Creepy Crawly

It's Halloween in a couple of days, so me should probably get in the mood and add a little something to give a fright.  For most people, this guy probably does the trick.  To be perfectly honest, in my younger years I was not a big fan of spiders, but they have grown on me over the years.  They help get rid of all kinds of more annoying insects, and most importantly, they are perfect models.  A spider will just sit there and wait until something comes along for it to eat.  Hmm, that sounds a little familiar.  I guess I have something in common with spiders after all.  This little guy had made a rather comfy looking web for himself in a plant next to our deck, so after a few days of seeing him  just hanging out, I decided to snap away.  The photograph was taken at f/7.1, 1/80sec, ISO 100 at 70mm.  Have fun with all of the two legged creepy crawlies that will be prowling the streets in a few days.  Keep your eyes open for them if you are driving, a couple of them will be mind.  Happy Halloween everyone!

Sepultura At L'Olympia

Saying goodbye is never easy.  But, when done before a sold-out crowd of diehard fans, some of the emotional sting can be taken out of the moment.  With that in mind, Montreal metal fans turned out en masse to say good-bye to one of their favourite bands, and Brazilian imports, Sepultura.  After 40 years of existence, Sepultura have decided to call it a day and have embarked on one final tour that will see them perform over the world for an 18 month period.  During 40 of those dates, live tracks will be recorded to eventually be released as a huge live compilation.  This past Thursday, Sepultura brought their farewell tour, named ‘Celebrating Life Through Death’ to the Théâtre L’Olympia. If you’re going to throw a good-bye party, you better make sure to have a good set of friends with you.  Sepultura definitely surrounded themselves with an awesome set of tour partners.  Even after three bands who had given their all, there was still a rumble in the crowd as we waited for the band of honour to hit the stage.  After 40 years, this would be the final time that Sepultura would hit one of our stages.  Though none of the actual original members remain, this version of Sepultura has been together the longest, save for drummer Greyson Nekrutman who just joined the band this year.  Classic and newer songs alike, vocalist Derrick Green has made them his own while guitarist Andreas Kisser is a shredding machine on the guitar.  Sepultura opened with a duo of songs from their awesome Chaos A.D album and at that point, all bets were off.  The crowd had already been whipped in to a frenzy as they did their best to enjoy every final song from their heroes.  While they were taking in the unforgettable moment, I couldn't help but think that perhaps they were trying to make the moment unforgettable for the band as well.  Judging by the smiles up on the stage, that crowd certainly left their mark.  By this point, I have seen several ‘goodbye performances’ by other bands, so I take those words with a grain of salt, but since my crystal ball is not currently working, I have no choice but to take the band at their word.  One thing is certain, if this was our final time seeing Sepultura, they certainly left an unforgettable final impression.  All of the photographs were taken at f/3.2 while using various different shutter speeds, ISO settings and focal lengths.  Here are the rest of the photographs that I took of Sepultura as they performed on the stage at the Théâtre L'Olympia.

If you would like to find out more about Sepultura and their music, you can do so by following the link to their website.  If you would like to see the photographs that I took of Harvest, Agnostic Front and Obituary, who also performed that night, you can do so by following the respective links.  Much thanks goes out to Daniel Regan and Anne Swallow of Feat First Management and Christopher Gonda of V13 Media for getting me a pass to shoot the show, it is very much appreciated.  It's true that saying goodbye is never easy, but when a band leaves behind such awesome material, and you have great memories of their performances, it makes things a little easier.  Thanks for the tunes Sepultura.  May you live forever in the collectives memories and record collections of your fans.

Obituary At L'Olympia

We're still at the Théâtre L'Olympia for the big farewell metal show that took place on the 11th.  With a four band bill, you might run the risk of some burn-out at a certain time of the evening, but this crowd didn't seem like it was anywhere close to being at the point of taking a knee.  The third band on the bill were in a tough spot.  Having to follow up the metal tornado that was Agnostic Front and also performing before our headliners were due to hit the stage.  Luckily, this was no ordinary band, and Obituary had more than enough songs in their groove metal bag to keep the mosh pit full. Moody lighting and killer riffs were on full display as the band chugged through their set list.  Much like their tour mates, Obituary have been at this for nearly 30 years.  They know exactly how to get the crowd going.  Any fears of there being any third-band-on-the-bill blues were quickly put to rest.  It helped that they have a huge fan base in the city.  Obituary have been visiting here since 1990 and their tours always draw a big crowd.  Their most recent album, Dying Of Everything was released last year.  It is their eleventh album and they certainly show no sign of slowing down.  Not in the studio, and certainly not on stage where lead singer John Tardy was rendered almost unrecognizable for most of the three songs we were able to shot as his hair continually obscured his face due to all of the thrashing about and headbanging that was going one.  The photographs were all taken at f/3.2 while using various different shutter speeds, ISO settings and focal lengths.  Here are several more photographs that I took of Obituary while they performed at the Théâtre L'Olympia.

If you would like to find out more about Obituary and their music, you can do so by following the link to their website.  If you would like to see the photographs that I took of Harvest, Agnostic Front and Sepultura, who also performed that night, you can do so by following the respective links.  There's nothing fancy about Obituary, just straight ahead, in your face heavy metal.  Their fans wouldn't have it any other way.  Be sure to check Obituary out when they come to a town near you.