Jann Arden At MTelus

A few short days ago I was writing about my current favourite Canadian rock band, The Beaches (concert photographs you can be viewed by following this link), but on Friday night I found myself before Canadian musical royalty as Jann Arden was performing at the MTelus in Montreal.  Over a the last 30 years there have been 15 studio albums, her most recent, Descendant, was released earlier this year.  There are also 16 Top Ten Singles and 19 Juno Award nominations to go along with 8 Juno Awards.  Among those are Juno's for Songwriter of the Year in 1995 and 2002 and Female Artist of the Year in 1995 and 2001.  To top things off, she was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 2020.  Her talents aren't limited to music either as there have also been awards to acting and she is also well known for her charity work, most recently her work to prevent the export of live horses to Japan.  There really isn't anything she can't do.  It was a packed house to see this legend perform, and after an early hiccup, things quickly returned to normal as we were regaled with a catalogue of songs performed by a true master.  This was a seated show, so rather than being able to shoot from the front of the stage, I was confined to a spot behind the soundboard.  But, with trusty telephoto lens in hand, I was still able to get some nice shots of the show.  It also gave me the chance to see the sound and lighting guys work their magic to make everything look and sound great.  The first photograph was taken at f/5.6, 1/320sec, ISO 6400 at 125mm and the second photograph was taken at f/5, 1/400sec, ISO 6400 at 200mm.  Here are a few more photographs that I was able to take during her perfomance.

f/5, 1/250sec, ISO 6400 at 200mm

f/5, 1/400sec, ISO 6400 at 200mm

f/5, 1/100sec, ISO 6400 at 102mm

f/5, 1/400sec, ISO 6400 at 165mm

f/5, 1/125sec, ISO 6400 at 200mm

f/5, 1/400sec, ISO 6400 at 200mm

f/5.6, 1/100sec, ISO 8000 at 200mm

f/5, 1/160sec, ISO 6400 at 200mm

f/5.6, 1/320sec, ISO 8000 at 200mm

f/5, 1/400sec, ISO 6400 at 200mm

f/5.6, 1/250sec, ISO 8000 at 200mm

f/5.6, 1/320sec, ISO 8000 at 200mm

If you'd like to find out more about Jann Arden and her music, you can do so by following the link to her website.  A big thank you also goes out to Michelle Lawson, Katie Murphy and Chris Brunton of Bruce Allen Talent Management for getting me a photo pass for the show.  It's always nice to discover a new band when I'm out taking photographs at concerts, but it's also a real treat to be able to photograph a great Canadian musician, and someone I've been listening to for almost 30 years, no matter how much writing those last few words makes me feel old.  It was an honour.

Symphony X At Théâtre Corona

Anniversaries are pretty cool lifetime events.  However, I think I've reached the point where anniversaries are beginning to make me feel rather old.  Such was the case this past Saturday night when Symphony X was in town to headline a concert at the Théâtre Corona.  They were in town as part of their 25th Anniversary tour, which is pretty cool on one hand because it bring back so many good memories of listening to their music.  On the other hand, it means that in the blink of an eye, 25 years has passed, seemingly in the flash of a stage light.  While most bands saw their activity shut down due to COVID, Symphony X had a much bigger problem when lead singer Russell Allen was involved in a serious bus accident.  He received a large roar of appreciation from the crowd while mentioning how hard the road to recovery had been.  Those same fans had been roaring for a while.  Due to the above mentioned incidents, it had been almost six years since their last visit to town.  As the lights dimmed, the crowd got louder and louder until the band finally hit the stage.  Gone was the trauma of bus accidents and pandemics, all replaced by the rabid energy of a live crowd, happy to see their heroes back up on the stage.  For a few hours at least, for both the fans and the band, all was right with the world.  That's probably exactly what both needed.  The first photograph was taken at f/3.2, 1/125sec ISO 1600 at 55mm and the second photograph was taken at f/3.2, 1/40sec, ISO 1600 at 24mm.  Here are several more photographs that I took during their performance.

f/3.2, 1/400sec, ISO 1600 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/100sec, ISO 1600 at 30mm

f/3.2, 1/160sec, ISO 1600 at 50mm

f/3.2, 1/250sec, ISO 1600 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/160sec, ISO 1600 at 61mm

f/3.2, 1/100sec, ISO 1600 at 30mm

f/3.2, 1/250sec, ISO 1600 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/250sec, ISO 1600 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/160sec, ISO 1600 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/100sec, ISO 1600 at 42mm

f/3.2, 1/320sec, ISO 1600 at 39mm

f/3.2, 1/160sec, ISO 1600 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/250sec, ISO 1600 at 41mm

f/3.2, 1/320sec, ISO 1600 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/320sec, ISO 1600 at 39mm

f/3.2, 1/320sec, ISO 1600 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/200sec, ISO 1600 at 28mm

f/3.2, 1/1600sec, ISO 3200 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/200sec, ISO 1600 at 24mm

If you'd like to find out more about Symphony X and their music, don't forget to follow the link to their website.  If you'd like to see the photographs that I took of Trope and Haken, who performed earlier that night, you can follow the links to see those as well.  Very special thanks to Alexander Ford of World Entertainment Inc. for getting me a pass to the show.  As always, it is very much appreciated.  Not only was all right in the world for the band and the fans on this night, but for Your Friendly Neighbourhood Photographer too.

Haken At Théâtre Corona

I'm a little at a loss for words as I try and write a little bit about this update, the second of three bands that took the stage at the Théâtre Corona in Montreal this past Saturday night.  While I know my fair share of Progressive Metal bands, I had never heard of Haken.  However, they went out of their way to make sure that after Saturday night, they I won't forget them.  Formed in England back in 2007, they've been rocking the world ever since, despite my ignorance to their existence.  They have six albums under their belts, including their most recent, Virus, which was released in 2020.  I have the feeling that I'm going to have to try and hunt some of those down to add them to my collection, despite My Lovely Assistant (and my Mom), thinking that the collection is large enough as it is.  Sorry ladies, when you encounter something this good, space must be made.  The first photograph was taken at f/3.2, 1/500sec, ISO 1600 at 24mm.  Here are several more photographs of their performance.

f/3.2, 1/320sec, ISO 1600 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/320sec, ISO 1600 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/160sec, ISO 1600 at 45mm

f/3.2, 1/400sec, ISO 1600 at 31mm

f/3.2, 1/500sec, ISO 1600 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/800sec, ISO 1600 at 57mm

f/3.2, 1/800sec, ISO 1600 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/400sec, ISO 1600 at 39mm

f/3.2, 1/500sec, ISO 1600 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/400sec, ISO 1600 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/100sec, ISO 1600 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/100sec, ISO 1600 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/640sec, ISO 1600 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/320sec, ISO 1600 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/500sec, ISO 1600 at 70mm

f/3.2, 1/160sec, ISO 1600 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/160sec, ISO 1600 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/160sec, ISO 1600 at 24mm

If you'd like to find out more about Haken and their music, you should to like I did and follow the link to their website.  If you'd like to see the other photographs that I took of Trope and Symphony X, who were also performing, you can do so by following the links.  It's always fun to make a new discovery.  Hopefully they're return soon so I can discover them again.