King Diamond At MTelus

One of my favourite books I remember reading from high school was Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury.  I still to this day repeat the title of the book whenever I get the feeling that something bad may be on its way.  Though this is usually done in jest to get a little chuckle out of myself, something wicked was in fact on its way to Montreal back at the beginning of November, the one and only King Diamond.  Lots of people describe heavy metal as being the Devil’s music or something inherently evil that should be avoided.  For most bands, the devil worship stuff is just an act. One must not forget that King Diamond is a ‘character’, but the man who personifies that character does such a good job at it.  But still, the legend of King Diamond is such that in the moments before the curtain rose, there were still some butterflies in the pit of my stomach.  Only a few days after Halloween, the spirit of the holiday was still alive and well inside of a sold-out MTelus.  People were costumed and in full face paint and they showed homage to visiting heavy metal royalty.  Back to our visiting demon.  King Diamond was back town as part of his St. Lucifer's Hospital tour.  After the curtain rose, King Diamond appears behind the coffin of Abigail, before disposing of the little girl in a most violent fashion.  Once the famous demon child has been disposed of, we are welcomed in to St. Lucifer’s Hospital.  A hospital where all kinds of atrocities take place.  Described as the most elaborate thing King Diamond has ever done, the stage piece takes up the entirety of the MTelus stage.  King Diamond the character takes up lots of space, but not to be overlooked is his terrific collection of musicians.  The trio of Andy LaRocque, Mike Wead and Pontus Egberg on guitar and bass are just as important to the show as KingDiamond himself.  A special guest on the tour, Danish musician Myrkur makes appearances from time to time while also playing the keyboard.  Speaking of vocals, King Diamond’s falsetto screams are legendary and really do bring a little tingle at the base of your spine.  Especially when he hits one and then immediately stares right in to your camera, piercing my soul through my lens.  Something wicked this way comes, indeed.  All of the photographs were taken at f/3.2 while using various different shutter speeds, ISO settings and focal lengths.  Here are some more photographs that I took of King Diamond while he performed up on the MTelus stage.

If you would like to find out more about King Diamond and his music, you can do so by following the link to his website.  If you would like to see the photographs that I took of Overkill and Night Demon, who performed earlier that night, you can do so by following the respective links.  A big thank you goes out to Sarah Lutz of Metal Blade Records and Christopher Gonda of V13 Media for getting me a pass to shoot the show.  As always, it is very much appreciated. Seeing a King Diamond show is an experience that one simply must take in at least once, and this tour, with its massive set, is one you definitely want to see.  King Diamond and his St. Lucifer’s Hospital tour continues in to December.  Be sure to check it out, or run the risk of King Diamond coming to get you.

Overkill At MTelus

The second band to hit the stage on our post-Halloween metal concert at the MTelus in Montreal was another legendary thrash metal band from the 1980s, Overkill.  A long time listener, it has been ten years since I last saw them.  That was during a performance at Montreal's legendary Heavy MTL festival.  I was happy to see them under a more controlled climate this time around as though I love going to shows, I'm also not a very big fan of the hot and humid weather that often coincided with the festival.  You sometimes get a little worried about some of the older band when they come to town after several years, but there was not need to worry with Overkill.  They still sound as awesome.  Born out of the thrash metal boom that took place more than 40 years ago, Overkill was then, and remains to this day, one of the most popular bands of the genre.  Bobby Blitz’s voice hasn’t lost any of its power and up on the stage, they are just as mischievous and fun loving as always.  The middle fingers and f-bombs were flying all set and from all directions.  But, it’s all secondary fun to the awesome music.  We've been treated to 20 albums from these New Jersey metal-heads, the most recent of which, Scorched, was released last year.  They certainly don't seem to be showing any signs of slowing down, and that's good news for all of their fans.  All of the photographs were taken at f/3.2 while using various differing shutter speeds, ISO settings and focal lengths.  Here are several more photographs that I took of Overkill during their performance on the MTelus stage.

If you would like to find more about Overkill 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 Night Demon and King Diamond, who also performed that night, you can do so by following the respective links.  Some things tend to fall apart and break down with the passing years, but not Overkill.  Like a fine wine, they simply continue to age with musical perfection.   After all this time, Overkill are still out there releasing face melting albums and live shows that are simply not to be missed.  Don't miss the show when they come and play near you.