Marc Dupré at Saint-Lambert en Fête

Marc!  Marc!  Marc! That was the dominant cry of the crowd moments before Marc Dupré was to hit the stage as the main musical event of the 2017 edition of Saint-Lambert en Fête.  The crowd was beginning to spill out of the defined concert zone on Elm street as I began to worry that my position was moments away from being compromised as security was having a more difficult time by the minute in keeping the supposed emergency corridor in front of me clear.  Luckily, I was equipped for battle with a telephoto lens and was able to avoid most of the protruding heads and outstretched arms, though a few human body parts did end up ruining a few of my photographs on that whole. I guess it is safe to say that Marc Dupré is one of the bigger names to have played Saint-Lambert.  Though he actually began as a comic artist doing voice imitations, his musical career broke out big in 2005 with the release of an album that got an added helping hand from one of the biggest names in the world, Céline Dion.  His success has continued through five albums, with a sixth to be released later this year.  He won Félix awards for Pop/Rock Album of the Year in 2011 and for Male Performer and Most Popular Song of the year in 2013 as well as being one of the main judges on the very popular television show, La Voix.  He brought along a few of his La Voix friends for this appearance, but I tried to focus on the the man everyone was there to see.  Lots of these photographs came from early in the set and the guests appeared later when it became more difficult to get clear shots due to the large number of people who were inching their way closer to the stage by the minute, much to the chagrin of My Lovely Assistant and her trampled feet.  I also wanted to take a brief moment to send out a public thank-you to my buddy Pierre Bourgault.  After the Greenfield Park shows the week before, I was a little unhappy with some of my work and sent out a message to him asking for some tips he might be able to share.  Thankfully, I was able to pick the mind of one of the best concert photographer in Montreal and came away with four shows worth of what I think are pretty cool photographs, and a little bit of extra knowledge to keep using in the future.  Thanks one more time Pierre.  Getting back to business, the first photograph was taken at f/6.3, 1/400sec, ISO 3200 at 200mm.  The second photograph was taken at f/6.3, 1/200sec, ISO 3200 at 150mm and the third photograph was taken at f/6.3, 1/400sec, ISO 3200 at 200mm.  As I said in the previous update, I hope you've got some snacks on hand, because here come several more photographs that I took during the show.

f/5.6, 1/640sec, ISO 3200 at 160mm

f/5.6, 1/640sec, ISO 3200 at 85mm

This shot is a kind of tribute to Pierre as he is known for his jump shots.  Sadly, Marc was looking the other way, but I got a shot of the drummer with his sticks in the air so that made up for it.

f/3.2, 1/500sec, ISO 3200 at 135mm

f/3.2, 1/800sec, ISO 3200 at 160mm

f/4, 1/2500sec, ISO 3200 at 70mm

f/5, 1/640sec, ISO 3200 at 200mm

f/5, 1/640sec, ISO 3200 at 110mm

f/5.6, 1/640sec, ISO 3200 at 165mm

f/7.1, 1/160sec, ISO 3200 at 168mm

f/5, 1/400sec, ISO 3200 at 190mm

f/6.3, 1/400sec, ISO 3200 at 200mm

f/5.6, 1/320sec, ISO 3200 at 200mm

f/5.6, 1/640sec, ISO 3200 at 140mm

f/5, 1/320sec, ISO 3200 at 150mm

f/5, 1/320sec, ISO 3200 at 150mm

 f/5, 1/320sec, ISO 3200 at 150mm

Phew!  That was a lot of photographs.  Four fun shows, four rather large updates and one buzzing photographer.  I really enjoy taking photographs of musical acts, but rarely get the chance to photograph them from so close and with my better equipment.  That's why I really enjoy going to these free outdoor concerts.  Speaking of which, if you liked these photographs, don't forget to check out the ones I took of Jonathan MacAulay, Patrick Norman and Cédrik St. Onge who all performed over the weekend.  Despite the fact that I didn't know many of the songs, Marc Dupré put on a show that had everyone singing along and dancing.  It is quite the accomplishment to get the notorious Saint-Lambert crowd to get up out of their lawn chairs.  He even threw in some cover versions of songs by Kenny Loggins, Bryan Adams and AC/DC for those of us who might not be as up on all things Marc as some of the others in the crowd were.  At the end of the show, a large potion still remained near the stage and the barriers behind yelling "On veut Marc!  On veut Marc!"  I guess you could say that the show was a success.

Cédrik St.Onge at/à Saint-Lambert en Fête

Though the Friday night activites we're taken care of, the party at Saint-Lambert en Fête was far from over.  The shows given by Jonathan Macaulay and later Patrick Norman, photographs available by following the preceding links, had set the stage for the Saturday night concerts, kicked off by Cédrik (with a K) St Onge.  Hailing from the town of Caplan in the Gaspé region of Québec, Cedrik St. Onge was first discovered at a music camp and earlier this year released his first 5 song EP of his own personal style of Folk music.  There are only a few photographs in this update as I arrived late to the set in order to attend an early surprise birthday dinner for a friend.  I hope that what I lack in quantity, is made up for in quality.  The first photograph was taken at f/3.2, 1/200sec, ISO 1600 at 200mm.  Here are a few more photographs from his set.

f/3.2, 1/200sec, ISO 1600 at 200mm

f/3.2, 1/200sec, ISO 3200 at 200mm

f/3.2, 1/200sec, ISO 3200 at 200mm

Though I missed a large chunk of his show, I still saw enough to be impressed by his playing.  He had a nice stage presence as well, from chatting with the crowd to blaming his ADD for having forgotten his stack of CD's which he had helped to sell at home.  Thus leading him to remind us that they can be bought at his website.  Just don't forget, it is spelt Cédrik, with a K.  One more show to go, and it's a big one so be sure you come back with some snacks for the next update.

Patrick Norman at/à Saint-Lambert en Fête

After the success that was the concert given by Jonathan Macaulay, the crowd in Saint-Lambert was ready for the headlining act.  On this night, it was Québec country music great, Patrick Norman.  Patrick Norman has been a presence on the Québec music scene since the late 1960's.  First in his band Les Fabuleux élégants and then as a solo act.  In his career, he has earned several Juno and Félix Award nominations, and won the Félix for Male Singer of the Year in 1986 and the Félix for Country Album of the Year in 1987.  For those wondering, the Félix would be the Québec equivalent of the Grammy Award.  In March of this year he released his 32 album,  Bonheurs partagés, which is an album of his songs sung with other prominent singers, including his new wife, Nathalie Lord, who he married in July and also joined him on stage during the performance.  Add to his resume being awarded the Order of Canada back in February, and you have a very busy year for a 70 year old.  Here's to hoping that I will still be so active at that age. Once again, I was confined to one spot during the show for my photograph taking, but I believe I captured a fair amount of cool moments.  The first photograph was taken at f/5, 1/250sec, ISO 3200 at 200mm and the second photograph was taken at f/3.2, 1/200sec, ISO 3200 at 200mm.  Here are several other photographs that I took during his performance.

f/3.2, 1/160sec, ISO 3200 at 70mm

f/3.2, 1/200sec, ISO 3200 at 200mm

f/3.2, 1/125sec, ISO 3200 at 200mm

f/3.5, 1/160sec, ISO 3200 at 200mm

f/3.2, 1/320sec, ISO 3200 at 145mm

f/3.2, 1/320sec, ISO 3200 at 200mm

f/3.5, 1/200sec, ISO 3200 at 200mm

f/3.5, 1/80sec, ISO 3200 at 145mm

f/3.2, 1/200sec, ISO 3200 at 200mm

f/4, 1/125sec, ISO 3200 at 170mm

f/3.2, 1/200sec, ISO 3200 at 170mm

f/3.2, 1/200sec, ISO 3200 at 168mm

f/4, 1/200sec, ISO 3200 at 200mm

It was a very entertaining few hours as M. Norman obviously knows his way around a guitar, and threw in a couple of spoken comedy with the crowd on hand.  With that, the Friday night portion of the fun came to an end.  But fear not, there is still lots more musical action to come.  Stay tuned.

Jon Macaulay at Saint Lambert en Fête

The end of August means that my former hometown takes out the party tents and stages to celebrate an end of summer tradition, Saint-Lambert en Fête.  This is the 42nd anniversary of what used to be known as Saint-Lambert Days and it has grown quite a bit since my younger days.  Though some of the things of my youth have been replaced, one of the things that have replaced them are a series of evening concerts which I manage to make my way to.  With my trusty camera in hand, I get to play the role of concert photographer for a few days which gives me great joy, though one local behind me wasn't as full of joy as I was.  Why people seem to think it's a good idea to decide to sit on a chair behind someone who is standing is a good idea is something that continues to escape me.   Jon Macaulay was the first person to take the stage.  He plays a kind of Country/Rock hybrid.  The best comparison that I could think of would be one given by my old friend Joey, who stopped by to say hello while I was shooting. He said that the band sounded a little bit like Blue Rodeo.  That is high praise indeed for the singer-songwriter who only began his career a few years ago out of Sherbrooke in the Eastern Townships.  The first photograph was taken at f/3.2, 1/800sec, ISO 3200 at 135mm and the second photograph was taken at f/3.2, 1/250sec, ISO 800 at 200mm.  Here are several more photographs that I took during his performance.

f/3.2, 1/250sec, ISO 800 at 200mm

f/3.2, 1/200sec, ISO 800 at 200mm

f/3.2, 1/200sec, ISO 800 at 135mm

f/3.5, 1/100sec, ISO 800 at 200mm

f/3.5, 1/125sec, ISO 1600 at 80mm

f/5, 1/100sec, ISO 1600 at 150mm

f5, 1/125sec, ISO 1600 at 200mm

f/3.5, 1/160sec, ISO 1600 at 200mm

f/3.2, 1/125sec, ISO 1600 at 135mm

I was hoping to get some other photographs from a different vantage point during the show, but I needed to keep the spot where I was shooting from because the site began to rapidly fill up during Jon Macaulay's set and there was still another performer to go before the night would come to an end.  Stay tuned, more concert footage will be appearing in the coming days.

Les Poules À Colin in Greenfield Park

These photographs were taken about a week ago, once again during the Canada 150 celebrations in Greenfield Park.  This young group, Les Poules À Colin, were one of the opening acts of the evening before the concert given by Angel Forrest, photographs of which you can find by following this link.  Les Poules À Colin are a group of five young musicians from the Lanaudière region of Quebec.  They are all children of musical parents and play traditional folk songs with, as their website says, a little bit of jazz, pop and bluegrass mixed into their songs as well.  They put on a very entertaining show, including and extended musical jam when they discovered they still had another 20 minutes left to play at what they thought was the end of their set.  After a little improvisation, it was back to their original songs which left the crowd.  Though the band is named Les Poules À Colin, Colin (an actual band member) is rarely seen in these photographs as he was seated off to the far right of the stage and was not really very well lit by the stage lights.  As a result, you get a whole lot of Les Poules in this set, but very little Colin.  The first photograph was taken at f/4, 1/60sec, ISO 1000 at 88mm and the second photograph was taken at f/4.5, 1/125sec, ISO 1000 at 160mm.  Here are a few more photographs that I took while the band was on the stage.

f/4, 1/100sec, ISO 1600 at 200mm

f/4, 1/125sec, ISO 1600 at 135mm

f/4, 1/200sec, ISO 1600 at 135mm

f/4, 1/200sec ISO 1600 at 70mm

f/2.8, 1/100sec, ISO 1600 at 90mm

f/3.2, 1/100sec, ISO 1600 at 115mm

f/2.8, 1/160sec, ISO 3200 at 190mm

f/3.5, 1/30sec, ISO 1600 at 88mm

f/3.5, 1/160sec, ISO 1600 at 80mm

One of the things that I look for in a concert, other than good music, is if the band seems to be having fun.  It was pretty evident during their set that Les Poules à Colin were having a good time as they were often smiling and laughing with each other, despite some unfortunate feedback issues that probably came from the soundboard.  All in all, it was a terrific show and another fun new discovery.