograph, I stuck around to listen to it as it was the next song on the setlist after we left the pit and I didn't want to miss it.  Despite being the fourth band to play that night, the fans were revved up and ready to rock  They had survived multiple circle mosh pits and walls of deaths at the behest of the band who played earlier in the night, but the roar from the crowd as their heroes hit the stage was without equal.  Except maybe for the roar that was coming from the stage.  Machine Head's most recent album, and tenth of their career, Of Kingdom And Crown, was released in October of 2022 and has been hailed as many as their best work since The Blackening.  Couple with the release of several singles, a double release titled Civil Unrest in 2020 and a Triple release title Arrows in Words From The Sky in 2021, this has been a very productive time for the band.  Despite all the new releases, one still can't help but to look forward to what Machine Head might be coming up with next.  The first photograph was taken at f/3.2, 1/200sec, ISO 4000 at 24mm.  The second photograph was taken at f/3.2, 1/2000sec, ISO 4000 at 24mm and the third photograph was taken at f/3.2, 1/8000sec, ISO 4000 at 24mm.  Here are several more photographs that I took of their performance.

f/3.2, 1/800sec, ISO 2500 at 35mm

f/3.2, 1/640sec, ISO 2500 at 47mm

f/3.2, 1/640sec, ISO 1250 at 70mm

f/3.2, 1/800sec, ISO 1250 at 45mm

f/3.2, 1/250sec, ISO 1250 at 50mm

f/3.2, 1/1000sec, ISO 1250 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/800sec, ISO 125 at 70mm

f/3.2, 1/800sec, ISO 1250 at 42mm

f/3.2, 1/1000sec, ISO 1250 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/640sec, ISO 1250 at 26mm

f/3.2, 1/80sec, ISO 1250 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/640sec, ISO 1250 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/400sec, ISO 1250 at 70mm

f/3.2, 1/800sec, ISO 1250 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/400sec, ISO 1250 at 38mm

f/3.2, 1/400sec, ISO 1250 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/100sec, ISO 1250 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/160sec, ISO 1250 at 28mm

f/3.2, 1/400sec, ISO 1250 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/250sec, ISO 1250 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/500sec, ISO 3200 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/320sec, ISO 3200 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/400sec, ISO 3200 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/250sec, ISO 3200 at 63mm

f/3.2, 1/4000sec, ISO 3200 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/250sec, ISO 1250 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/800sec, ISO 1250 at 70mm

If you would like to find out more about Machine Head and their music, you can do so my following the link to their website.   A huge thank-you goes out to Kristen Torres of Nuclear Blast Records for getting me a pass to shoot the show  As usual, I very much appreciate the opportunity that I was given.  If you'd like to see the photographs I took of Gates To Hell, Orbit Culture and Fear Factory who performed earlier that night, you can do so by following the links.  There were two other bands who performed that night and we'll add the links here once the photographs have been completed, so feel free to check back from time to time.  To finish, we'll go back to Machine Head's website for a little quote.  "Machine Head is still the bulldozer that crushes all!"  I don't think I could have said it any better.  They continuing their Slaughter The Martour world tour through July, so head out and see Machine Head if they're performing near you.

Sam Roberts Band At Théâtre Beanfield

Not being a musician myself, I often tell people who ask that it's the lyrics of a song are often what grabs me first.  But it isn't always the case.  There's nothing I like more than a nice guitar riff to open a song.  My favourite example probably being the Elvis Presley hit, Jailhouse Rock.  As I recently told I friend when discussing the song, upon first hearing that song oh-so many years ago, it may be true that I was hooked by the time that the band was swing and the joint began to swing, but it was that simple guitar intro to the song that initially grabbed my attention.  Which, after that long intro, bring us back to the Sam Roberts Band, who made sure that the Théâtre Beanfield was swinging this past Friday night.  I first discovered Sam Roberts back in 2002 thanks to the song 'Don't Walk Away Eileen'.  It has a distinct rock guitar opening that grabs your attention before driving in to the song.  It certainly grabbed mine, and here we are over twenty years later and I still love his music and still play that first single rather often when I need a nice boost of rock and roll.   The show on Friday night was the first of tour that will see the Sam Roberts Band cross Canada, with a few additional dates in the United States thrown in along the way.  He was welcomed like the conquering hometown hero that he is and the rest of the band were in top form as they ripped through a set list chock full of classic hits and select cuts from their new album.  Speaking of which, that new album, The Adventures of Ben Blank, was released in October of last year and is just the latest in a long line of terrific albums from The Sam Roberts Band, and they're not showing any signs of stopping.  The first photograph was taken at f/3.2, 1/100sec, ISO 5000 at 24mm and the second photograph was taken at f/3.2, 1/500sec, ISO 5000 at 70mm.  Here are several more photographs that I took of their performance.

f/3.2, 1/100sec, ISO 3200 at 59mm

f/3.2, 1/125sec, ISO 8000 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/640sec, ISO 16000 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/100sec, ISO 5000 at 61mm

f/3.2, 1/160sec, ISO 16000 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/320sec, ISO 4000 at 31mm

f/3.2, 1/100sec, ISO 16000 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/1250sec, ISO 4000 at 57mm

f/3.2, 1/500sec, ISO 5000 at 70mm

f/3.2, 1/250sec, ISO 4000 at 50mm

f/3.2, 1/320sec, ISO 4000 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/640sec, ISO 4000 at 70mm

f/3.2, 1/250sec, ISO 4000 at 26mm

f/3.2, 1/640sec, ISO 4000 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/160sec, ISO 4000 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/200sec, ISO 4000 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/320sec, ISO 4000 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/320sec, ISO 4000 at 45mm

f/3.2, 1/50sec, ISO 4000 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/200sec, ISO 4000 at 70mm

f/3.2, 1/1000sec, ISO 4000 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/400sec, ISO 4000 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/500sec, ISO 4000 at 50mm

f/3.2, 1/320sec, ISO 16000 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/400sec, ISO 4000 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/100sec, ISO 4000 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/160sec, ISO 4000 at 24mm

If you'd like to find out more about The Sam Roberts Band and their music, you can do so by following the link to their website.  A big thank you to Dave Spencer and Jenn Sookdeo of Dave Spencer Management and Sooks Productions as well as Samantha Pickard and Jamie Crawford of Strut Entertainment for getting me a pass to shoot the show.  If you'd like to see the photographs I took of Grand Public, who performed earlier in the evening, you can do so by following the link.  As always, the opportunity is very much appreciated.  The Sam Roberts Band will be continuing their tour in to the month of March, be sure to check out the show for a great time.

Adding Some Colour

February is probably the blandest of all the months.  Thankfully, it is also the shortest month.  Most of the snow is just crusted over ice by this point, the sky is usually grey and overcast most of the time and there is not really anything of colour to look at for a reprieve from the never ending grey that dominates the month.  Luckily for all of my fortunate viewers, I've always got some colour hiding my hard-drive.  The Summer months are often busy with concerts for me, but I always find the time to photograph some of the many colourful flowers that grow around the Head Office.  Such as this lovely Asian Lily, which used to grow around our shed in the back yard.  I say 'used to grow', because it sadly didn't bloom this past year.  Which is a true shame because it is a beautiful flower.  Luckily, I always have some photographs to remind me of how it looked and where it was.  The photograph was taken at f/6.3, 1/40sec, ISO 100 at 70mm.  Hopefully it injected a little bit of colour into your dull and dreary February day.