Arch Enemy At L'Olympia

We haven’t hit the month of June yet, but already Montreal has been blessed with a series of great metal shows.  Perhaps blessed isn’t the right choice of word for the “Devil’s Music”, but cursed certainly isn’t the right one either.  It’s a safe bet that none of the sold-out crowd that filled the Théâtre L’Olympia felt cursed as they went out of their minds.  If anything, they may have been feeling blessed themselves as they roared in unison towards the alter of rock that was before them.  Arch Enemy was in town, and they brought some friends with them.  After a short break after a building melting performance by Martyr, check out the link for the photographs,  Metallica’s “For Whom The Bell Tolls” played over the house PA.  As the crowd sang along, Sweden’s gift to heavy music, Arch Enemy, made their way to the stage.  Out last, and admittedly to the loudest applause, was singer Alissa White-Gluz, Montreal’s reigning scream queen and vocalist with the group for almost 11 years now.  Filled with some hometown pride, Alissa immediately let loose her trademarked roar and began to bang her head, sending her blue hair flying in all directions.  Arch Enemy opened their set with “Deceivers” which put their musical power on display right from the word go.  “Dream Stealer”, from their most recent album, Blood Dynasty followed shortly after.  The album was released just a few weeks ago and is a perfectly brutal addition to their musical catalogue.  By this time, the circle pits had already been formed and bodies were quickly surfing by on their way to the front of the stage.  It may have been raining and a little chilly outside, but Arch Enemy was raising the heat to devilish highs.  That wasn’t going to stop them, or their fans, from giving their all.  What followed was a set list that represented much of their glorious history.  The songs kept heads banging, arms pumping and bodies surfing until the final notes were played.  It is a safe bet that ears were probably still ringing in to the next morning, but the dull voices those fans heard the next day should have only served to remind them of the awesome spectacle that they had been part of the night before.  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 Arch Enemy while they were performing up on the Théâtre L'Olympia stage.

If you would like to find out more about Arch Enemy 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 or Martyr, who performed earlier that night, you can do so by following the link.  Much thanks goes out to Sarah Lutz and Bernice Chan of Looters Marketing and Christopher Gonda of V13 Media for getting me a pass to photograph the show.  As always, it is very much appreciated.  The North American Blood Dynasty tour has come to an end, but Arch Enemy will surely be hitting the road again soon.  Don’t miss them when they come to play in a town near you.