Flower For Mom

Happy Mother's Day to all of the Mom's out there.  To my Mom as well.  It's a day where lots of flowers will be given out as gifts, so here is a little flower as a virtual Mother's Day gift to all of you out there.  As we mentioned last time, the blooming period has been delayed here by a late Winter, but things have begun to sprout out from the ground.  Other than the Dandelions, but Mom, and all the other Mom's out there deserve better than that.  Although for what it's worth, The Heir Apparent and Crown Prince have been putting together some nice Dandelion bouquets over the last little white.  This is another Day Lily from the archives, though it is a red one that we imported into our yard from Mom and Dad's place several years ago.  It's been growing strong ever since, and we're looking forward to it's return later this Spring.  The photograph was taken at f/7.1, 1/320sec, ISO 100 at 70mm.  Happy Mother's Day.

May Flowers

The old saying is that April Showers bring May Flowers.  The only problem is that this year, the showers that we got in April were mostly of the snow variety.  As a result, most of the colourful things that bloom in my yard have yet to do so.  As a result, we take a trip back in to the archives to dig out a shot of my yellow Asian Lily.  The weather did take a turn to the warm and sunny over the last few days.  So much so that I officially have my first sunburn of the year after having spent some time outside with the Heir Apparent and Crown Prince.  We also noticed some budding taking place, so hopefully the yard will be full of colour once again very soon.  The photograph was taken at f/6.3, 1/100sec, ISO 100 at 200mm.  Now, off to treat that sunburn.  Don't forget your sunscreen.

Grimskunk At MTelus

Montreal’s alternative rock roots were on display at the MTelus this past week as one of the cities premiere alt-rock outfits.  Grimskunk have been at the head of Montreal’s alt-rock table since the early 1990’s and are the perfect musical companion to the city.  Known for its uniqueness and diversity, Montreal ranks among the top cities in North America for a good time.  As for Grimskunk, they are the poster children for musical diversity.  Their songs feature several different languages and there is no genre they have not tried, and mastered.  On this evening, Grimskunk were celebrating the anniversary of their self-titled debut album, Grimskunk.  It has been 30 years since the release of that landmark album, but neither the songs nor the band have lost any of their energy.  This was their 3^rd sold-out Montreal show over the last year and fans came from all corners of the province, and beyond, to participate in the non-stop party.  Grimskunk then hit the stage to the wild cheers of the crowd that only grew louder as singer/keyboardist Joe Evil looked out upon the masses from his mask.  The band ripped into action with “Let’s Start A War”, from their most recent album, 2018’s Unreason in the Age of Madness.  'Action' being the key word.  Along with a very animated Joe Evil, guitarist and vocalist Franz Schuller, even while seated, was a bundle of rock and roll energy that was dying to escape.  If not for the fact that the fact that he was seated, he probably would have flown off the stage.  If there were any people who had still not been moved to action by the end of the song, the follow-up, “F@ck Shit Up” had stirred the MTelus into an early frenzy of banging heads, flailing limbs and crowd surfing bodies.  The next two hours was a celebration of not only their 30^th Anniversary of the Grimskunk album, but also the city that they call home.  The entire album was played, as well as a selection of hits and crowd favourites.  There was also a special guest in the form of guitarist Martin Dupuis from another legendary Montreal band, Groovy Aardvark, who joined the band on stage for the show.  The concert was just as wild and impressive as it was when I saw them back in my school days, though I was much closer to the stage on this night than the younger me would have dared.   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 Grimskunk while they performed on the MTelus stage.

 

If you would like to find out more about Grimskunk, you can do so by following the link to their website.  If you would like to see the photographs that I took of Thee Soreheads and Gros Soleil, who performed earlier that night, you can do so by following the respective links.  Much thanks goes out to Evenko and Christopher Gonda of V13 Media for getting me a pass to shoot the show.  As always, it is very much appreciated.  Grimskunk have long attained legendary status in Montreal and the show is definitely one that shouldn't be missed.  Be sure to check them out if they are playing in a town near you.

Gros Soleil At MTelus

Our most recent trip to the MTelus in Montreal was a triple bill with a great band sandwiched in to the middle of the line-up.  They are called Gros Soleil and their mix of grunge and stoner rock was really popular with the crowd.  The band was obviously having a great time as well as the moments on stage without smiles on their faces were few.  Their set featured songs from their two albums, Occulture Populaire and their most recent, 2023’s 2038.  The whole building was enjoying the set, including the fan in the three-piece suit who seemed to be having a grand old time in the mosh pit.  I came in to the show knowing nothing about Gros Soleil, but I really enjoyed their set and have already begun to dig deep in to their catalogue.  Do yourselves and favour and do the same because they rock.  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 Gros Soleil as they performed on the MTelus stage.

 If you would like to find out more about Gros Soleil and their music, you can do so by following the link to their Facebook page.  If you would like to see the photographs that I took of Thee Soreheads and Grimskunk, who also performed that night, you can do so by following the respective links.  Gros Soleil have a few dates already scheduled for this summer, be sure to check them out when they play near you.