There's something about flowers that just catches my eye. I'm sure that I'm not alone when it comes to this and with it being Mother's Day, I'm sure that there are a lot of flowers that will be making the rounds today. My Lovely Assistant is not as big a fan as I am, but Grandmaman will very likely be getting some flowers from The Heir Apparent and Crown Prince. There's no time to photograph and post those photographs, but we can post up a virtual flower for my Mom, and what better than my personal favourite, the Day Lily. This one in particular was donated by my Mom to be planted in our yard a few years back, but last year it was particularly spectacular. Rather than it's usual red and orange hue, it was a darker red than usual with a little hint of purple. As usual, I tried to get as close as possible to get a good shot, but that's when my allergies kicked in and I may have sneezed a few times. I guess that I didn't do a very good job of covering my mouth, because when I looked back, the yellow pollen of the flower and flown all over the petals. It ended up giving my Day Lily an even more unique look. The photograph was taken at f/9, 1/50sec, ISO 100 at 70mm. Happy Mother's Day to all the Mom's out there. I hope you all have a very colourful day.
Saturday 11 May 2024
Wednesday 8 May 2024
The Black Crowes At MTelus
It certainly seems like there is less out there to be happy about these days. Thankfully, The Black Crowes are on tour to help us celebrate those moments that truly make us happy. For example, I am truly happy when in a photo pit, shooting a show. My friend Louie would be truly happy seeing the stack of amps and cases of guitars that Rich Robinson brings with him on the road and for the more than 2000 people who sold out the MTelus on Tuesday night, happiness was seeing The Black Crowes back in town for the first time in 16 years. As the band slowly made their way, one by one, on to the stage as some AC/DC blared from the speakers, the collective happiness in the building continued to build and rise until, at last, singer Chris Robinson strutted out on to the stage as the crowd finally erupted and the festivities began. They opened with two tracks from their latest album, Happiness Bastards, which was released just a little more than a month ago. It is their first album since reforming the band back in 2019 and of new material since 2009. Before the third song, Chris Robinson mentioned how they have some new songs to play, but also some old one as well, before The Black Crowes broke into ‘Twice As Hard’, the first track from their debut album, Shake Your Money Maker, from 1990. It’s the album that I remember first getting as a kid and I won’t deny that some goose bumps appeared as that familiar slow fuzzy guitar intro began to play. With all that said, what exactly is happiness? Happiness is a positive and pleasant emotion, ranging from contentment to intense joy. Everyone leaving the MTelus on Tuesday night will tell you that happiness can be found at a Black Crowes concert. The first photograph was taken at f/3.2, 1/1250sec, ISO 3200 at 70mm and the second photograph was taken at f/3.2, 1/1000sec, ISO 3200 at 24mm. Here are several more photographs of The Black Crowes performing on stage.
Tuesday 7 May 2024
Wine Lips At MTelus
The job of a good opening band is to get the crowd going. Wake them up, if you will. Heading in to the MTelus on a Tuesday night after having already shot another concert a few days before (check out my photographs of Armored Saint and Queensryche by following the respective links), dealing with the early alarm of my 'Day Job' and the seemingly endless energy of the next generation at home, I was certainly in need of a good wake up. Luckily, Wine Lips were on hand to make sure that any cobwebs that may have been floating around my head were promptly swept away by their music. WineLips, a hot band from Ontario, opened the night with a bolt of energy that might not have been expected. From their website, I read that they are described as a garage/ punk/ psychedelic band whose music feels like a shot of adrenaline to the heart. This was my first Wine Lips experience and I found those words to be very accurate. The band only had a small amount of space to work with, but made the most of it and left the Montreal crowd grasping their chests and trying to catch their breath. This crowd may have already been pumped to see the headliners, but Wine Lips managed to get them even more amped up with their non-stop, fuzzy garage rock musical goodness. The cheers we could here from the pit were undeniable, nor was the wild applause at the end of their set or the buzz in the crowd as we made our way back in. Mission accomplished, this crowd was awake. The first photograph was taken at f/3.2, 1/400sec, ISO 5000 at 55mm and the second photograph was taken at f/3.2, 1/640sec, ISO 5000 at 24mm. Here are several more photographs that I took of Wine Lips while they were performing up on the stage.