Tag: Live

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Live music galleries

Live music galleries: Mumford & Sons [2013]

(I got the idea for this series while sifting through the ‘piles’ of digital photos on my laptop. It occurred to me to share some of these great pics from some of my favourite concert sets from time to time. Until I get around to the next one, I invite you to peruse my ever-growing list of concerts page.)

Mumford and Sons @ Osheaga 2013

Artist: Mumford & Sons
When: August 4th, 2013
Where: River stage, Osheaga, Jean Drapeau Park, Montreal
Context: Ten years ago this summer, I attended Montreal’s Osheaga arts and music festival with my good friends Tim and Mark. It was an unforgettable weekend and we saw countless amazing performances over the festival’s three days. I’ve already posted photos* from some of the weekend’s sets and plan to share a few more of these in the months leading up to this year’s edition, which I will sadly not be attending. Some of these posts will have fewer photos than my normal galleries, including today’s, but this should not be taken to be indicative of the quality of the performances, but of the difficulty of obtaining quality pics while being so completely in the moment.

If I am being completely honest here, we didn’t stick around for Mumford and Sons’ whole festival-ending set. After all the excitement of New Order just beforehand and all the rest of the great sets we had seen that weekend, the British indie folk outfit felt a bit anticlimactic. They had just released their second album and were still on top of the world so they had amassed a huge crowd for their set and they were right into it. Live, the group really does the high energy thing well but they sounded just a little too slick. As Tim quipped: “They’re pretty good. They sound just like they do on the albums.” After the first few songs, though, the allure of sitting down in a pub and drinking something other than Molson Canadian or Coors Light was just too great.**
Point of reference song: “I will wait”

Winston Marshall on banjo
Ben Lovett and Marcus Mumford
Ted Dwane and Winston Marshall
Marcus Mumford

*Past galleries from this festival weekend have included the following:

**I’ll be getting a second chance at catching a whole set by Mumford this summer at this year’s Bluesfest.

Categories
Live music galleries

Live music galleries: The Breeders [2013]

(I got the idea for this series while sifting through the ‘piles’ of digital photos on my laptop. It occurred to me to share some of these great pics from some of my favourite concert sets from time to time. Until I get around to the next one, I invite you to peruse my ever-growing list of concerts page.)

The Breeders at Osheaga 2013

Artist: The Breeders
When: August 3rd, 2013
Where: Green stage, Osheaga, Jean Drapeau Park, Montreal
Context: Ten years ago this summer, I attended Montreal’s Osheaga arts and music festival with my good friends Tim and Mark. It was an unforgettable weekend and we saw countless amazing performances over the festival’s three days. I’ve already posted photos* from some of the weekend’s sets and plan to share a few more of these in the months leading up to this year’s edition, which I will sadly not be attending. Some of these posts will have fewer photos than my normal galleries, including today’s, but this should not be taken to be indicative of the quality of the performances, but of the difficulty of obtaining quality pics while being so completely in the moment.

The Breeders were touring in support of the 20th anniversary of their huge sophomore album, “The last splash”, and were performing it from beginning to end on each stop on the tour. They had recently reformed the lineup that had recorded said album, and had even brought violin player Carrie Bradley along for the ride, so theirs was a set we definitely wanted to catch. My friends and I arrived at the stage just in time to hear them play “Cannonball”, the second track on the album. So, yes, we dutifully danced around. It was refreshing to hear the Deal sisters joking around and truly appearing to enjoy themselves but even though I was familiar with their singles, I was still a year to removed from finally digging into the album in earnest. Admittedly, this was also the point in the evening when the drinking started to get serious and we became friends with the shooter waitress. At the end of their set, Tim made us all laugh by quipping, “This band? They’ve got a big future ahead of them.”
Point of reference song: “Cannonball”

Kim Deal and Jim Macpherson of The Breeders
Kelley Deal of The Breeders
Carrie Bradley on the violin
Kim Deal rocking out!

*Past galleries from this festival weekend have included the following:

Categories
Live music galleries

Live music galleries: Flogging Molly [2013]

(I got the idea for this series while sifting through the ‘piles’ of digital photos on my laptop. It occurred to me to share some of these great pics from some of my favourite concert sets from time to time. Until I get around to the next one, I invite you to peruse my ever-growing list of concerts page.)

Flogging Molly @ Osheaga 2013

Artist: Flogging Molly
When: August 3rd, 2013
Where: River stage, Osheaga, Jean Drapeau Park, Montreal
Context: Ten years ago this summer, I attended Montreal’s Osheaga arts and music festival with my good friends Tim and Mark. It was an unforgettable weekend and we saw countless amazing performances over the festival’s three days. I’ve already posted photos* from some of the weekend’s sets and plan to share a few more of these in the months leading up to this year’s edition, which I will sadly not be attending. Some of these posts will have fewer photos than my normal galleries, but this should not be taken to be indicative of the quality of the performances, but of the difficulty of obtaining quality pics while being so completely in the moment.

Flogging Molly was on the River stage mid-afternoon on the second day of the festival and the three of us were unanimous in not wanting to miss it. Like the Dropkick Murphys, when I saw them two years beforehand, I knew this band’s set would be worth seeing, despite not being all that familiar with their material. Frontman Dave King set the tone early in the set with a raucous, “Alright you bastards!”, and then taking a big swig off his Irish breakfast (aka Guinness). Mining the Celtic punk sound made famous by The Pogues, they got the crowd all riled up and ready to party. After their set, Tim remarked that should have waited to have breakfast with them (referring to the singer’s can of Guinness) and Mark’s response was that he would “love a f@*king drink with Flogging Molly”. Good times indeed.
Point of reference song: “Don’t shut ’em down”

Dave King and Bridget Regan of Flogging Molly
George Schwindt and Bob Schmidt of Flogging Molly
Nathen Maxwell and Matt Hensley of Flogging Molly
View from a crowd in bliss
Dave King taking a break from drinking a guinness to play some tunes

*Past galleries from this festival weekend have included the following: