The Damn Truth At MTelus

There was an undeniable energy that was coming from Montreal’s MTelus this past Wednesday night.  Montreal is a city that loves to rock and roll, The Damn Truth do both to near perfection.  It’s been a little more than two years since The Damn Truth headlined a show in our fair city, and it has felt like an eternity.  I’m obviously not the only one who felt it.  The room was buzzing as the long line of people that rounded the block outside finally were allowed in for what was to becoming an evening that made the wait worthwhile.  It’s been a long love affair between the city and The Damn Truth.  We’ve watched them grow musically before our eyes and this triumphant homecoming was made all the more special for everyone who has been there since the beginning.  It was an important show for the band as well.  Their new album, ‘The Damn Truth’ was released last week and this show not only served as an album launch but was their very first headlining gig at one of Montreal’s most hallowed of concert venues.  From the stage, The Damn Truth mentioned how this show meant so much for them.   They’ve performed on this stage before, though usually to open for others.  Now they were back as headliners, to launch their new tour and throw an unforgettable party to celebrate the launch of their brand new album.   Hearing that story touched me as well.  My own journey as a concert photographer crossed paths with The Damn Truth at the MTelus back in 2019.  It was their first time playing the venue, and it was my second ever show as a credentialed photographer.  I’ve had the honour of photographing them several times since, and they have yet to have a bad show.  Before hitting the stage, I could spot members of The Damn Truth sneaking a peek through the curtain at the mass of fans that had gathered for the show.  The band has been described as being akin to if Led Zeppelin was fronted by Janis Joplin.  That is pretty spot on.  Singer Lee-La Baum’s voice is powerful, emotional and vulnerable, sometimes all during the same song.  On guitars, Tom Shemer deserves to have his name mentioned among the best while Dave Traina & P.Y. Letellier are a rhythm section that rocks any building they play.  P.Y. also earns the distinction of being possibly the most flexible musician to ever slap the bass.  Opening with the first track from their new album, ‘Be Somebody’, The Damn Truth immediately show all of their strengths on a song that is both tender and a rocker before blowing the roof off with the one-two punch of ‘This Is Who We Are Now’ and ‘Love Outta Luck’.  If there were any people left at that point who had yet to be rocked, that was taken care of with the musical riot that took over the stage for ‘Heart Is Cold’.  When all was said and done, the MTelus may have still been standing, but the foundations had definitely been weakened.  It may have been a Wednesday, but everyone walked out of that show feeling like it was a Saturday night.  Sweaty, steaming and maybe a little sore, they had just experienced firsthand the power of Montreal’s premier rock band.  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 photograph that I took of The Damn Truth while they performed on the MTelus stage.

If you would like to find out more about The Damn Truth and their music, you can do so by following the link to their website.  If you would like to see my photographs of Mountain Dust, who performed earlier that night, you can do so by following the link.  Much thanks goes out to Ralph Alphonso of Bongo Beat Management, Patrica Clavel of Six Media Marketing and Christopher Gonda of V13 Media for the photo pass to cover the show.  As always, it is very much appreciated.  The Damn Truth will tour through Québec before returning to the United Kingdom in the fall.  They put on an awesome show, and everyone who was there is hoping that it won’t take two years before we see them again, and that is the damn truth.  Be sure to check The Damn Truth out when they perform in a city near you