The Guess Who At Place Bell

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.  Nostalgia is a powerful drug.  The future may be clouded in mystery, but we often find ourselves looking at the past through rose coloured glasses.  This night featured a city wide bicycle tour, a visiting Country music superstar and play-off hockey game.  Despite all of that, Laval’s Place Bell was packed with several thousand fans.  All of them looking to have a good time in the present while revisiting the past.  Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman are Canadian rock royalty.  As The Guess Who, and on their own, the have been rocking the world since the 1960’s.  It has been 23 years since they last toured together.  That stretch of time came to an end this year.  Their Takin’ It Back Tour promised fans the chance to experience once again the awesome music that The Guess Who have gifted us with over the years.  Before The Guess Who hit the stage, we were treated to a little video retrospective of the band through the years.  The crowd then erupted as Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings hit the stage.  A long lawsuit has prevented them from touring as The Guess Who for several years now.  Those issues taken care of, they decided to hit the road.  Giving the fans a more than welcome flashback to another time.  They opened with the instrumental “969 (The Oldest Man)”.  Randy Bachman showed that he can still rock out on the guitar.  It also allowed Burton Cummings the chance to regale us with a flute solo early in the show.  “Proper Stranger” gave us some vocals and we found that Cummings can still hit all of the necessary notes.  The band was rocking at full blast for “Hand Me Down World”.  The rest of the night featured a series of greatest hits and some stories about the songs and touring over the years.  The wonderful trip back through time came to an end with “Takin’ Care Of Business”.  Business had indeed been taken care of.  The Guess Who was back.  They claimed the Canadian Rock Crown in the late 60’s and early 70’s.  In 2026, they are still showing that it was deserved.  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 Guess Who while they performed on the Place Bell stage.

If you would like to find out more about The Guess Who 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 Don Felder, who performed earlier that evening, you can do so by following the link.  Much thanks goes out to The Guess Who's management team at 2b Entertainment, Evenko and Christopher Gonda at V13 Media for getting me a pass to shoot the show.  As always, it is very much appreciated.  The Guess Who's 'Takin' It Back Tour' continues through August.  Don't you dare miss it when it arrives in a town near you.

Don Felder At Place Bell

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.  Sadly, due to the workings of Father Time and my own late arrival to the game, there are some bands that I will never have the opportunity to photograph.  That is why I try to take advantage of certain times when members of those bands find themselves in town.  Eagles are one of those bands that I'll never be able to photograph.  However, at Place Bell last week was Don Felder.  A guitarist who certainly befits the status of legend. Eagles guitarist and writer of songs we all know and love, Felder hit the stage with a thousand yard smile.  As one would expect, the set was full of classic Eagles songs.  Beginning the set with “Already Gone” got the crowd grooving right from the start.  Don Felder still plays a mean guitar and his voice is a great now as it was back in the 70s.  We got some of his solo work as well.  Including the very catchy "I Like The Things You Do".  “One Of These Nights” and “Victim Of Love” quickly followed, but not before Don Felder shared little stories about the songs and that magical period of time when he was part of a band that ruled the world.  It all led to “Hotel California”, which closed his set.  It may be true that you can check out any time you want, but there was nobody in the stands that wanted to leave.  It was a great performance.  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 Don Felder as he performed on the Place Bell stage.

 

 

If you would like to find out more about Don Felder and his music, you can do so by following the link to his website.  If you would like to see the photographs that I took of The Guess Who, who performed later that evening, you can do so by following the link.  Don Felder was simply marvelous.  The music was terrific and the stories were fun to hear.  Don't you dare miss it when he plays in a town near you.