To be totally honest, I still can't believe that I used the words 'Centre Bell' in the title for a concert post on this blog. If I were to take a step into the Wayback Machine, I can remember sitting in my car in the parking lot of the Champlain Mall in Brossard, unwrapping a new cassette. It was a plain blue cover with four guys standing around. It was the summer of 1994, and the debut album by Weezer, known as the Blue Album was seconds away from being plunked into the cassette deck of my car. Those are words that the current and future generations will probably never write. If you were to tell that 19-year-old kid that 30 some years later he'd be in Montreal's biggest concert venue with a pass to 
photograph that band, it would probably blow his mind. Standing on the floor of the Centre Bell and looking out at the crowd from the photographer pit, my mind was on the verge of being a little bit blown as well. I took a moment to look around at all of the different places I've sat and watched the fine photographers moving around the pit, thinking to myself, how cool would it be to be down there one day. I can now safely say that it was every bit as cool as I thought it would be. Weezer were here touring their most recent double release of The Black Album and their collection of cover songs, The Teal Album. We were told beforehand that we'd be able to photograph songs three, four and five. 
About 12 minutes that I'd been waiting a long time to do, and that would pass by so very quickly. One of the things that I need to work on in these situations is moving around the pit for different angles. This was hindered a little bit as just before the show the group was asked to split into two. One group would be stage left, the other stage right. There would be no going from side to side as a video crew was in the middle of the pit recording the show. From there, I just began snapping away, all the while trying to suppress a goofy smile from taking over my face as I kept telling myself in my head that I was actually in the Centre Bell as a photograph, taking photographs of a group that I have listened to since I was a teenager. The first photograph was taken at f/2.8, 1/400sec, ISO 3200 at 70mm. The second photograph was taken at f/2.8, 1/250sec, ISO 3200 at 34mm and the third photograph was taken at f/2.8, 1/250sec, ISO 3200 at 42mm. If you've managed to stick around after that long winded trip down memory lane, here are some more photographs that I took while in the pit.
photograph that band, it would probably blow his mind. Standing on the floor of the Centre Bell and looking out at the crowd from the photographer pit, my mind was on the verge of being a little bit blown as well. I took a moment to look around at all of the different places I've sat and watched the fine photographers moving around the pit, thinking to myself, how cool would it be to be down there one day. I can now safely say that it was every bit as cool as I thought it would be. Weezer were here touring their most recent double release of The Black Album and their collection of cover songs, The Teal Album. We were told beforehand that we'd be able to photograph songs three, four and five. 
About 12 minutes that I'd been waiting a long time to do, and that would pass by so very quickly. One of the things that I need to work on in these situations is moving around the pit for different angles. This was hindered a little bit as just before the show the group was asked to split into two. One group would be stage left, the other stage right. There would be no going from side to side as a video crew was in the middle of the pit recording the show. From there, I just began snapping away, all the while trying to suppress a goofy smile from taking over my face as I kept telling myself in my head that I was actually in the Centre Bell as a photograph, taking photographs of a group that I have listened to since I was a teenager. The first photograph was taken at f/2.8, 1/400sec, ISO 3200 at 70mm. The second photograph was taken at f/2.8, 1/250sec, ISO 3200 at 34mm and the third photograph was taken at f/2.8, 1/250sec, ISO 3200 at 42mm. If you've managed to stick around after that long winded trip down memory lane, here are some more photographs that I took while in the pit.
f/2.8, 1/250sec, ISO 3200 at 42mm
f/2.8, 1/100sec, ISO 3200 at 24mm
f/2.8, 1/400sec, ISO 3200 at 70mm
f/2.8, 1/400sec, ISO 3200 at 70mm
f/2.8, 1/100sec, ISO 3200 at 40mm
f/2.8, 1/100sec, ISO 3200 at 40mm
f/2.8, 1/320sec, ISO 3200 at 58mm
A very big thank-you to Weezer and their management team for getting me a photo pass to shoot the show. I would have liked to get some more shots of the other members of the band, but with half of the pit off limit, I couldn't get any decent shots of the other side of the stage, and from where I was, the drummer was always hidden behind his kit whenever I took a peek. Thanks also the the nice staff at Evenko, Centre Bell security and also the group of photographers who allowed this outsider to share the pit with them and kept me entertained between sets with all kinds of good conversation. This was an unforgettable moment, and hopefully there will be some more of them in the future.
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