Montreal’s MTelus was the site of
a hurricane warning mid February. There
were actually several weather systems bearing down on Montreal at the time. Two were severe Winter storms that dropped
about 70cm’s of snow on our fair city.
However, it was the third system that saw Montreal get battered by high
winds and thunderous noises. A northern
front of Classical renditions of songs by Metallica was about to collide with a
southern front bringing with it hurricane like force. Apocalyptica and Nita Strauss were about to
make land, the the MTelus was stage was Ground Zero of where this perfect storm
would touch down. Bad weather analogies aside, this
double concert had been on my list of things I was most looking forward to in
2025 since the
tour was announced last Summer.
I had already shot both Nita Strauss and Apocalyptica back in 2022, but
the thought of both bands sharing the same bill was enough to make the mind
melt at the thought of the musical prowess that would be on display. Alone, each performance was sure to be
memorable, but combined, this concert was guaranteed to be unforgettable. Apocalyptica are touring for
their most recent album, Plays Metallica, Vol. 2, and they raise our collective
goose bumps before even hitting the stage.
Going for the full Metallica experience, Apocalyptica even arrive on to the stage as Ennio
Morricone’s famous piece, The Ecstasy Of Gold plays from the PA.
From there the mast cellists break into the best of Metallica while most
of the MTelus sings the songs back to them as they play. When they encouraged 
the fans to sing Enter
Sandman with them, the place almost exploded.
And this was only their second song of the night. As a fan of Metallica and of
classical music, the show is really something that must be experienced. The musicianship is out of this world. Where else can you see classically trained
cellists drop down into a power stance to play their instruments as guitar
while also wind milling and throwing the horns? Though they play cover songs, the
interpretations are truly unique the show is something to behold. Add in the guitar wizardry of Nita Strauss
and you have a show that simply can’t be missed. 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 Apocalyptica while they performed on the MTelus stage.
If you would like to find out more about Apocalyptica 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 Nita Strauss, who performed earlier in the evening, you can do so by following the link. Much thanks goes out to Jenny Naumann and Ulysses Hüppauff of Odyssey Music Network and Christopher Gonda of V13 Media for getting me a pass to shoot the show. As always, it is very much appreciated. Apocalyptica and their classical interpretations of Metal songs is something you may not have thought you need to see, but that you undoubtedly do. Be sure to check out Apocalyptica when they perform near you.
