Martyr At L'Olympia

Being such a large city, it isn't much of a surprise to learn that many Montreal-ers have gone to to be rather successful in various walks of life.  Some of Montreal’s Heavy Metal Royalty were on display for a rocking show at Théâtre L'Olympia a short while ago.  First up was Daniel Mongrain and his band Martyr.  Mongrain is best known as ‘Chewy’ from Voivod, but I know him as the man with one of the greatest smiles in metal.  In a genre that is known for snarls, scowls and angry faces, Chewy is non-stop smiling on the stage.  After an 11 year break, Martyr, a band he originally formed with his bassist brother François, got back together in 2023 and this was their big return in Montreal.  They don’t play very many shows, but when they do, it’s unforgettable.  Martyr may have been an opening band on this night, but they had a home field advantage.  The band played mostly songs from their Warp Zone album as the crowd raised their first and alternated between singing along or chanting the band’s name.  Genuinely one of the nicest people to pick up a guitar, Daniel even hung around the merch stand long after their set had finished to chat with any fans who seemed more interested in chatting with him rather than listening to the headlining act.   On stage, the band tore through their songs, while the fans gave as much energy back from the floor in return.  This was their moment to shine and they gave everyone in attendance several loud musical moments that none of them will forget.  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 Martyr while they performed up on the Théâtre L'Olympia stage.

If you would like to find out more about Martyr 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 Arch Enemy, who performed later that night, you can do so by following the link.  Martyr doesn't get out and tour very much, but if you even find that they are playing near you, don't dare miss out on seeing their show.