CB Radio Gorgeous At MTelus

It was a 1990's Punk Music Revival down at the MTelus this past Wednesday night, and kicking off the festivities was a band from Chicago called CB Radio Gorgeous.  This is usually the part of my post where I tell you a little bit about the band, but I've kind of rolled a blank on this one.  They don't have a website or a Facebook page and what little info I was able to find came from an Instagram and Bandcamp pages.  One thing that I do know, is that they hit the stage full of energy and seemed generally super happy to be performing before this sold-out Montreal crowd.  In particular, singer Anna Kinderman and bassist Jill Lloyd Flannigan, were bouncing and running around the stage so much that I had to up my ISO several times in order to get a fast enough shutter speed to catch them in action.  Speaking of which, the first photograph was taken at f/3.2, 1/125sec, ISO 10000 at 24mm.  Here are several more photographs that I took of their performance.

f/3.2, 1/80sec, ISO 6400 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/125sec, ISO 10000 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/125sec, ISO 10000 at 70mm

f/3.2, 1/125sec, ISO 10000 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/125sec, ISO 10000 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/125sec, ISO 10000 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/100sec, ISO 4000 at 59mm

f/3.2, 1/125sec, ISO 10000 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/60sec, ISO 10000 at 65mm

f/3.2, 1/125sec, ISO 10000 at 70mm

f/3.2, 1/100sec, ISO 10000 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/60sec, ISO 10000 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/60sec, ISO 10000 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/80sec, ISO 10000 at 70mm

f/3.2, 1/125sec, ISO 10000 at 24mm

If you'd like to find out more about CB Radio Gorgeous, you can do so by following the links to their Instagram or Bandcamp pages.  If you'd like to see the photographs that I took of Bikini Kill later that night, you can do so by following the link.  One bit of info that they did let slip was that they will be releasing a new album later this year on Trouble In Mind Records.  Keep an eye out for it because if it is as full of energy as their live performances, it is sure to be a keeper.

July Talk At MTelus

July Talk has been on my musical radar for almost ten years now, yet in that time I never was able to find myself attending one of their shows.  Which is odd, because while their music is very unique and easy to identify, it was a reputation for terrific live shows which helped them make their name.  I finally got to experience a live performance this past Tuesday night as they headlined a show at the MTelus in Montreal.  Writing, writing, writing.  Peter Dreimanis has one of those voices that simply cannot be replicated and you know right away who you are listening to.  Joined on the microphone by fellow vocalist Leah Fay, they make a vocal combo that simply cannot be matched.  All three of their albums (July Talk (2015) , Touch (2017) & Pray For It (2021)) have won Juno Awards for Alternative Album of the Year and they are touring in support of their most recent album, Remember Never Before, which was released in January of this year.  The first photograph was taken at f/3.5, 1/200sec, ISO 6400 at 24mm.  Here are several more of their performance.

f/3.2, 1/60sec, ISO 4000 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/80sec, ISO 3200 at 70mm

f/3.2, 1/1600sec, ISO 6400 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/125sec, ISO 3200 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/4000sec, ISO 4000 at 28mm

f/3.2, 1/80sec, ISO 4000 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/125sec, ISO 3200 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/125sec, ISO 3200 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/80sec, ISO 3200 at 70mm

f/3.2, 1/200sec, ISO 3200 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/250sec, ISO 3200 at 70mm

f/3.2, 1/250sec, ISO 3200 at 70mm

f/3.2, 1/40sec, ISO 3200 at 70mm

f/3.2, 1/1250sec, ISO 8000 at 70mm

f/3.5, 1/320sec, ISO 6400 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/100sec, ISO 8000 at 35mm

f/3.2, 1/400sec, ISO 6400 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/4000sec, ISO 4000 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/800sec, ISO 4000 at 70mm

f/3.2, 1/160sec, ISO 6400 at 24mm

If you'd like to find out more about July Talk and their music, you can do so by following the link to their website.  If you'd like to see the photographs that I took earlier in the evening of Crown Lands, you can do so by following the link.  With their combined voices and musical stories, July Talk have done something that is rather difficult to attain.  They present a pretty unique sound, but a sound that is also very recognizable as their own.  Not to shabby of a feat for an industry that has been around for so long.  Check them out.

Crown Lands At MTelus

There are very few good things that can be written about the year 2020.  I do have a couple that would make the list.  First, obviously, was the arrival of The Heir Apparent.  With her arrival, came lots of walking.  As a result, a lot of music ended up being listened to while I would be off for a walk while giving My Lovely Assistant a little alone time at home.  During that time, I discovered this duo from Oshawa who were being described as the result of Led Zeppelin and Rush being mashed together into one.  Those are pretty lofty names to live up to, but Crown Lands manages to live up to such lofty comparisons.  They were at the MTelus this past Tuesday night and I was really happy to get the chance to photograph them.  The lighting wasn't that great for photographs, which is a shame because drummer Cody Bowles was wearing a bodysuit that deserved to be seen, but the other 2000 people on hand didn't really care about that.  They were too busy being blown away by a duo producing the musical power some five man units can't duplicate.  The floors were vibrating as they rocked through their set and we were all left wanting more when their set came to an end.  They won a Juno Award back in 2021 for Breakthrough Group of the Year and their most recent album, Fearless, was just released a few weeks ago on March 31st. The first photograph was taken at f/3.5, 1/500sec, ISO 400 at 55mm and the second photograph was taken at f/3.2, 1/250sec, ISO 4000 at 70mm.  Here are a few more photographs that I took during their performance.

f/3.2, 1/200sec, ISO 4000 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/200sec, ISO 4000 at 41mm

f/3.2, 1/500sec, ISO 4000 at 70mm

f/3.2, 1/1000sec, ISO 3200 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/200sec, ISO 3200 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/200sec, ISO 4000 at 53mm

f/3.2, 1/500sec, ISO 6400 at 35mm

f/16, 1/100sec, ISO 8000 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/200sec, ISO 3200 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/400sec, ISO 3200 at 70mm

f/3.2, 1/640sec, ISO 6400 at 67mm

f/3.2, 1/320sec, ISO 3200 at 24mm

If you'd like to find out more about Crown Lands and their music, you can do so by following the link to their website.  If you'd like to see the photographs that I took of July Talk later that night, you can do so by following the link.  A big thank you goes out to Oliver Mitchell and Kellan Thackeray of Unified Music Group for getting me a pass to shoot the show.  The music was just incredible and you would be doing yourselves a great service by checking them out when they stop for a show near you.

Easter Bunny

I'm not up to date on how who stands where on the current ranking of friendly characters who bring gifts in the dark of night.  I'm guessing that Santa Claus is still the undisputed  #1.  For me, personally, even if he didn't really leave gifts, Jack O'Lantern was always my number two, but I'm guessing for lots of kids, the Easter Bunny must be pretty high on the list.  This little guy came to visit us last summer when he was just a little baby and stuck around all Summer.  I guess that doesn't make him an official Easter Bunny, but why argue on a day like today.  We named the little guy Baby Bugs and The Heir Apparent spent the whole Summer looking for him in our yard.  I think he got a little used to us to because he would let us get pretty close before eventually scampering away, but still remaining in the yard.  The photograph was taken at f/7.1, 1/1250sec, ISO 400 at 200mm.  Hopefully the Easter Bunny paid you a visit and left you all kind of goodies.

Freezing Rain

The Heaven's opened here today as freezing rain coated everything with a solid layer of ice.  Once the next generation was put to bed for their nap, I headed outside to get a little wet and see if I could find anything interesting.  I've always said that everything can be photographed, but freezing rain has a bad reputation around these parts due to a big storm that hit here back in 1998 and left many people without electricity for several weeks.  We lost power for a few hours after these were taken, but as I type, the power has returned and has not flashed in a little while.  The neighbours tree caught fire due to it touching the electric lines, but that is another story for another day.  The first photograph was taken at f/3.2, 1/500sec, ISO 400 at 70mm.  Here are a few more that I took around the yard.

f/3.2, 1/500sec, ISO 400 at 70mm

f/3.5, 1/250sec, ISO 100 at 200mm

f/16, 1/20sec, ISO 400 at 70mm with Flash

f/7.1, 1/30sec, ISO 100 at 200mm

I don't know why, but that last one reminded be a a hand from the Terminator movies.  Luckily, it didn't come to life with an ice robot attached to it.  There were some nice patterns in the ice.  Freezing rain isn't very loved around here, but it can look pretty nice.

Everybody Has A Price

It's WrestleMania Saturday, which means that I'm already well in to the four days of wrestling madness that takes place at this time of the year.  It also means that I get to dust off a few old toys and do a little bit of action figure posing here for the old blog.  This year, I went with one of the most dastardly duos of the late 80s and early 90s.  The Million Dollar Man, Ted DiBiase and his long time partner, Irwin R. Shyster, otherwise known as I.R.S.  We first met The Million Dollar Man in June of 1987 through a series of televised vignettes designed to show how he used his enormous wealth to purchase anything that he wanted.  The famous line, "Everybody has a price, for the Million Dollar Man!", was always followed by a large laugh that has been often duplicated and will also be burned into the memories of any wrestling fans of the era.  He famously tried to buy the WWF Championship from Hulk Hogan and then bought the services of Andre The Giant, and a referee, to get the Title for him in match that was televised on NBC and watched by over 33 million people.  It was in 1991 that we first met Irwin R. Shyster, who accused fans of being tax cheats and would often find ways to accuse other wrestlers of not paying their taxes, which would earn them his wrath.  The two finally teamed up in early 1992 as Money Inc. and held the WWF Tag Team Titles three times, holding them for 14 of the 18 months that they teamed together.  The first photograph was taken at f/7.1, 1/160sec, ISO 100 at 70mm.  Here are a few more.

f/7.1, 1/160sec, ISO 100 at 70mm

f/7.1, 1/160sec, ISO 100 at 70mm

f/7.1, 1/160sec, ISO 100 at 59mm

f/7.1, 1/160sec, ISO 100 at 65mm

All of the photographs were taken with a solid white background and bouncing some flash off of the ceiling onto them.  Both figures come from the Jakks Pacific Classic SuperStars Series.  The Ted DiBiase figure had some added little touches like the cash and Million Dollar Belt that I wanted to feature and I.R.S. is never seen without his briefcase, which may have been dented by a head or two over the year.  Good times and good memories.  Now, but the WrestleMania Weekend, where more good times and memories are to be experienced.