Photographed for ConcertWorks & The Starlite Room
VADER
Beast in Black
GALLERY: Beast in Black Brings Bombastic Shred to Edmonton's Starlite Room - September 23, 2023
Photographed for Concertworks
Beast in Black made a triumphant return to Edmonton’s Starlite Room with the likes of Dance With The Dead in tow!
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Avril Lavigne @ Rogers Place - May 19, 2022
May Recap - Avril Lavigne, Billy Talent, Opeth & More
April seemed to fly by, and before I could stop my head from spinning, May was here. Kicking off the month strong with Canadian rock n roll heroes Billy Talent at the Edmonton Convention Centre, with Anti-Flag and fellow Canadians NOBRO opening up the night. All-girl punk bands are pretty sick in general, and NOBRO was pretty in-your-face about being a chick in this day and age. Anti-Flag was notably not in the mood to screw around; The Pittsburgh punk icons dominated the stage and had the audience in the palms of their hands for the entire duration of their set. Extremely impressive, if you ask me. However, I gotta say, it just floors me how good of a band Billy Talent is. Every time I get the opportunity to see Billy Talent I’m always thinking exactly that: “Fuck this band slaps”. Despite this show being one of many to fall victim to pandemic rescheduling, there room was quite full, and that was a heartwarming sight to see.
It’s been a hot minute since I’ve seen Opeth and Mastodon, let alone on the same stage. Needless to say, catching these 2 bands at the Edmonton Expo Centre was must for me. I’ve been a big fan of both of these bands for some time, and I absolutely loved Mastodon’s latest release “Hushed and Grim”. Mastodon murdered a semi-crowd pleaser set, only playing a handful of new tunes and a bunch of bangers that had people going ape shit on the floor. If you’re a fan of Opeth, you’ll understand how pumped I was when I learned that they were planning to play “Ghost of Perdition”. This song came across the setlist during my allotted first-3-songs of shooting time, and I could feel a lump in my throat. I mean, can you blame me? That song totally slaps and they rarely play it. Don’t come at me for getting stoked, okay?! Anyway… Despite the hella challenging light show that this gig put forth, the performances were absolutely killer, and Khemmis was an undeniably suitable opener for this bill.
Calming down on the genre front for the weekend, I was please to have Alberta’s sweetheart, Corb Lund in front of my lens in an intimate setting at the Starlite Room, which was a very special opportunity. This was the second of three back-to-back-to-back sold out shows that Corb played over the weekend, and the house was so full, you couldn’t fit a fart in there. (It’s okay, you can giggle at that last remark.) Opening the night with singer-song writer Mike Plume who told stories of playing gigs with Corb, and played songs about life, drinking and being Canadian. The crowd ate this right up, and was red-hot for Corb to take the stage and bring the house down with his unconventional country tunes.
Returning to shoot a proper show at the Winspear Centre for the first time in something like, 4 years? I don’t even know how long its been, all I know is that it’s been a minute since I last got to be near that stage and in the room as a whole. Even better, with Shakey Graves on the stage to boot. The guy knows how to work a room, and it’s just so cool to watch. Between telling jokes that had the near sold-out Winspear Centre in stitches, to totally crushing just about every song he spat out into the microphone; Shakey could write a book about keeping people engaged when you’re the only one on stage. I absolutely adore this man’s music, so photographing him in this gorgeous room was such a pleasure, along with Winnipeg’s Begonia leading the charge with her contagious bubbly personality and super soulful singing.
Upon receiving the green-light to shoot Canada’s pop-punk princess, I couldn’t help but think that 9 year old me would have been screaming. I was looking super forward to shooting Avril Lavigne, however this one in particular ended up being quite bittersweet from a photographers perspective. This was intended to be a soundboard shoot, which in most cases kind of suck due to the distance from the stage and the overall lack of mobility, but upon arriving at the arena, it got so much worse. Unfortunately, we shutter bugs were placed double the distance farther back than we were originally supposed to be at, which posed a problem for many of us that evening. I know what you non-photographers might be thinking: “Dana, what about that giant white lens you run around with?” Well, the giant lens you usually see me with is awesome and works well for 99% of the shows I photograph. However, when I’m stationed at the soundboard (or in this case, Timbuktu.) a little more lens oomph is needed. I’d love to break down the sizing of lenses and how the significance of lens length matters in these situations, but that would just put you to sleep. If you’re REALLY that interested in learning more about it, send an email or slide into my DM’s. You do you. I digress, we photographers were stationed way far away from what we had anticipated, and that really took the piss out of my excitement for this show.
Now, just to get something straight, photographers seem to always have something to bitch about. Whether it’s shit lighting, or having to shoot from the soundboard, there’s always something that’s just unpleasant impeding the path to success when it comes to doing our jobs. Now, before you fellow shooters get your ginch in a twist over my truth bomb, hear me out! I bitch about these things ALL the time as well, but there’s always a bit of reasonable thought behind these complaints. In this case however, even the most seasoned shooter would have felt the pain in the ass that this situation posed. Why we were all stationed so far away, I don’t know. But I do know that it was lame, and unfortunate considering Avril killed her performance and the opportunity for better photos was totally swiped away. But, what can ya do. In the words of Ray LeFleur: “the fuckin’ way she goes.”
I ended the month of May shooting with my dudes in Sparrow Blue. I always love getting together with these guys, whether its a press shoot or for a gig, it’s always a pleasure. For this press shoot, we kicked it in 99ten, then wandered upstairs into The Common. Both of these spots have so much potential for great photos, so I’m glad the guys were able to nail down this location for our photoshoot. For this one, I used 2 soft boxes for a few of the shots, and then shifted gears to a simple bounce flash. If you want some more details on my gear for this shoot, hit me up here. Overall, the guys always kill it when we do our photoshoots, but I needed to include a photo of Jon from this gallery, simply because it’s like he can read my mind when we shoot; He does exactly what I need him to do without even having to tell him, not to mention he has hella style, and brings his A-game to every shoot we do. I know the guys are cooking up some juicy things for everyone, so if you’re into bluesy rock n roll, you’ll want to keep an eye on them.
Thank YOU for taking a hot minute (or two) to read my May recap blog! Got questions regarding what I shot throughout the month of May? Send me an email HERE with your concert photo questions, let’s nerd-out! But until then, stick around to get the scoop on June’s recap!
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Corey Taylor of Slipknot @ Rogers Place - April 15, 2022
April Recap - Slipknot, Imagine Dragons, Blackberry Smoke and more
April got real busy, real fast. But you won’t catch me complaining! Kicking off the month properly with Blackberry Smoke was a total treat. I had bought tickets for this show back when it was announced in early 2020, but thanks to the pandemic, it was rescheduled 2 times before finally being able to happen. It was well worth the wait, though! Midway hosted the show, and everything just sounded top notch. Aside from being a wicked-good shoot, Blackberry Smoke nailed every song they played, along with their “Cripple Creek” cover, which put a cherry on top of the evening.
Filming music videos is totally new territory for me, but I was thrilled to film one for Tessitura. Despite the drummer being my partner, and although that sometimes leads to us butting heads when discussing creative things, Gord and I sat on this particular dark, chaotic, strobey concept for some time. So, at last we decided to put our boots to the floor and spent a few days building a shoot-space for the video, and really rounding out the concept. The band is due to release a new album in June, so to unveil the first track off of the album, we applied our concept to the song “Gallows”, and I think it compliments the aggressive mood and overall in-your-face nature of the tune. We’ve got more video things in the bag for Tessitura, but I’m not spilling the beans on those just yet.
I always love shooting local talent. I cut my teeth on these local bands, and I’ll never not answer the call to photograph them when they need. It’s such a mutual benefit, plus there’s SO much hidden talent right here under our noses, and it’s a shame that more people aren’t aware of it. So naturally, when Skepsis asked me to photograph their album release show, I accepted. I’m glad I did, despite the show being a fuckin’ banger, I really needed an evening out. Upon receiving news of there being a death in my family, an evening surrounded by good friends and of course, seeing Skepsis melt faces at Shaker’s Roadhouse was just what my soul needed. I’m so proud of these guys for putting out this banger EP, and it was truly a pleasure to have them in front of my lens.
Watch me throw you a content-curve ball here. In case you didn’t get that joke, the curve ball is photos of a pop artist amongst these images of heavy metal performers. I was able to walk the halls of Rogers Place again this month, and it sure felt good. Imagine Dragons was a great first for getting back into the swing of things with arena-scale shows. This was my second time shooting them, and it was just as exciting as the first. Despite their music not really being my cup of tea, they put on a damn good show, and are hella entertaining to watch. They also won some brownie points among photographers on this tour cycle (I think). If by some wild chance one of them reads this shit blog, thanks for having confetti blasts during your first three songs, dudes!
Now this is the real deal right here. And by this, I mean Slipknot. It was almost poetic in a way — Back in 2015, Slipknot was my first arena show, ever. Now that the pandemic is pretending to be over, fast forward 7 years later, Slipknot is my first arena metal show after 2 years of nothing. It was like it was meant to be in a way. Or so I tell myself that. This set was composed of their crowd pleaser tunes, and people at Rogers Place just ate it up. It’s been a minute since I’ve seen people fly over the barricade that aggressively, and whether it’s because this is the first large-scale metal show to hit Edmonton in 2 years, or if it’s because, well, it’s fucking Slipknot, I’m not sure. Either way, I was anticipating this show for a very long time, and it was a total thrill to shoot Slipknot once again, and it felt even better to be warmly welcomed back into the environment.
Returning to the Starlite Room to shoot European powerhouses in Beast In Black was simply magical. The energy that this band produces and connects to their audience with is something that you don’t see very often, but it was really something to behold. Especially so, considering that this is Beast In Black’s first North American tour. Needless to say, I think their impression of Canada (at least) has been great, which is promising for future tours. Leading the pack with fellow power metallers in Seven Kingdoms, and of course Edmonton’s hometown heroes in Striker all shared the bill with Beast In Black. People went absolutely ape-shit for this show, and it was something that really filled my cup this month.
Rounding out the month of April with some homies is always the cherry on top of my monthly round up of photos. Have I mentioned how much I love working with local talent? I don’t really care if I sound like a broken record with this matter, ‘cause I’m saying it again! (deal with it). I had a wonderful time reconnecting with some old friends in Purple City DIsco as they opened up the Starlite Room for Electric Six on the 30th. Something about local groovy funk bands just gets me, and Purple City Disco is where it’s at.
Thank YOU for taking a hot minute (or two) to read my April recap blog! Got questions regarding what I shot throughout the month of April? Send me an email HERE with your concert photo questions, let’s nerd-out! But until then, stick around to get the scoop on May’s recap!
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March Recap - Clutch, Dragonforce and more
This is not a drill, people. Shows are back, and they’re better than ever! March had a healthy dose of gigs coming through Edmonton, and I was happy to have covered a small handful of them. It’s been a minute since I’ve written one of these, so bare with me on this.
I started March off by photographing the elite English power metal group, Dragonforce at the newly renovated Union Hall. After not being in that room for almost 3 years, it sure felt awesome to float around the venue with a camera again. I have this weird satisfaction when it comes to renovated venues — there’s something extra fun for me when I have to re-map my vantage points in these spaces that makes shooting in them for the first time since their renos just exhilarating. I digress. Dragonforce was a real treat to shoot in this newly revamped room; Their production was off the chain, and they even put together a neat shred-sesh between Herman Li and the other guitarists on the tour, all while inviting Edmonton’s own Tim Brown of Striker on stage to join in on the shred.
Bruce Dickinson, metal god, pilot, entrepreneur, fencer, and a true Jack of all Trades graced the Winspear Centre in Edmonton with his presence in March, sharing an intimate evening of story-telling, laughter and fan-interactions with devoted Iron Maiden fans. Dickinson's spoken word consisted of stories ranging from childhood to the early days of Maiden; Speaking candidly about his up-bringing, his family in the early years, and his interests as a young Brit. Taking those gathered at the Winspear for a trip down memory lane, Bruce had his audience cheering, laughing and gasping as he told tales of what shaped him to be the man he is today. Ending the evening by opening up the floor to the audience for a question-and-answer session, Dickinson answered any and all questions that his fans had to ask, and happily said his farewell with hints and promises to return to Edmonton again on a much bigger stage.
My first press shoot of the year was blessed by none other than my pals in Striker. The guys recently welcomed a new member into the band, and are about to kick off a big North American tour that they’ve been looking forward to for a very long time. It’s always a blast having Striker in front of my lens; They’re not shy about letting their personalities shine though, yet can look like total bad asses at the drop of a hat. They recently released a new song called “Strange Love”, and you can check that tune out HERE. Don’t forget to tune into their podcast as well, The Band Chat.
Being in the Starlite Room is always like coming home after a long day of work. So, shooting my pals in Arctos was the cherry on top of that welcoming feeling. This was Arctos’ first performance in almost 3 years, and I was thrilled when they asked me to come out and catch them in action. Their black metal vibe jives so well with their subject matter despite it not being within the typical theme of your ordinary black metal band, and their music just hits differently, more so when it’s masterfully crafted. But maybe I’m just biased because I think this band fucking murders. In a good way.
Ending the month on a high note, southern rockers of Clutch put on a crushing performance at Midway (Formerly known as The Ranch) with EYEHATEGOD and Tiger Cub in tow. This evening felt similar to how it feels when you get together with a long time friend after not seeing each other for a while. There was this welcoming warmth to the room, and the overall vibe of the evening was pleasant and just what I needed. As to be expected, Clutch crushed this performance. It only took 2 years for this show to actually happen, but hey, better late than never right? If you’d like to read a more detailed version of my thoughts on the show, you can get the review in front of your eyeballs HERE courtesy of V13.
Thank YOU for taking a hot minute (or two) to read my March recap blog! Got questions regarding what I shot throughout the month of March? Send me an email HERE with your concert photo questions, let’s nerd-out! But until then, stick around to get the scoop on April’s recap!
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Best of 2020
Well… This is awkward. Totally kidding, but you know… not really. 2020 was looking to be rather promising, but thanks to COVID-19, it was completely turned upside down, and has absolutely annihilated the world we once knew it, along with the music and entertainment industry to the point where it’s repair is questionable. Now, I’m not about to flip this into a big controversial sob story; Instead, I’m wanting to take a positive approach to reflecting on the year. Let’s get into the nitty gritty of 2020, and shine some light on the positives that, now looking back, I’m extremely grateful for:
In 2020, I photographed a total of 7 shows, 10 press photo shoots, and a whopping 0 festivals; a steep fall from last year’s numbers, for obvious reasons. But luckily, I was happy to have photographed a portion of those few events for my ride or die outlets: Concertworks and the Starlite Room, Station on Jasper, Exclaim! & Pure Grain Audio. Along with providing photographic services to a handful of local artists.
I also had the great pleasure of being a guest on my friend Daymien Bourrie’s podcast, No Bad Ideas. We talked about all kinds of stuff involving my career, the highlights, and what I was most looking forward to in the year. Looking back on it now, it’s a little strange hearing myself express my hopes for 2020. If only I had the gift of foresight (lol). You can check out my episode on Daymien’s podcast right HERE and don’t forget to smash that subscribe button. I also began dabbling in the world of video. I’m no pro, but it’s hella fun. I’ve filmed 3 videos so far, one for my dear darling Gord, another for his band Tessitura, and one for the drummer, and my great friend Jesse of Juliet Ruin. Gord and I have actually been tag-teaming these videos, and I think we’re doing a pretty good job of it so far. If you want to check them out for yourself, you can peep Gord’s video HERE, Tessitura’s video HERE and Juliet Ruin’s video HERE.
Keeping up with my tradition of having bands jump for me during press photoshoots, I wasn’t about to let 2020 ruin that. Not for a second. So once again, I am bringing you yet another very special gallery of jumping bands. It’s a fun concept and it’s even more fun to be a part of! Check it below:
I wasn’t able to take part in a whole bunch of shows this year (obvi) but the ones I was able to be a part of were total bangers. I like to keep all of my sticky pass photo-credentials, and usually, I have a nice collection of them hanging on my wall by this time of year. But, as I’m sure you can assume thanks to the cover photo of this blog, I only scored one in 2020. Luckily, it was my 2020 kick off gig, courtesy of Alexisonfire. That show kicked some serious ass, and I’m glad I was able to catch it. I also did a handful of interesting press photoshoots this year, and I specifically want to note photographing Arcane Tyrant on the snowiest day of the year. In Edmonton, I think we got like, two feet of snow that day? I don’t know for sure, but it was a lot. Despite the shit weather conditions, they totally rocked their shoot like pros.
Sifting through my photos from this year and compiling a "favorites” gallery was bringing up all kinds of weird feelings. I’m sitting here remembering what it’s like to feel that rush before a band hits the stage, and wondering if the possibility of being in a packed venue will ever be a thing again. It’s hard to not get cynical and sad when thinking about that sort of thing. 2020 may have been a total asshole of a year, but it’s taught me that resilience is key when it comes to survival, and how important it is to stay positive and surround yourself with the things that make you happy. Despite my longing for the photo pit, I was fortunate enough to find solace in other things this year. My garden was off the chain and more lush than it’s ever been before, I rekindled my love for reading, and put more time into giving a damn about myself.
But, I digress. Summarizing the year as a whole is difficult to say the least, but thankfully, the first quarter was lit. To everyone who has supported me throughout 2020; Whether it was sharing my posts, referring me to your friends or hiring me for whatever your photo needs may have been, from the bottom of my heart THANK YOU! Thank you for letting me be a small part of your lives as musicians, music fans and lovers of photography. You know the drill, I’m bringing another year end blog to a close, the best way I know. I've sorted through the hundreds of photos that I've snapped over the course of the year and have compiled some of my personal favorites into a little gallery (in no particular order) for you to feast your eyes upon. I want to wish everyone (especially you ride or die kats who stuck through this blog and made it this far) all the love, happiness and well wishes of health and success in 2021, let's make it better than this nightmare that is 2020! From my heart to yours, HAPPY NEW YEAR! <3
RISING SUN
GALLERY: Rising Sun Takes First Round of 2019 Wacken Metal Battle in Edmonton - February 7, 2019
It’s Wacken Battle season again across Canada, and so many local bands are gearing up to duke it out with their peers for a chance to play 2019’s Wacken Open Air Festival in Germany. With Edmonton being a staple city in the battles, round one of the Edmonton shows took place at Temple last night, featuring Within The Fury, Haxor, Apollo Spitfire and Rising Sun. The four bands battled it out with thrashers Rising Sun shredding their way to victory, and granting them passage to the next round where they will go up against 3 other yet to be determined Western Canadian finalists.
Pepper Keenan - CORROSION OF CONFORMITY
GALLERY: Corrosion of Conformity Heats up The Starlite Room on Edmonton Tour Stop - February 4, 2019
PHOTOGRAPHED FOR CONCERTWORKS
Bringing the heat to Edmonton on one of the coldest days of the year, Corrosion of Conformity played to a pleasantly full room at the Starlite Room on Monday night, accompanied by Crowbar, Weedeater and Mothership. The stoner rock-esque line up delivered the right kind of grooves and melodies to get folks moving around and forgetting about the frigid temperatures outside for a few hours.
The Best of 2018
Join me once again in reminiscing on another stellar year of concert photography, friends! I can't believe how quickly 2018 has gone by... I feel like it wasn't too long ago that I was typing up a similar long-winded blog about how cool 2017 was... But alas, here we are again; You're still the coolest for reading this (don't forget that) and I'm still drinking cheap wine while writing these yearly blogs... Surprise, surprise! 2018 has offered so much to me as a person and as a photographer, and I have the amazing people around me to thank for that; I learned a lot this year, and your support and encouragement has made it all worth it. So, without further adieu, let's jump into what made 2018 a killer year for this gal!
Throughout 2018, I managed to photograph roughly 76 shows across the city of Edmonton, the city of Drumheller, and in the province of British Columbia; Absolutely crushing last year's count of 55. I shot approximately 11 press photo shoots for local artists that are all amazing in their own special ways, and I love each of them all to bits. However, I decided against doing a calendar of all of these wonderful people this year, but I want you to appreciate them as much as I do, so I've included a special little gallery of these kat's jumping for joy, just for you! Check it below.
A handful of my photos, both live and press, made it to numerous editions of Exclaim! and Vue Weekly (R.I.P) throughout the year, and I was pleased to have photograph some of the most bangin' underground gigs for Concertworks across Edmonton. I also had the great pleasure and honor of photographing some of the coolest music related events in Edmonton over the course of the year, the biggest of which, being the 106th Grey Cup Halftime Show at Commonwealth Stadium featuring Canadian pop sensation, Alessia Cara. It's always been a goal of mine to shoot the musical portion of a major sporting event, and I'm pretty damn proud to finally be able to say that I've done it. I was also fortunate enough to cross a huge name off of my bucket list this year, having photographed Sir Paul McCartney at Rogers Place. It was surreal to have a member of The Beatles in front of my lens, and even more so to have a musician as renowned as Paul McCartney officially claim a spot in my portfolio.
It felt great to venture out of Edmonton, periodically, over the summer again. I spent a weekend in the badlands with my rock 'n roll pals, Sparrow Blue, shooting their press photos and simply enjoying the wonders of Drumheller. This was the first time I had planned a photo shoot outside of Edmonton, but we managed to get some really killer photos out of that trip, which makes me one happy kat. For the festival season, I had the pleasure of covering a handful of concerts at Edmonton’s staple carnival/concert festival KDays, where artists like Walk off the Earth had the whole midway singing their songs, and Ice Cube, who broke a record for having the biggest outdoor hip-hop show that Edmonton has ever seen. I also ventured back to breathtaking British Columbia for Metallion Festival's 5th year in Vanderhoof. This was my first time at Metallion, but I must admit, the times had at the festival were truly unforgettable. And to cap off my short festival season, I returned to my beloved Loud As Hell Festival in Drumheller. Despite only being able to stay at the fest for the first evening, I still had a wonderful time reconnecting with good friends from other cities and provinces who I don't get to see all that often, and I find that specific part of the festival season and circuit in Western Canada to be so uplifting and refreshing.
Summarizing this year is... A challenge. 2018 was truly a test, for lack of a better word, and I feel as though I'm coming out of the other end of this year rather triumphant despite the hardships. Many changes were made throughout the year; Between my personal life and career related adjustments, I believe it's safe to say that the hustle of 2018 didn't quite kill me, but made me stronger and so much more grateful for my family and friends, both old and new, and the truly incredible opportunities that 2018 had to offer which has made me a better photographer and person. If anything, this year has taught me the importance of having a strong work ethic, and has made me more persistent than ever when it comes to achieving my goals. Through the grind, 2018 has easily been the most successful year of my career, and to everyone who has supported me throughout 2018; Whether it was sharing my posts, referring me to your friends or hiring me for your biggest event of the year, from the bottom of my heart THANK YOU! Thank you for letting me be a small part of your lives as musicians, music fans and lovers of photography. So, as I bring another long-ass, year end blog to a close, I've sorted through thousands upon thousands of photos that I've snapped over the year and have compiled some of my personal favorites into a little gallery (in no particular order) for you to feast your look-balls upon. I want to wish everyone (especially you kats who stuck through it and made it this far) all the love and utmost success in 2019, let's kick it's ass together! From my heart to yours, HAPPY NEW YEAR! <3
Chris Jericho - FOZZY
GALLERY: Fozzy Rocks The Starlite Room to Music and Wrestling Fans Alike - December 3, 2018
PHOTOGRAPHED FOR CONCERTWORKS
