M for Montreal ... M for Music ... M for Memorable

Montreal is renowned for its festivals. The biggest being the Jazz Festival and the Just for Laughs comedy festival. A new festival is picking up steam. M For Montreal had its 6th edition this year. For those who don’t know, M is focused on local talent. But not just putting them on a stage to play, they have a goal of promoting local acts internationally to help opens doors. They invite music industry delegates from around the world to come to Montreal for the 4 day festival and watch the bands put on a showcase of what they do. In the past, this has led to some breakthroughs for great local bands, US tours, European tours, Asian tours, and help in promoting new albums... You can check out M’s website http://www.mpourmontreal.com/

How did I get involved in M this year? It was semi last minute. I had planned on watching Hollerado, one of the bands that are getting regular play in my headphones, who was headlining a showcase at Sala Rosa. One of the shooters who was scheduled to do the bigger shows was no longer available, so I decided to step in and shoot the shows he was scheduled to do.... which unfortunately meant that I did not get a chance to see Hollerado live.

My first gig was the M For Midnight show at Club Soda. Plaster, making their return to stage, Misteur Valaire, who are on a really quick rise, and Montreal’s darlings Bran Van 3000 were on stage for this late show. And was it ever packed. And when I mean packed, I mean PACKED. The show was actually oversold, which meant that we media had to wait outside until they could determine how much room was left in the venue. Yes, there is a disclaimer on the back of the media pass that says “if there is room”.

We weren’t the only ones waiting outside. Some fans had bought a 4 day pass that grants them access to all shows, and they were waiting outside. With the show starting at midnight, and myself and a journalist getting there around 11pm, we finally got inside around 12:30am and unfortunately only caught the tail end of Plaster’s set.

Disappointed, yes, but we were rewarded with an awesome show from Misteur Valaire and Bran Van 3000. Shooting wise, I decided to stay on the 2nd floor balcony which was initially reserved for the delegates (but they were nice enough to let me squat there). I was able to move up and down the balcony area giving me some fun angles, instead of being down on the floor with no photo pit in the middle of the chaos.

Being perched up top allows you to get some pretty fun shots of bands, like the ones below. Not traditional angles, but they can work. The problem with being more stationary is that you need to be aware and ready to shoot when the artists turn around or give a look, as this is how you will get your variety.



You can see the Mister Valaire image gallery here




You can see the Bran Van image gallery here

After a few hours of sleep and image processing, it was back out for the closing show on Saturday. I was psyched for this show as the promoter managed to put together an awesome line-up. Some artists such as Ariane Moffatt and Marie-Pierre Arthur, who are currently in studio, were convinced to come out and play on stage. Other artists such as Karkwa, Galaxie, Random Recipe and The Barr Brothers all have their stars rising and this was a great way for them to get more exposure. It was great to see Random Recipe so excited to be on the stage of the Metropolis for the first time (and definitely not the last!)

Again, no photo pit for this show, so I decided to arrive early (that being 7pm for a show that starts at 8pm) and wiggle into the front row and stay there for the evening. I’m stuck in a static position again, but I tried to use the lights to create variety in my shots. Doing this can sometimes backfire, as it did for Galaxie, as they set the backup singers right in front of me, severely limiting the shooting angles. But life gives you lemons, you make lemon vodka shooters!

The lights were all over the place. They had these tiny yellow spots down below that cast some really odd and eerie light on the artists from down below, and were often the only lights on. When the spots weren’t on, the stage was blasted from either side with these giant white lights. While I always love white light, the intensity of these lights meant quick finger dialing of new settings but gave many of the images an “I used onboard flash” look where the artist is bright and white and the rest of the scene is total black.

Using the light for a more dramatic effect during Marie-Pierre Arthur





































See the full MP Arthur gallery here



See the full The Barr Brothers gallery here




See the full Ariane Moffatt gallery here




See the full Random Recipe gallery here


Small yellow spot lights gave an eerie “ghost story around the camp fire” feel to many images.




































See the full Galaxie gallery here

You sometimes get interesting angles on drummers and percussionists



See the full Karkwa gallery here

It was a long and intense 2 days of shooting. Technically, as the Club Soda show started at 12:30, it was all on the same day. ;)

Thanks for reading!

Metal to the core @ Heavy MTL

I grew up listening to rock and metal. So when I got the OK to shoot the Heavy MTL 2 day festival, I was stoked! The organisers first said no photographers in the photo pit, but quickly changed their mind when many photographers refused to carry their gear into a mosh pit to get decent images. Good on you Evenko, thanks for making our lives easier (and safer!).

The 2 day line-up was intense. There were many great local bands such as Slaves on Dope and Blackguard, along with some pretty heavy weight headliners. Day 1 had In Flames, Godsmack, Disturbed while day 2 had Anthrax, Motorhead and Kiss. Many fans were wondering at the pertinence of having Kiss at a heavy metal festival, but when you think back to when Kiss was in their heyday, they set the stage for the heavy metal movement.

The festival had 3 stages, 2 main ones and one secondary one. The main stages were pretty high up and somewhat drab as the band was pretty far apart from each other. The secondary stage was my favourite. You could get up close to the bands and they had some lights going on making for interesting shots, like the one below from Blackguard.




























The typical 3 songs and out was in effect for most of the bands. Due to the number of photographers in the pit, we were limited to 1 song for Anthrax, Opeth and Motorhead. The only black mark of the day went to Kiss who limited the actual media present in the pit. Out of the 30 or so photographers, I believe 8 were the "chosen" to shoot Kiss. While I can appreciate that the band is in control of their image and in their right to do what they do, it is a piss off when you are a struggling photographer and a band, which was once a struggling band, wants to be so controlling of their image. It is in my best interest to take the best shots possible of all clients. And besides, how many freakin photos of Kiss are already out there? They presented a release form to all photographers shooting which basically sold the photographer's soul. The rights and ownership of the images are given to the band and the photographer isn't legally allowed to use the images taken for their own portfolio without approval of the band.

That's what we call a rights grab. The band, who makes way more money than I do, now have 8 top notch photographers taking images of them for free. Am I a bit pissed? Kinda. I'm pissed that more and more bands are doing things like this.

That venting aside, the festival was very well organised, I love how they treat the media and the staff...top notch. Music was awesome and I got to mix in being a pro photographer and being a fan at the same time!

You can check out the Heavy MTL Day 1 and Day 2 images in the Gallery section of my website.

Below are Day 1 images of Disturbed, Godsmack, Billy Talent and In Flames






























And here we have some Day 2 images of Motorhead, Morbid Angel, Anthrax, As I Lay Dying and Girlschool

All Warped-up (warped music, warped back, warped mind,...)

A little over a week after the end of the Jazz fest, The Vans Warped Tour was in town. Going over the schedule, there were 8 (I think, it's all a blur) stages and over 80 bands playing...all in one day! And here I thought that shooting 20 bands in 10 days was hectic.

The name of the game is scheduling your time. The first thing I did was grab the daily schedule (it can change any day, so grabbing it the day of almost guarantees the bands you want to shoot are playing), I went to the press tent, sat a picnic table, and spent 30 minutes planning my day. Nothing was set in stone, but there were a few bands on the list that were must shoots, so I had to plan the rest of my shooting around them. The last thing I wanted was to be wandering for an hour not really knowing where I was going and missing out on some of the awesome talent.

Typical 3 songs and out was in effect for all bands on all stages. Although some had less people watching so it allowed for some decent shots from the crowd. Pits on all stages except the smallest one, which was hosting an all day battle of the bands.

The venue was alright. It was at Parc Jean-Drapeau, and outdoor parc on an island. Little Montreal fact... the island is man made mostly from the dirt that was dug up while they were digging (dirt dug dig haha) the Montreal metro (aka subway) in the 60s. The parc has Montreal's 6 flags amusement parc, pool, beach, casino and F1 race track and a bunch of outdoor activities year round. The chosen site for the Warped tour was along the race track area. I prefer the other side of the parc where the other music festivals are held (Osheaga and such). It's greener and more open.

It was middle of July and it was hot!! The tour organizers were genius is setting up a free water refilling station (which ended up being a giant mud pit at the end of the day, but really, no one cared). It was around 36C (about 98F), under a scorching sun. The name of the game for the day was water and sunscreen. The stages are open air, so while part of the pit can be covered from the sun, getting to and from the stages has you in the direct sun.

All in all, I had a fun time shooting, made some great images, met some awesome photographers and didn't get sunburned!

Montreal Jazz Fest -shooting with restrictions

My first full music festival is done! What a ride, what a rush, my feet hurt.

The Montreal International Jazz Festival is a little over week long world renown festival that has many of the world's great jazz, blues and even a few rock acts playing on a multitude of stages in the city.

I was lucky enough this year to snag an all access indoor media pass, giving me full access to all the indoor stages. I set my sights on 20 bands, including some greats like Tony Bennett, Blue Rodeo, Bootsy Collins and some festival favorites like Nikki Yanofsky and Montreal's own Men Without Hats, playing their first show in the city in 20 years.

The biggest thing I learned in my 10 days were shooting with restrictions. I'm used to the 3 songs and out standard rule. But this time around, we had 2 songs and even 1 song and out. In most instances, our mobility was also restricted to a certain side of the stage, rarely up front. I also got to see how some artists really don't want to be photographed, such as Collin James who gave us a 3 song limit, but only showed up in the 2nd song, and stayed to the back of the stage, sitting behind a mic. I also had the total opposite with Dee Dee Bridgewater who gave us 2 songs, but spent most of her time on the side where the media was, giving us some looks and poses. She was true class.

Here are some of my favorites from the 20 bands that I had the opportunity to shoot

Mr Tony Bennett.
84 years old, but still holding those high notes and looking like he is having such a great time on stage.

The funkmaster himself, Bootsy Collins. He was gracious enough to allow the media to stay for his entire set!

Men Without Hats

I became a new fan of Trombone Shorty

One the classiest women I had the opportunity to shoot, Grammy winner Dee Dee Bridgewater

She first went on stage at the age of 12 at the Jazz Festival 5 years ago. At 17, her voice is simply amazing! Nikki Yanofsky

Full galleries for each of these artists and others like Collin James, Oliver Jones, Marianne Faithful, Sly Johnson, Lee Fields and Blue Rodeo are up in the Galleries section of my website (link on the top right of the blog) Check 'em out, lemme know what you think!!

Let the festivals BEGIN!!!

The blog is going to get a bit quieter over the summer.

Why you ask? I've received my accreditation for the Montreal Jazz festival and the Vans Warped tour. I also applied (but am still waiting) on the Heavy MTL and Osheaga festivals.

I should be getting some greats from the Jazz fest such as Tony Bennett, Colin James, Bootsy Collins and many others. My shooting schedule is about 20 bands between June 25th and July 4. I get to shoot at some top notch venues like the Metropolis, Place des Arts and many others.

A few weeks after that, I'll be heading to the Vans Warped tour, which I'll be shooting about 20 bands, but all in the same day! Going to be insane, I'm sooo psyched.

I think in between I'll be having some downtime, just to enjoy the summer somewhat. If I do get Heavy MTL, it's the weekend after Warped. 2 days of metal. And if I get Osheaga, it's the weekend after Heavy MTL. 3 days of pop rock.

Let the festivals BEGIN!

"You would not believe your eyes..."

I get home from a days work. My cell phone rings. It's Production Iris.
"Hey, are you free to shoot?
Sure, when?
In about 2 hours!"

And again, grab my gear, head out the door. On the menu tonight? Trendy pop band called Owl City. Wow, I actually know of them! They have this catchy song called Fireflies (yes, the title of this post is the opening lyric.)

This was a bit of an odd show to shoot. I've been used to showing up early, finding a spot, getting comfortable. Maybe shooting the opening band, maybe not. But for Owl City, I wasn't allowed in for the opening band. I was there to shoot them, no one else. 3 songs and out. They were going on around 8:30pm and the 4 photographers there were waiting at the entrance for our cue to go in. The Evenko organizer came by, gave us the 3 song spcheil and let us in.

Ok... not what I was expecting. The floor was already packed with fans. I couldnt get in close. I managed to make my way to about the 6th row on one side and did some shots there. I then had to move around in back of the crowd, shooting between heads (thankfully most of the fans are short teenaged girls hehe), trying to get something decent, emotional and interesting.

It was a real challenge I must say. One I haven't faced before. I'm getting used to getting the shots I need in 3 songs. I'm learning to shoot with bad lighting, or simply not to shoot with a total blue wash of light. But this was all that, and no easy access anywhere.

Nothing better than a bit of a challenge to get you going.

The gallery is up! Click ici

Abandoned Geo W. Reed factory

Part of the fun of urban shooting is the exploring. You get to walk down streets you wouldn't normally walk down, see details you would normally pass by, and sometimes you get the mother load of places to shoot.

I had been wanting to shoot in this building for a while now. The Geo W. Reed building, also know as the Babcock & Wilcox factory, has been abandoned since 1982 and is a haven for graffiti artists. There isn't much information available on it (or maybe I'm just too lazy to really dig deep) but I read that it was apparently opened in 1895 and was used as a coach train manufacturer, tank part manufacturer and later on, plane part manufacturer. Not sure on the historical accuracy of this though.



It is a massive place. There are three floors, of which we only visited two. The ground floor with its wide open rooms, the slightly more confined second floor which was probably where the offices were, and the roof top. The walls have always changing graffiti. When researching online when I got back home, I saw a photo done in 2008 of a wall I had taken and it had totally different art on it.







As with most abandoned places, it is always advisable to go with a buddy or two. So I called up Reneau in the morning and he was more than happy to grab his gear and join me. You never know what or even who you will find inside. Discarded planks of wood with nails in them, broken glass, other people. The other thing to note is older buildings where not built with the same materials as we have today. So be very very mindful of what you touch as they could be contaminated with asbestos and other nasty things. We had a few almost spills, used our tripods as walking sticks, smartly didn't explore some nasty looking areas... and I did get the crap scarred out of me by a local inhabitant... a pigeon.

On this slightly warmish winter day, the building was good protection from the wind. Once you get over the heaps of junk people toss in at the entrance, the floor is pretty much dirt. Only concrete structures (walls and stairs) remain, the rest has either rotten away or burnt.





Littered on the ground you find many spray paint cans the artists leave behind. Some alone, or some in bunches.





After making our way around the main floor, we found some somewhat safe stairs that lead to the second floor. The footing was a big treacherous as there was water leaking down from the ceiling from the melting snow, which pool into ice puddles. While the ground floor was mostly dirt, the second floor was mostly ice. I could easily slide my tripod around.







Shooting in the building was difficult at best. Battling the junk for tripod positions and dealing with a very dark inside and very bright windows was hard. HDR was a flavour of the day (although only a few of the photos posted here are HDR), one can pull off some good shots with traditional single exposure shooting.



This is my favorite shot from the day... dripping water in front of the camera's lens, having to set the tripod up high in a stairwell,...



The sun was setting in an hour, so we made our way back down and outside, having spent a few hours in here. We plan on going back this summer, it will hopefully be easier to get around and maybe even get up on the roof.

Hope you enjoy the shots!

I have some more to process, I'll probably put them up on my facebook fan page which you can like at http://www.facebook.com/PierreBPhoto
Each of the images is clickable and will bring you to a slightly larger version on flickr.