The Damn Truth At MTelus

There was an undeniable energy that was coming from Montreal’s MTelus this past Wednesday night.  Montreal is a city that loves to rock and roll, The Damn Truth do both to near perfection.  It’s been a little more than two years since The Damn Truth headlined a show in our fair city, and it has felt like an eternity.  I’m obviously not the only one who felt it.  The room was buzzing as the long line of people that rounded the block outside finally were allowed in for what was to becoming an evening that made the wait worthwhile.  It’s been a long love affair between the city and The Damn Truth.  We’ve watched them grow musically before our eyes and this triumphant homecoming was made all the more special for everyone who has been there since the beginning.  It was an important show for the band as well.  Their new album, ‘The Damn Truth’ was released last week and this show not only served as an album launch but was their very first headlining gig at one of Montreal’s most hallowed of concert venues.  From the stage, The Damn Truth mentioned how this show meant so much for them.   They’ve performed on this stage before, though usually to open for others.  Now they were back as headliners, to launch their new tour and throw an unforgettable party to celebrate the launch of their brand new album.   Hearing that story touched me as well.  My own journey as a concert photographer crossed paths with The Damn Truth at the MTelus back in 2019.  It was their first time playing the venue, and it was my second ever show as a credentialed photographer.  I’ve had the honour of photographing them several times since, and they have yet to have a bad show.  Before hitting the stage, I could spot members of The Damn Truth sneaking a peek through the curtain at the mass of fans that had gathered for the show.  The band has been described as being akin to if Led Zeppelin was fronted by Janis Joplin.  That is pretty spot on.  Singer Lee-La Baum’s voice is powerful, emotional and vulnerable, sometimes all during the same song.  On guitars, Tom Shemer deserves to have his name mentioned among the best while Dave Traina & P.Y. Letellier are a rhythm section that rocks any building they play.  P.Y. also earns the distinction of being possibly the most flexible musician to ever slap the bass.  Opening with the first track from their new album, ‘Be Somebody’, The Damn Truth immediately show all of their strengths on a song that is both tender and a rocker before blowing the roof off with the one-two punch of ‘This Is Who We Are Now’ and ‘Love Outta Luck’.  If there were any people left at that point who had yet to be rocked, that was taken care of with the musical riot that took over the stage for ‘Heart Is Cold’.  When all was said and done, the MTelus may have still been standing, but the foundations had definitely been weakened.  It may have been a Wednesday, but everyone walked out of that show feeling like it was a Saturday night.  Sweaty, steaming and maybe a little sore, they had just experienced firsthand the power of Montreal’s premier rock band.  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 photograph that I took of The Damn Truth while they performed on the MTelus stage.

If you would like to find out more about The Damn Truth and their music, you can do so by following the link to their website.  If you would like to see my photographs of Mountain Dust, who performed earlier that night, you can do so by following the link.  Much thanks goes out to Ralph Alphonso of Bongo Beat Management, Patrica Clavel of Six Media Marketing and Christopher Gonda of V13 Media for the photo pass to cover the show.  As always, it is very much appreciated.  The Damn Truth will tour through Québec before returning to the United Kingdom in the fall.  They put on an awesome show, and everyone who was there is hoping that it won’t take two years before we see them again, and that is the damn truth.  Be sure to check The Damn Truth out when they perform in a city near you

Mountain Dust At MTelus

It is always nice to return to the MTelus.  I feel like it doesn't get as much love from me as some of the other places that I shoot, but the building has gone on to host several memorable concerts over the years and has seen many opening bands return as headliners.  The latest opening band to find themselves before my camera on that historic stage were making their first MTelus appearance, Mountain Dust.  Though they have been together since 2013, tt was my very first Mountain Dust experience, other than hearing about the band on local radio station CHOM 97.7 FM as Mountain Dust's bassist Hal is also a DJ there.  Mountain Dust rapidly added themselves to the list of great bands that I have discovered while covering concerts.  They also just recently released a brand new album, also self-titled, and put on a great performance.  Life is often about taking advantage of opportunities.  Mountain Dust found themselves playing before a sold-out MTelus and judging by the participation of the audience, and some overheard conversations while walking the floor, they took advantage of the huge crowd to make many new fans.  These guys know how to play and as they rocked out on the stage, the fans in the crowd took their cue and were giving all of that rock energy right back to them.  Hopefully I get to come back when it’s time for Mountain Dust to headline their first MTelus show.  All of the photographs were taken at f/3.2 while using various different focal lengths, ISO settings and shutter speeds.  Here are the rest of the photographs that I took of Mountain Dust as they performed up on the MTelus stage.

If you would like to find out more about Mountain Dust and their music, you can do so by following the link to their website.  If you would like to see the photographs of The Damn Truth, who performed later that night, you can do so by following the link.  Mountain Dust were great fun to watch perform and I really liked their music.  I'll be making sure to check out more of their music, and you should do the same.  Check out Mountain Dust if they end up having a concert near you.

The Dead Zone

As we have made the turn from March in to April, I think it is safe to say that the worst of Winter is probably behind us.  True, there is usually one last snow storm that takes people by surprise by mid-April, but that snow rarely stays for more than a week.  However, before we get to the blooming flowers, green grass and trees full of leaves, we need to get through that little dead zone on the calendar.  It's the time of the year where most, if not all, of the snow has melted away leaving behind a muddy mess of earth and fallen leaves from the year before.  It's not the prettiest of things to look at, but it can still make for some nice photographs.  While out for walks with My Lovely Assistant and the Next Generation, I always make sure to have my camera with me as looking around at things helps keep my eyes sharp.  It also allows me an excuse to hang back a little bit during those walks as I tend to be a little bit slower than they are.  As I tell the Next Generation, Dad only has one speed, and it isn't fast.  While on one of those walks, we went through a large park as the sun was just starting to lower in the sky.  As we got to some large trees, I thought it was just the right location for one of those 'dead zone' photographs.  It was taken at f/16, 1/50secm ISO 100 at 24mm.  Mother Nature will soon be getting to work and things will be much more colourful in the weeks to come.  Maybe we'll head back this Summer to have a look.  Then again, it will be rather hot by then, won't it.  Maybe we'll wait and go back in the Fall as the leaves begin to fall again instead.  Sounds like a much more comfortable plan.