Sam Roberts Band At L'Olympia

We're a little bit backed up on getting my concert photographs up here on The Old Blog.  I suppose we will catch up at some point, but this would be a good time to remind you that my concert photographs can be seen in a much more timely manner by visiting V13 Media, which you can do by following the link.  If you'd like an even more direct route to my photographs, you can visit my personal page over there but using the following link.  An argument could be made that Axl Rose was singing about Montréal all those years ago.  The grass is green and the girls are pretty.  Some might describe it as paradise, but this past Saturday night, Montréal became a different kind of city.  A Chemical City.  Sam Roberts, the city’s favourite musical son, and his band were back in town. Like a good guest, they came bearing the gift of a great show to treat the sold-out crowd that had come out to see him.  The event was the 20^th Anniversary of the release of Chemical City.  Sam Roberts’ second album has aged liked a fine wine.  To celebrate, The Sam Roberts Band has been on a special five city Canadian tour.  Montreal was the final stop on this quick cross-Canada trek.  Why?  Because there really is no place like home.  Though the album was recorded in Australia, and Roberts has resided in many other cities, he has always called Montréal home.  A point he made to the crowd, which roared in approval.  After all of the seats in L’Olympia were finally filled, the lights went down.  Every second of the unmistakable intro to “The Gate” saw the anticipation build.  Up to the moment where the guitars come crashing in.   Those seats quickly emptied again as the crowd leapt to their feet in a cathartic release of excitement.“Bridge To Nowhere” and “With A Bullet” quickly followed before Sam Roberts took a moment to address the elephant in the room.  Yes, there was in fact another big event happening that night.  But, we were encouraged not to talk about it.  Telephones were to be left in our pockets to keep from looking at them out of wonder about what was happening a few blocks down the street.  “Especially you!” he said while laughing and pointing out one concert goer who was wearing the familiar bleu, blanc, rouge.  One final glimpse showed that the Lightning were leading 2-1.  The first part of the set came to an end with Sam Roberts seated by the keyboards, bathed in a triangle of blue light for “A Stone Would Cry Out”.  The soft tones of the song did feel like an ending, but the show wasn’t over.  A brief intermission followed.  Just long enough to see that the Canadiens had tied the score at 2-2.  Following the already established rules, my phone quickly returned to my pocket as the band returned to the stage.  The second half of the set was filled with the already established Sam Roberts Band hits.  “Them Kids”, “We’re All In This Together” and “Don’t Walk Away Eileen” all kept the party going. Nobody wanted the show to come to an end.  As “Brother Down” brought the night to an end one didn’t need to look far to find out where all of the good people had gone.  They had come down to the Chemical City.  The grass was green, the girls were pretty and the Habs ended up winning in Overtime.  A more perfect night couldn’t have been had.  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 The Sam Roberts Band while they performed on the L'Olympia stage.

If you would like to find out more about The Sam Roberts Band and their music, you can do so by following the link to their website.  A big thank you goes out to Jenn Sookdeo of SOOKS Productions & Entertainment Services as well as Christopher Gonda of V13 Media for getting me a pass to shoot the show.  As always, it is very much appreciated.  The Sam Roberts Band have been putting on great shows for years now, and there isn't any chance of that changing anytime soon.  Don't you dare miss it when they play in a town near you.