Wage War, Vancouver BC

Wage War was set to take the stage at the Harbour Event Center in Vancouver with Zero 9:35 and Avoid for their first day on a Canadian tour. Originally, they were also going to be joined by Within Destruction, but due to unforeseen circumstances and the fickle nature of Visas being processed were no longer able to be a part of the tour. While I am fortunate enough to currently be in Vancouver and experience a vibrant amount of shows, I know for everyone who I attended shows within central Canada that seeing Wage War put some proper Canadian dates on their tour was something met with enthusiasm.

AVOID

While I had seen Avoid preform at some DIY venues many years ago, that was before my time in Vancouver. I was surprised that for a Seattle based band that this would be their first time performing in Vancouver. And with Wage War? A particularly good first time to come through in my opinion. The package tour production was impressive with large screens behind the drum riser and surrounding the stage. For the openers, only the main screen behind the drum was used. For Avoid they opted to put a loop of Mr Beast with variations of red and grey gradient layers over top of it. It was had this strange juxtaposition that was light and yet still had a little bit of that unsettling nature that you expect from a heavy show. 

Even if you were unfamiliar with Avoids hard hitting chaotic sound, they will leave an impression on you from their sincere energy and love of crowd engagement. Being an opening band on the bill, they knew that they were the ones that had to get the crowd engaged and warmed up. Any time there was an opportunity they made sure to do that pulling out all of the stops: the full room in a circle pit, directing everyone to crouch on the ground, and of course a wall of death. Their vocalist jumped into the pit and onto the barricade getting right into the faces of a few particularly stoked fans on the barricade as they screamed the lyrics back at him. 

With the energy and atmosphere that Avoid projected, I was actually surprised when they waved off to the crowd signing off their time on stage. It could have been so easy to watch them for several more songs, but the night had to move forward and being Zero9:36 to the stage. 

ZERO9:36

The sole member for Zero9:36, Matthew Cullen, crossed the stage reciting his spoken word. His presence was domineering, holding the attention of the room where everyone was quiet in that moment until a guitarist and a drummer made their way over to their instruments. When the full band kicked in that’s when there was a huge motion of arms and hair waving around to the groove of Zero9:36’s music.

WAGE WAR

While standing in the crowd, I overheard a few people talking about their excitement in anticipation of Wage War. This was the first show that they were going to since before the pandemic had taken over. They spoke with such sincerity of not wanting to take the moment of it all for granted. What a show to be their first coming into the space of music.

Leading into the main event, “She’s A Maniac” by Flashdance is played over the monitors. This nod acted as a perfect juxtaposition to what was about to be experienced and was a great amp-up for the crowd since there are few people who wouldn’t be familiar with this song. At its end, there was a looming bass that took over and a voice that spoke through the proper introduction to “Relapse.” Though the production had been physically present for the entirety of the package’s performance, only the main screen had been on for each artist’s banner replacement. With Wage War, each screen was on, the light movers were rolling and active, and there was a consistent stream of strobes and haze. Wage War’s emblem flashed across the vertical screens, in between pieces of static and fluidly blurred images.

Vocalist, Britson Bond, commanded the stage standing up on the risers, looking directly into the crowd, and making sure to pay attention to each side of the stage. Bodies had their arms flung over the barricade and moved like a sea. There was this surreal atmosphere with the flashing strobes, and the waves of hair and arms moving along that juxtaposed with the heavier instrumentation. In the softer vocals delivered by Cody Quistad, there would be a pause in the sea that would turn into desperate faces singing along. This was especially noticeable in tracks such as “Circle the Drain.” It was a pleasure to see this response for a tour that is specific to the release of Maniac as a record. The majority of the setlist visited tracks from this latest record with sprinkles of earlier releases throughout.

Wage War has a presence that demands captivation from stadium venues, especially with how huge their sound is at the back of the room mixed with the production that they add to their performances. The last time that they visited Vancouver was the previous year's opening for Slipknot, and while I had been unable to attend that particular event, I can see an influence from that particular tour. For the Canadians that are still anticipating Wage War’s show in the East, prepare yourself for an experience no matter where you are standing in the room.

Nita Strauss, Vancouver BC

Kicking off the night of music, Misyrion delivered a punchy performance. The four piece worked together to make an environment of chaos through technically proficient and eerie instrumentation. A stand out was the delivery of the double kick with the drums, resonating through the Rickshaw. The vocalist used their harsh vocals to emphasize the theatrics of the instruments and also carried the guttural delivery in between songs for a comedic effect that was felt throughout the audience. I was surprised go discover that it was their first show as a band and that they were local to the Vancouver community. Their live performance truly held its own to amp up the crowd for the rest of the night. 

LIONS AT THE GATE

With a relatively quick change over, Lions At the Gate took the stage next. There was an initial atmosphere developed from the back lighting that haloed the band as they delivered an operatic performance. There was a distinct passion in the faces of the performers, and most dominantly the vocalist and drummer. It was clear how deeply they felt the message of their music, moving with purpose. As a group, they were lively and true showmen, taking moments to work the camera, as well as engaged with the crowd. They were whippiing around dreads, their guitars, and sticking out their tongues as far as they possibly could to create this engagement on top of their instrumentation.

NITA STRAUSS

Having only been in Vancouver with other acts, it was a true pleasure to witness Nita Strauss take the stage with her solo band for the first time in the city. Every aspect of her performance was dialed in to this perfect balance of visual and technical performance. The intro music started booming as the light movers started whipping around from the corners of the stage as well as the towers next to the drum set. These white spotlights swung round and round, highlighting the backdrop preparing everyone for the main event that they came for: Nita Strauss. Her band took to the stage, holding their hands up in acknowledgement before Nina came in, and walked across the full stage without saying a word and just going full fledge into her guitar.

While playing through her guitar with great practiced precision, she banged her head with her hair floating all around her. At different moments, she’d find herself standing over and the wedges, pulling at the guitar strings as her hands slowly got closer together from the sweeps brought down the neck of the guitar. In moments of pause, she’d make eye contact with the crowd, or swing her hand upwards in moments of choreography from her assisting guitarists. There was this perfect understanding and unison between them all, something that was truly felt from the pure instrumentation since the mic was only being used for a few moments between songs.

At the time of the show, Nita Strauss commented that there were only five more days until her upcoming record would be released. Now, at the time of sharing this, we are only a short two days away from the release but still with a new single, “The Golden Trail” available to listen to. The Call To The Void is set to be released on July 7th of 2023. If you happen to be able to catch a show before then, be prepared for a perfect mixture of the old and the brand new, but don’t miss out on the release of the record on its own.

Hotel Mira, Vancouver BC

Saturday, June 24th in Vancouver was one of the busiest nights for live music in a long while. Posters and advertisements popped up all around with this day and various names of artists taking the stage in the city. One of those events was the last show of Hotel Mira’s headlining tour. Excitement was felt everywhere at the acknowledgement that this was also a home town show for them. Even at 7:45PM there was still a line going out the door of the Hollywood Theatre for people to enter and find their place for the rest of the night.

Dust Cwaine and the River Children

Throughout their tour, Hotel Mira invited different performers to act as a host for the night and perform a Drag Show. On this particular day, they had performer Shanda Leer (no photograph available) take the stage. Right before their set, Shanda Leer did a quick rendition of a Celine Dion song, getting right into it all, and pointing the microphone into the crowd to get them amped up in the minutes before Hotel Mira would take over the stage.

The bowl of the venue quickly filled out by the end of Shanda Leer’s performance. There was an eagerness to see Hotel Mira that could be felt throughout. Walking through the crowd as they started up, was similar to swimming through people and weaving through their dancing. On well-known tracks over the years, there was excited and enthusiastic singing along, and even with the brand new tracks, there was an inventiveness that every artist hopes to have for newer work.

Wedding: Mona & Keith

For as rare as I am able to have the opportunity to document the legal union of two individuals, it’s always particularly heartwarming when it’s a friend or a pair of people who I have personally known. In this particular instance, Mona and Keith opted to have an intimate, micro wedding. Truly, it was an honor to stand and document everything among their family. The pair decided to keep everything simple, and something that would work in the context of their family who had traveled out to Bowen Island for the ceremony and an intimate dinner.

The set up that Mona had for her dress and details was one of my favorite moments to capture and see in the space of the cabin. The space was full of these beautiful details on their own that could only complement her dress and the general aesthetic that she had built for the special moment. Once she had gotten ready for the rest of the day and her sisters had helped her with the dress, Keith was called over to the cabin. Before they would head over to their where their family was staying, and where the ceremony would take place, they were able to have a moment together and get the tears out. This was where they could tell one another their vows with just one another.

After this quiet moment for themselves, everyone got in their respective cars and drove down the road to another lot where the ceremony would be held in front of Mona and Keith’s immediate family. They all gathered around the balcony to have a view of the couple in the garden as they recited their vows. It was sweet, quick, and allowed the whole day to be about their love for each other and bringing together these two families in one space to celebrate.

Top10 Photographs from 2019

Above, as a new routine started off last year, are photographs that I thought about putting in my top ten but for whatever reason decided against. I work endlessly all year long with photography. Whether it is my personal, conceptual, music, or commercial work, I am always working and always extraordinarily busy. There’s a lot of work I am really proud of this year so as to be expected, there’s a ton above in mini-form (unless you are looking at this on your phone. Then I am sorry).

This year I had the craziest jump start. I couldn’t even believe it. The first day of the year I was offered a tour and from there I was continuously given opportunities while also creating my own body of conceptual work. It’s strange, because back in 2010 I was just getting started with my work on a professional level. I was about to embark on Art School to justify my career as an “artist” and was making so many changes in my life, getting rid of the most toxic of people and moving on. Now, ten years later, I finally feel myself being able to work with clients who actually value me for what I have to offer and recognize my work as my own. It’s not to say that I haven’t felt that for the last few years but I do think it’s become more evident now more than ever. Clients will tell me how I was the one that they wanted to work with for whichever X reason and I think that as a photographer or any sort of artist, that’s exactly what you strive for. I am proud of the fact that I push myself and work as hard as I do, that I feel like I genuinely have earned what I have. It took me a long time to allow myself to not feel guilty for that and I am glad that now, heading into 2020, I can finally say that out loud … Or via a few string of words.

10. Calpurnia , Calgary AB

There’s a part of me that’s uncertain if this image made it because it very quickly became my most liked photograph of the year (nearly 1000 likes on Instagram) due to the subject matter … Or if it’s because I am still a sucker for my ring in isolation. I guess I need at least one image like this per year with last year being Youth Fountain. There is no doubt that I was stoked to have taken this image, or even having the opportunity to shoot this band in such a grand venue. They were so much fun to photograph and see how the crowd interacted with them. I was in complete awe the entire time.

09. Ghost , CALGARY AB

I’ve been waiting to shoot Ghost for such a long time. Literally every time they have come to Calgary I didn’t find out until the night before or the day of and I would get so angry with myself for not being able to do something about it quicker. I was denied by Live Nation for this show (what a surprise, lol) and then quickly emailed their PR and asked if I could cover it. They were so kind and fast … I was so thankful. Ghost isn’t just a band they are full theatrical performance and I had such an amazing time just taking everything in and enjoying all of the different changes in the design of the set and all of the different atmospheres that would go along with this theatre performance. I was so entranced the entire time that I didn’t even realize that it had been time for me to leave at some point. Such an interesting artist to see. I hope that this isn’t the last time that I have the chance.

08. UTAH

As you most likely know if you follow me to any capacity, my partner and I do a lot of ground traveling. We drive around to different places to document small towns, do some landscape photography, and to see some shows we often don’t get up in Canada. This year, we had travelled to California and Utah to see two different shows, and then did a small weekend warrior run through Western Canada before doing another Western Canadian full tour. While in Utah, we decided that we would take some extra time to go to the Arches National Park. For some crazy reason we decided it was worth the 8 hour detour to go see some really cool looking rocks (yes, it was completely worth it). On the drive back to Salt Lake City, we stopped through this really interesting small town. It was one we had seen on the way through the west and figured that there would be some interesting photo spots. We crawled across this one and I was so thrilled with the white-on-white and how huge the clouds were with it to boot. I quickly set up, took this photo, and then the owner of the house came running out with their dog, clearly upset that we were paying attention to their house. They didn’t say anything to us but we got the message loud and clear that we didn’t belong there and quietly left. This was my second time in Utah and I had to say it’s still one of my favorite States, especially with such diverse and interesting landscapes. I’m really excited to be able to check out the southern part of it more in the future.

07. Seaway , Vancouver BC

There were two days of tour that I photographed Seaway for MRG Concerts. I had seen them numerous times but was super stoked to of had the ability to see then for six nights in a row on this small run. They’ve always been a lot of fun to watch, and that’s what I would tell anyone who asked me about them … It didn’t matter if their music isn’t completely your thing they are just fun and good at what they do. So in Vancouver I definitely got a little more personal with them in my images, coming in nice and close to Ken on drums as well as Andrew and Ryan with my huge lens to get these distorted wide-angle shots. I remember how much I had to lean in between the monitors to get this image and was so stoked with how it came out. Sometimes those extra tall staged venues create far more interesting shots. I forget that too often.

06. T-PAIN , Calgary AB

Knowing that T-Pain was going to be playing Stampede my first thought was, “This is going to be sound board for sure … If we are even allowed to shoot at all.” My next thought when we were told it was the basic 3 song rule was, “Okay, now I am just waiting for that contract that tells me I can’t even look at my own images after I am done editing them.” (Queue awkward laughter) Only none of that happened. Instead, there was a crowded photo pit of 19 people crawling on top of each other to get photos of T-Pain. While there were moments I was like, “Yeah, hopefully that’s something that makes the bottom line,” I didn’t anticipate actually falling in love with these two images. The top image was one of the first times I used my brand new lens that I had been saving up for 2 years. The image is just so grand and wide, and was the very first photo I had taken of his set. To me, it felt perfect in how isolated he looked especially with how interesting his clothing is. It’s uncomfortable the fact that he’s so isolated like this. I just love that. I had to rebuild a bit of the bottom of the frame to make it look exactly how I wanted to and it’s just so nice when things in photoshop work out perfectly. As for the bottom image, the colours and the mood of the lighting was everything that T-Pain was live. He’s quirky, fun, and has small bursts of crazy energy. I was so stoked to see I got a moment of his dancing like this and with such interesting lighting to pair with it! It was exactly the sort of lighting and image you want to walk away with after seeing someone as iconic as T-Pain.

05. NECKING , CALGARY AB

Going into Sled Island, I knew that Necking was a band I was going to catch immediately. I worked my schedule around them and even left work early for this show, just to ensure that I would see their full set. Afterwards, I even set up a time to take their portrait. I was just so entranced by their performance. Somehow I had even convinced Aron to come out and hang with me during their performance. They are just so lively and interesting, I was taking photos every second. I remember the moment I caught this series of images, and how I knew I would animate them later as well. When thinking about this time of year, i remember how scattered my mind was and how much I was totally disconnected from the world and horrified of everything and everyone and how much I just wanted to push past that. This set definitely inspired me to do that and to just enjoy the things I do. I deleted everything off of Instagram and then posted these photos and was just happy to only post the images I was proud of and not because it felt like an obligation.

04. HAIR BY ZUNNY , CALGARY AB

When Zunny approached me for photographing three of her clients rainbow hair I was ecstatic. It’s not often I get to do work that’s more along the “Product” Photography side of things and there’s a part of me that misses it from being in Photo School so long ago. The set up was simple, and very DIY, just like I have grown comfortable in using. We had two models one day and a singular model about a week later. With Brook it was all easy because she has this perfect swoop in her hair. We would time it all out with a “One, two, swoosh,” and she’d swing her hair back and forth. This was one of the first photos we took of those “swoosh” moments. I excitedly showed her and when Zunny came back from a quick coffee run I had to show her too. The way the make-up had been done, how the layers of rainbow was so prominent, I was just so excited to get this personality out of the hair. I even asked Brooklyn if we could do it again under this luminescent bridge that Calgary has to offer. We did, and the photos definitely had her hair glowing but this is still the image I come back to and get so excited about seeing every time. It made me miss fashion and beauty photography to a painful extent. Ever since then it’s something I had started chasing again.

03. LOONY , CALGARY AB

It was a pleasant surprise for me to get the email that LOONY was coming into town. I was instantly entranced by her music and the visuals that she chose to put along-side it. I had to photograph her. Luckily, I was able to set up some time with her to have a conversation for my magazine and also set aside a few minutes to take some photographs. She warned me that she is really particular with her images, something I can definitely understand. So we did a few and I went through and showed her each image as they came through. The editing process is really where the image came out, though. I found myself getting into this intense Renaissance pallet and texture. It’s something that I have been striving for in my portraits for a long time. I couldn’t be happier with how this image came out. I think it’s perfectly suiting to her music as well and over all just makes sense. If you ever get the chance, please check out LOONY. Her music is so honest and soulful, it both makes me want to sway and dance as well as breaks my heart.

02. Youth Fountain , EDMONTON AB

I’ve said it before, but I truly mean it when I say that Youth Fountain are my favourite group to work with. This run, though short, I was happy to embark on a “full” journey from Winnipeg to Vancouver. I had so much appreciation for it though, especially when there were venues such as this one, the Starlite, and I was able to sit on the drum riser with Bran and get nice and close for some shots. Honestly, some of my favourite drum shots are from this show as well. It was really difficult to bring it down to which images. All I knew was the photos of Youth Fountain from this show specifically would make it into my final group of images. I have one of Tyler and the crowd as well as one of Cody. I really love the one of Tyler because it was probably my first time being in an extraordinarily active crowd and working that I wasn’t completely scared of what would happen but rather stoked on the images. The crowds was so intense and brilliant, and the energy Tyler was giving off fed into it further. I remember being so stoked on the images before I even got them to my computer. As for the photo with Cody, I tend to approach these guys’ sets with half at front and half in the back (depending on the length of time I get to spend with them as well as the venue). I’ve always enjoyed the little moments where Cody comes back around and interacts with Bran before going off and doing whatever action he ends up doing in his live performance, whether it’s spinning the mic, jumps, or in this case, a good ol’ punch to the air. The lighting was so perfect in both accounts and really allowed me to get that haze I love to expand in images. I actually got exactly what I like to see out of my own work.

01. The Floorboards Are Breathing

Probably for the first time ever, my #1 Photo was really easy to pick. I didn’t even have to think about it … At all. When We Are Alive Beyond Repair came out I was instantly enamoured by the record, and Gatherers. Heck. I have plans to get their logo of the two fawns tattoo’d to me in the coming months. I knew I wanted to create this image based off of their song, “The Floorboards Are Breathing.” It was one thing to just do a photograph based on the song, so I started building concepts that would revolve around the full record. I am about half way done these super minimal portraits that are meant to represent the different narratives on the record now. It’s definitely been a little over a year in the making but I am so happy with the amount of thoughtful research I have put into the songs as well as the thought process I have had to come up with ideas. Some were definitely more easy to come up with than others. This was the first image I took of the series and definitely the easiest to come up with. I was so happy that Gabby agreed to it. She hadn’t been in front of the camera this way a lot, especially at that time and she was so easy to direct and get exactly what I was looking for out of the images. I’m just so thrilled that it turned out this way: Exactly how I had imagined it. So thank you, Gabby, for being such an integral part of my vision.

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I would also like to take the time to thank a few people for making this year as crazy, unexpected, and possibly one of the best that I have experienced thus far. Without a doubt, there’s a small group of people that have truly enabled me to get where I am and have made me feel confident as I continue to move forward in my life. Normally I go off on this huge list of people but I think this year I will keep it shorter.

Firstly, I would like to thank my loving partner, Dorian. For years our friendship was quieter until we finally accepted that we would never be out of one another’s lives. Thank you for every conversation in the early morning, in poor traffic, in moments my OCD makes me harsh and/or overly critical. I always look forward to every adventure that we take on and shall in the future, from local night-photography drives, to days worth of driving and exploration. I would also like to thank my Muther for being so flexible with my awful, awful schedule, and for understanding and listening when I am unsure of myself.

Another thanks to Timer of MRG for introducing me to a bunch of lovely people, for always being honest and transparent as well as for inviting me to all of the different shows I never anticipated photographing. This thanks should also extend to all the other great people of MRG, Blue, Bishop, Matt, and Justin.

To Said the Whale for being my first tour of the year, and being over all lovely people in the few days that we had together. Even in the most stressful of times you guys were so patient and considerate towards one another, and I have so much respect for all of you as people as well as musicians. To Widmore for taking me across Western Canada again and pushing me back into video.

A special thank you to Youth Fountain for being genuine friends of mine, for embracing my creativity to full capacity, for being my own personal Gatorade sponsorship, and not kicking me out of the van for still dabbing in 2019. To Bran for being a long time friend, for your patience in every situation and your over all pleasant demeanour. To Vinny, for extending consistent kindness to me even when it was inconvenient as well as being the person to calm me from all my anxiety attacks with your sense of humour. To Tyler for always hyping me up and clearly believing in my vision, for enabling me, and being honest with your feelings. To Cody, for your straight forwardness, your van “entertainment” system, and for inspiring me with your independent nature.

And a final thank you to Kelly and Kaylee for being my grounds to the world. Without our puzzle club meetings I know I would drown in my work and forget what it’s like to actually enjoy life and people. I am so thankful for all of our times spent together.

Tour: Youth Fountain w/ Seaway

Firstly, wow, this took far too long to get all of these images together and share a bit of the tour experience with Youth Fountain, First Ghost and Seaway! That’s the way of freelance meets coming home to a 9 to 5 type job. That being said, I am just happy to be able to share this with you before the new year!

I was very stoked when I got the message asking if I was available for this short run. I’ve always enjoyed working with Youth Fountain and everyone in that band. Their live shows are some of my favourite to cover and it always helps when you genuinely enjoy the music, the people, and the over all experience. This tour was back-to-back with my Year Over Year run (which you can find here). We started the tour in Winnipeg and then stretched it across all of the major Western Cities. It was nice with some family to allow us to stay in Winnipeg and have a relatively comfortable sleep and experience with great food and I can’t be thankful enough for them being so accommodating for my awful dietary restrictions! With the full tour, I was definitely really thankful to have done this run so many times. I know so many reasonable food and coffee shops across Western Canada now that it makes life easy on the road. In general, I like to think that I have a talent of finding vegan food and coffee in almost any city.

Previously, I had seen Seaway several times on different tours across Canada. Any time someone asked me to describe seeing Seaway I would just tell them that they are a genuinely fun band to watch, regardless if you ever had even heard their music it was a guaranteed good time. That made it easy for me on the two days that I covered their shows for MRG Concerts. Plus the fact that I definitely interrupted some of their time to pull either Ken or Ryan aside for some quick photos, which you will see below.

WINNIPEG, MB

REGINA, SK

While Regina definitely isn’t the most “bumping” spot for music anymore, there is a small part of me that’s excited to use the stray theatre chairs in the Exchange every time. It has this unique club set up that definitely enables some more interesting photography. From blue and red plastic chairs that line the walls to the velvet brown and red theatre chairs that somehow find their way all over the venue. When I saw Ken walking by I noticed that his flannel matched the chairs as well as his jeans matching the wall. I decided to build myself up to ask him if he’d let me photograph him there. Luckily for me, Tyler is way more confident about asking other people if I can photograph them (haha) and he found Ken in one of the other rooms so I didn’t have to wait until after the show. Honestly, I am really happy with them all, even though it was such a brief moment. Ken definitely understood where I was coming from with the colour pallet.

This is going to be short … Did you know that Cody knows several card / magic tricks? This is a new thing that I learned on Halloween. Here’s a photo of that.

SASKATOON, SK

CALGARY, AB

EDMONTON, AB

VANCOUVER, BC

After the long drive from Edmonton to Vancouver, we all went our separate ways. For everyone in Youth Fountain, this is where they live and nearing the end of the their journey for this tour. I went with Vinny and stayed with him and the friends in First Ghost. In the morning, we went on a hunt for coffee (Revolver is always a Vancouver go-to), and then coxed a few people into going to Bon’s. With First Ghost being as passionate about coffee as myself, only Anton and Alex came with Vinny and I to Bon’s and the rest found their way back to Revolver. Our plan was to meet Bran down at Bon’s as well and as we were all finishing up breakfast we couldn’t help but notice a Cody walk through the door and sit at a table a few stalls away from us. We stared him down, contemplated sending videos of him to himself, until he looked our way and joined us. It was hilarious and perfect. I think it was also the most time I had ever spent at Bon’s in my entire life. I’m not complaining though, I do worship their greasy potatoes.

Tour: Year Over Year

The first day of tour was set up in Edmonton, Alberta. Unfortunately, I had not been able to attend it. With the rest of the weekend set up for Thanksgiving, we waited out until Tuesday to drive to Kelowna. We weren’t sure what to expect in a city that often doesn’t get shows of this genre, but the brewery was accommodating. That was where we also met up with the fantastic people of Tulsy Place and Anchorage Blue. For all of the main-land shows, Anchorage Blue played as an acoustic act and then played full-band on the Island. This was one of the luckier tours, where all of the shows were well put together as well as close in distance! There was always ample time for driving and finding good coffee and vegan-friendly food.

KELOWNA, BC

KAMLOOPS, BC

VANCOUVER, BC

VICTORIA, BC

NANAIMO, BC

It was after Nanaimo we had to say goodbye to both Tulsy Place and Anchorage Blue. We were heading back to Vancouver so that Dorian could record a new record. That meant there was still a lot more work in music to be done, but it was also a break from travel for a little while longer before Dorian would join another tour that I was taking part in (another gallery / journal entry to follow in the coming weeks). I split up with Dorian once we got home for a short few hours but we met up again in Saskatoon where we went right back into working mode. Now there was a little less stress. No longer was Year Over Year headlining, but rather was able to get his set finished earlier in the evening. Since we had been in Saskatoon and Regina earlier in the year for different Year Over Year shows, we already had a good idea of some additional vegan eats that we could go have. We found one new place in Regina that changed my mind about the city having boring food. If you ever get the chance to go through and have lunch at Hunter Gatherer I would highly suggest it!

REGINA, SK

SASKATOON, SK

CALGARY, AB

With Calgary being Dorian’s hometown show, it was expected to be busy. Paired with the fact, that he was the local support to Seaway’s tour the show was bound to do well. With a sold out show and almost all of the patrons in the room while Year Over Year was playing, it was bazaar to hear how quiet Dicken’s Pub could actually get. The barricade was completely fully with people watching intensively as he performed his heart breaking songs. Several friends and fans sang along quietly to the live track he had released online as well as the parts they knew from attending so many of his shows in the past. In between songs there would be claps of appreciation but at the end of Dorians’s brief set there was a whirlwind of people clapping and immediately he was bombarded at the merch table. I ran over to it and started helping him out. It was so pleasant to see probably the most successful show for him to end his tour.

Tour: Widmore

Let me start off by saying a whole lot of unexpected grievances happened on this tour. Three dates were missed due to them but at the end of it all, the group of guys in Widmore and myself are stronger and closer because of it. If you follow me on any social media you are probably already aware of the fact that we suffered two break-ins on the tour and after the final which left us lost of all of our personal possessions it was time for us to go home and skip over the Vancouver Island dates. While I am disappointed to not be reacquainted with the beautiful weather and landscapes of the island I am happy to move on from the experience and continue to work with such a strong group of people in the future.

CALGARY, AB

LETHBRIDGE, AB

MEDICINE HAT, AB

REGINA, SK

WINNIPEG, MB

SASKATOON, SK

EDMONTON, AB

VANCOUVER, BC

Tour Blog: Said The Whale

I started off the first day of the new year by lazily sitting on the couch with my partner before getting a text from an old friend of mine, Lincoln. He asked if I would be interested in doing a small leg of touring with Said The Whale. I was taken back by this, surprised that literally the first day of the year and I was already making solid touring plans. I happily obliged and finished off all of the details with the rest of the band and awaited until the following month when I would get to meet them and head off on the tour.

Coming into the first sound check, and out from the cold, I casually walked around the Grey Eagle taking a few photos here and there. When working with a new group of people it often takes a moment for me to warm up and see what I can do and where all I can go. In this instance, though, I was just wandering around to warm up my hands. Central Canadian winters, am I right? Everyone was so pleasant to meet, and even more so I quickly learned of the quips and puns. Oh, how lovely the puns. These are people I can trust.

CALGARY, AB

RED DEER, AB

OFF-DAY

GRAND PRAIRIE, AB

EDMONTON, AB

To anyone who has seen the tour dates will notice here how Saskatoon is missing. Well, that’s due to the fact that early in the morning we set off towards Saskatoon from Edmonton only to see some warnings pop up on the dash of the van moments before the power-steering went out. After some google searches we realized it was the serpentine belt and with the make and model of the van that meant that the whole thing wasn’t going anywhere. We were nearing the middle of nowhere, about 10 minutes outside of Vegreville, had to spend a solid hour and some looking for a mechanics shop that was open on the weekend and then eventually get the one and only cab driver to pick us up. Although I am from a small town, I do always find the small towns that are larger even stranger than the village that I grew up in. But in this case we were the strange beings that took over a Dairy Queen for upwards of 6 hours before heading to the mechanic shop, being updated and then heading to a pub across the road. Everyone that had to deal with us was quite lovely with our situation and I can’t believe that let us stay in these two establishments for so long. I cannot even remember what time we eventually left Vegreville, waving goodbye to the large egg at it’s entrance way but we did make it to Saskatoon around 3:30 in the morning to sleep for 3 hours before heading off to my last day with Said the Whale in Winnipeg.

WINNIPEG, MB

It was truly lovely to be on the road with the members of Said The Whale. They were all so kind, open, and honest as people and individuals. Between all the quips, Denny’s, and hotel oranges, it was an over all amazing experience. I got to see different theatres in ways I had previously never anticipated, walked across the stage of the Grey Eagle, sneak my way behind Brad on the drum kit, and explore all the spooky things that different venues had to offer. Although, this one is more specific to how beautiful and spooky Winnipeg’s theatre is.

If you haven’t already, Said the Whale was touring on their new record, Cascadia and it’s definitely worth the listen. I’ve memorized every song and gesture of the band after this small run with them and it’s been nothing short of delightful.

Top10 Photographs from 2018

the above are all an assortment of honourable mentions. i photographed a -lot- of shows and different things this year and it was extremely difficult to pick the top ten. It might be time to start picking a top 20 or something if i continue to work the way i have been. thank you for taking the time to read this all.

At the beginning of the year I was going through something that I didn't know how to verbalize to the right people. Towards the end of 2017 I was going through multiple transitions that ended up affecting both my mental health and how I started illustrating the world around me. I had to go through a bit of mental rehabilitation and both ruined and strengthened friendships because of it. I wanted to push myself until i "threw up" and then keep going. That was what I told myself. I shot 6 shows in one month, at times 6 shows in one week, with a 40 hour work week, and curating a magazine on top of it. I went out of my comfort zone on multiple occasions and started thinking up real projects that were meant to reignite everything that brought me to the medium of photography 10 years ago. 

There were times where things felt slow, and there were times where I was disappointed in how I couldn’t do personal work, and other times where I cursed myself for doing so much personal work when I had so many shows and clients on the go. I went on a run with Colour In The Clouds, Youth Fountain and Stasis, and finally Widmore and Calling All Captains, and though each run was small they all had their different bounds of significance to me. I actually worked myself so hard that I filled four external hard drives in roughly 6 months. One of them I remember purchasing right before heading out for my run with CITC and only 2 months later it was completely full. I never anticipated that I would be so busy, even though I told myself that I would make it happen. I have to say, I sure did. I’ve worked myself to the bone in both my photo world as well as in my day-job that I keep because of those pesky student loans. It’s because of this that I have been able to realize a lot of things about myself that I don’t think I could get to unless I didn’t do the things to myself that I have done. First off, I’d like to say putting your words out into the world actually does something. I have put my goals out there, spoken the things I wanted, or said just would, happen and then those things would actually happen because of all the world I was doing to get things done in the right direction. Considering how low I had been for a good 4 months of the beginning of the year I can’t believe how much I actually got done.

With all of this being said now, here they are with their small stories and all:

10. Basement @ Paris Theatre

Never in a hundred years did I think I would ever see, meet, or photograph Basement and in one day I did all of those things. It’s weird, because I’m not sure if this is truly one of my favourite images from the year as a whole, but the moment in time, the entire idea that my partner and I did this long drive just to watch my favourite band … If I didn’t put this on the list I think that I would be upset with myself. Not a lot of shows that I am emotionally attached to make their way to my parts of Canada so I need to drive anywhere between 12 to 20 hours to see anything substantial. I feel like this year was huge in my experiments with prisms and diffraction. I’ve been using these tools since I first started getting into shows back in 2012 but with the way that these effects have come to light in the last couple of years I have found this push to get something more out of them. I think this image has a good starting point of that using my keychain prism I carry with me everywhere I go. This image in particular, I was so happy with the colour, the expression and the shape of his hands that of all of the images that I took of Basement that evening this is most certainly my favourite. I am so astonished by how lovely the crowd of people were in Portland, too. Everyone really cared for one another in that scene and it was refreshing to see a group of people understand that we are all there for the same reason, no entitlement like I often see in Calgary. It was, over all, a very lovely evening.

09. Widmore @ The Krossing.

There were a lot of photos from touring with Widmore that I was so stoked on. I was lucky enough to have Nick from Calling All Captains lend me his fractal filters throughout the whole tour. I had played around them them a bit in the past but have avoided really using them because of just how much they are used. I didn’t want to box myself in creatively. But i found that just because a lot of people use them every venue creates something different, every band and every light makes something unique about their use and I think this is one of those times that shows that. In Red Deer with Widmore I used one of them and saw all of these wild reflections of the bars of light in the image. The way it all crossed into Jordan’s face, instrument and hand was weirdly interesting even though, for myself, a bit unconventional. This venue in general was really interesting and lovely to have this light set up. I remember taking this image and running away one more song later to my weird laptop set up next to the ATM and bathrooms to get to working on it right away. I love it when prisms are completely in camera (and I try to do that with 90% of my images) so this was just a lovely moment to have.

08. La Dispute @ Showbox Sudo.

Another show I had to travel to see. What a surprise. Right before leaving for tour with Widmore, I came to the realization that I could leave from their final date in Vancouver and go to Seattle to catch Youth Fountain’s last show and then La Dispute + Circa Survive the following day. I knew I had to go. My partner and I had talked about how we needed to see La Dispute for the longest time and this was the closest they had been to us in a long while. He decided to meet up with me after his own show in Kamloops the day before this one. It was really surreal to photograph a band I am so in love with, artistically speaking. They all have such a unique perspective into music and being able to put the countless hours of listening to it, getting inspired, and watch them play live literally inches away from me … Well it was just nice to have the emotional attachment in an image again. Jordon has a very unique presence on stage and It was a lot of fun to get him move around, stiffly moving his limbs about with a tambourine and then jumping into the crowd every time he could see that someone wanted to sing back the words to him. This is probably one of my favourite moments of him jumping into the crowd. During Castle Builder he came out into the crowd and ended up facing away from them for a moment with such a happy and satisfied look on his face, almost as if he was breaking from his heart broken character. Slowly, he got back up from leaning on the barricade and started walking down with his mic still facing the crowd. This is one of the moments where he is walking away and I just love how the hands are forming to him, the smiles of the people in the very front and his posture as he approaches the end of his walk.

07. Youth Fountain @ The Biltmore

It was the first night of tour, I hardly knew Tyler (with the exception of some random messages on instagram), I didn’t know Vinny (in fact I was bred to hate him because of my forever love for Tim), and I was in a weird mental state just because it was my first time in Vancouver since all of my closest friends had moved out to the city. I hardly talked to any of them still until the drive out to Kamloops the next day, where I went full myself and started spouting off random puns with Pope. I would also like to say I do not hate Vinny, even if he isn’t Tim. He’s a lovely human that lights up the room with his sarcastic presence. All of this is unnecessary information.

This was the second time shooting the Biltmore, a venue I already had fallen in love with and was so excited to document Youth Fountain in. The crowd was absolutely crazy. Everyone was so into everything that was going on. They were all the way to the front of the stage so excited to see the guys playing. It was such a beautiful show to see and such an amazing send off for the long road that they would have to endure. I remember the few photographers that were there rotating from different vantage points. As my lovely friend, Carmin, came off of one of the podiums, I jumped up and stabilized myself as much as I could with the crowd pushing up against everything. The exact moment I took this image I knew I was going to love it. Even at the end of the night I kept on coming back to it, looking at how perfect the ring framed Tyler and how the beams of light acted as a halo that also met up to the ends of the ring. It was everything I loved about using a copper ring, framing the focal point and subject of an image. I was just so happy to kick off this small run with this group of people feeling so content with what I did with them.

06. Middle of Nowhere, Oregon

During our trip in Portland, my partner was amazing and let me stop and several places that I have always wanted to see. We drove out to the coast and took in several landscapes along the way, visiting two beaches. Driving between Portland and Washington coast at night, just trying to find a camp ground, we passed this area and I asked him to pull over. It was such an entrancing thing to see. The lights of this shop were still up, name illuminated, and an older car just sitting out front so perfectly situated by the light post. We were both randomly hyper considering how exhausted we were so I lucked out with having been in the eager mood to stop as soon as I saw this scene. This whole small town was actually quite photograph-able. I walked around the parking lot for a little bit, taking a few photos and found that in the end the classic straight-on view was best. Dialled back that aperture and was just so excited to have this inside of my camera. I love night photography unconditionally. It holds a place in my heart even more dearly than concert photography so being able to take this image really meant a lot to me.

05. Circa Survive @ Showbox Sudo.

It’s been a dream of mine to photograph Circa Survive for years. I knew they would never ever come to Calgary just based off of waiting for them the entire time that I have lived here. After 8 years you just sort of give up hope (ha). When I saw that they had a show with La Dispute I was so excited. The performance of this band is wild. I waited for moments that I knew would come from Anthony Green. I played with colour and contrast more than I ever have in live music photography thanks to how they had everything on this tour. With the minimal lighting, and randomly intense projections I was in heaven thinking about how well this combined my design background with my photography. There are a few moments from this show that really stood out to me, especially with how the projections came to life and the colours that were presented but this image ultimately makes me the happiest. I made my video of him dancing around his mic stand and it was vibrant and colourful. Then, paired with this image, I never felt more fulfilled after a show of this genre. The have light on his face, the gesture of the chord in his mouth, and him doing his classic hand motions … It’s even more than what I hoped to come out of a Circa Survive set.

04. Underoath @ MacEwan Hall

I’ve really been falling in love with those black and white images lately, as I am sure that you can see from this list. Three years ago I travelled down to Underoath to see them. Because of the venue at the time, they wouldn’t allow anyone except the venue photographer to take photos of the show. It was heart breaking but it really enabled me to see Underoath play two personal favorite records of mine from front to back. When they announced that they were returning to Calgary for the first time since 2009 I was over the moon. I was sure to send more emails than I needed to. I am so sorry to all of the people I harassed over this show. Anyways. I think photographing Underoath was some of the most fun that I have ever had. They are so energetic, lively, and have such a brilliant set up. The huge screens and light set up was gorgeous and enabled me to really dial back on that ISO. I studied this band for a week making sure I could understand a lot of their set, yet still found myself wandering around the stage all over the place not wanting to miss a moment of this band. When I took my time to stay at the front of the stage for a bit (something that was a little difficult to do considering the amount of photographers there) I really felt the moment as Spencer came to kneel down, even though the part of me that studied the set knew it was going to happen. It was as if I had forgotten everything I looked up and just was able to enjoy it all through my view finder. I’ve always really enjoyed those almost dissociative moments where you really feel everything and yet you don’t feel like you are the one experiencing it at all. It’s strange and difficult to explain but I knew that this would be the first photo that I would come to from the whole night the second I pulled away from my camera.

03. Lights @ MacEwan Hall

I remember having random MySpace conversations with Lights way back in the day. The conversations themselves were completely forgettable but I remember listening to February Air on MySpace and then hearing it on an Old Navy commercial approximately 6 months later. Most of the times that she has come through Calgary were when I happened to be out of the city, so when she announced that she was coming through again I was so excited to be able to see her. It was so nerve-racking because no one was put on the list until late on the day of her show. The pit was crazy claustrophobic but Lights weirdly minimal but bright set up was so stunning. Her stage presence is enough to take up the whole stage and I remember having so much fun trying to work around all of the very moody and isolating lights. I had such a hard time choosing between this and two other images from this night. I even got to photograph her twice this year, once at MacEwan Hall and another time at the Calgary Stampede. I have to say if you have ever wanted to see her it’s so much more lovely in an intimate, indoor setting. Thank you, Lights, for helping me explore even more with my colours.

02. Alexisonfire @ Coca-Cola Stage

What a dream come true to photograph this band. I feel like I have been waiting to photograph them since their farewell tour way, way, back when I first moved into the city. Being in the small village that I had lived in for years I remember being one of the only people who obsessed over this band with the exception of one of my best friends, Donny. Him, his brother, and I all went up to Edmonton for their final show and It was one of the best days of our lives. With X-Fest, and my first photo pass to them cancelled I was forced to wait to photograph them once again. When they were put on the first day of Stampede … Well I don’t think I ever signed up to work a festival faster.

This particular image really got me because of 1. It’s Alexisonfire. But it goes deeper than that. With the show as energetic as it was there were numerous photographs I came away happy with but in this moment I was standing just off to the left of Wade as he jumped up with his guitar on one of the monitors. Another photographer, JD, was standing right beside me and right in front of Wade when the guitar dropped between the two of us. I remember taking this photo, realizing his guitar was dropping and instinctively reached out (as if I would do anything by trying to catch it, pfft). JD quickly gave the guitar back to Wade and he played it without the strap for the remainder of the song. Once I started looking through my photos I noticed the build up to the moment. I saw how literally this image you could see the fall, how the hand was loosing its grip and the strap coming undone. I was so baffled that I had actually caught the moment. I suppose there’s nothing particularly special, visually speaking, about this image. It’s just another musician playing guitar when you look at it. But when you know what’s actually happening it makes the context of it all so much more interesting. I shared the image way back in the summer and Wade had even made a comment on it where he also could see the moment of his guitar falling and continued to share this image next to the one of his guitar being repaired after the incident. I think I will always hold that special to me in years to come.

01. Behemoth @ MacEwan Ballroom.

Although I had seen the show announced, I wasn’t completely sold on the idea of going. I knew that being able to see and photograph this band would be amazing but I had been so tired from doing so many shows and truly working myself down to the bones (fractured arm, foot + all), but when I got a message late in the night (or early in the morning) asking if I’d be able to come in to shoot the show I knew I couldn’t say no. Behemoth is too interesting of a band. I spent a solid hour studying their different festival sets, wondering how they would condense all of the amazing production and work that they put into it with such an intimate venue like the Ballroom. It was compact, tight, and I could taste the wall of sweat seconds after walking in. Myself and one other photographer had to maneuver our way through the beer garden just to get into the photo pit (the safe zone). I was on edge, unable to find my wallet, convinced I had left it on the security-check table but seeing the wall of people squished to the barricade definitely helped me take my mind off of things. Behemoth started up, masks and all and I dove in, taking in every moment of it, enjoying how much they interacting with both the crowd and myself. This particular moment with the light and how everything was constructed … It felt as holy as they did not want to be. I was so excited to see this image come up on Bridge once I got home and hurried to edit all of the photos to send off to MRG. As a note, shooting as often as I do has its perks because the lovely human who worked doors saw me coming down the stairs after I had finished shooting and was ready to give me my ID back that they had found.

I would also like to thank a few specific people for all their help along the way, both when I was at my emotional highs as well as stuck around when I was in one of my greatest distress. I had someone push me to the edge, make me feel bad for being alive and eventually their taunts made me tried to take my own life. I was devastated and still am deeply hurt by it and these people, well, it takes a lot for people to be able to stomach listening to a person bare their woes and worries and to those people who were around I am forever thankful. Firstly, thank you to my loving partner, Dorian, for being supportive, for being a friend before all else and always being patient with me. To my Muther for not approving, but accepting the life that I have chosen to live, for not freaking out when I called her to say, “Sorry I didn’t say anything to you for so long, I was on tour,” and indulging in my long winded and one-sided conversations about music and people I know she doesn’t care about at all. To my best friend, Yosh, for being there when I was at my worst, for standing up for me when I wasn’t mentally capable to even find my own footing. Had it not been for you and all of our time spent at the Unicorn I don’t know if I would have made it through. To Sho, for returning my call, and for being an inspiration in how self-less you often are. To Nathan, for always being a beam of light in my life and for approaching life honestly. To Carmin(e) and Lindsey, for being amazing friends who live so far away but still so near and dear to my heart. To Tyler and Cody of Youth Fountain for putting up with my merciless puns and indulging my weird “artsy” requests on tour. To Vinny for every arcade video, your wit, and also for your ability to stomach both Nathan and I. To Ruel, for all of the consistent thoughtful conversations about life and psychology, as well as for having an artistic vision and making me feel as if I was truly collaborating with a band on tour and not just working for one, but this also goes for all of Widmore. To Joshua Platt, for being in the photo pit with me, for all of our random jokes and talks, to being the person I always hope to see at every show I attend and making the experience mean so much more. And a few more so I don’t make this even more unnecessarily longer than it already is: Royal Tusk, Stasis, Kelly, Ambur, Levi + Angie, Calling All Captains, Sellout, Brandyn + Oskar + Jackson of Gleneagle, Mike + Candace, Ethan + Mackenzie, MRG Concerts (especially you, Steph), Abi, and of course, Heather.

Thank you to all of those who I have mentioned as well as to everyone else for taking the time to read this or scan over any post or photo I have made. Please be safe over the new year and remember to take care of yourself as there are people who care about you even when you don’t feel it right away.