While I've been fortunate enough to have been photographing concerts for a few years now, I'm not yet at the point where I have shot bands more than once. So, to say that I have shot a band twice, in the same year, seems like a big step up. Such would be the case with out Sunday night headliner at the MTelus in Montreal, Bullet For My Valentine. I got to shoot them this past May when they were playing at the Place Bell in Laval, feel free to check out my photographs by following the link. This time they were the main event, and I think it can be safely said that Bullet For My Valentine have a very strong fan base here in Montreal. I tend to show up early to these shows, so I am used to seeing something of a line-up waiting to get in to the venue. This time, the line-up stretched down the street and went around the block. I
managed to avoid that wait thanks to my pass, but it wasn't the last line-up that I would experience. Once inside, the line for merchandise went all around the building, something I had never before seen at MTelus. Number of people aside, what everyone was there for was the music, and once the lights when down, that's when the volume went up. Bullet For My Valentine opened with the first single, Knives, from their self-titled album, which was released back in 2021. It was a matter of minutes before the first crowd surfer had passed by my head as the crowd was on fire. One thing I have learned to take the time to notice from my little spot in the pit is the look at the reactions of band members when they look out in to the crowd. When the crowd is loud and raucous, such as they were on Sunday night, you can see the faces pick up 
just a little bit. There were lots of those little smiles between the members of the band as they would look at the crowd and then back at each other. Speaking of band members, I generally try and get a few shots of all the members when I'm shooting a show. But, it was a bit of an adventure to try and get some shots of Bullet For My Valentine's drummer, Jason Bowld. His drum kit was positioned one level higher than the stage, making it almost impossible to see him. Luckily, I was paying attention and saw him sneak a few glances out from the side of his drums, so I was able to snap a few quick shots. When our three songs were over and it was time to leave, we didn't even try to make our way back out through the crowd, as the floor was packed. We were all shuffled out through the fire exit just off the stage. I did make my way back in to listen to a few more songs before leaving, and the place was just off the charts on fire. The first photograph was taken at f/3.2, 1/640sec, ISO 6400 at 27mm. The second photograph was taken at f/3.2, 1/500sec, ISO 6400 at 24mm and the third photograph was taken at f/3.2, 1/400sec, ISO 6400 at 24mm. Here are a few more photographs that I took of their performance.
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