Sunday, October 23, 2011

Friday, October 21, 2011

Thursday, October 20, 2011

#4. i shall be released

the shiggy 32 came about after shooting entirely too many home movies on my shigawake trip. this early dawn was the highlight probably. the music was recorded around a beach campfire, on a full moon's night on the side of the bay, by a mix of locals and visitors.



Monday, October 3, 2011

what if art ruled the world: best of pop 2011

10th anniversary of pop montreal came and went.
it was challenging, fun, interesting, exhausting, inspiring, crazy, and amazing! met some great people, saw some great shows, worked alongside great people, and most importantly, supported my friends, who continue to pull off the most amazing, unique happenings of the year..all at the same time.
happy 10th pop montreal! well done.


here's what stood out!

dan seligman, directeur creatif, opening day..

denis gagnon, guest designer judge, waiting for fashion pop to start

 my first fashion pic

 bob belmont

these girls got me drunk

girl drummers are just cool. pc worship @ il motore

..so are hot black metal guys.  liturgy @ il motore
 

 technical kidman @ mission santa cruz, last stop of the first night. great backdrop.

day two began by running into the afternoon show at divan orange and immediately being blown away by jordan robson-kramer. as stranger. so good it made me trade my coffee for beer.


day2, huge thrill to shoot festival headliners arcade fire!
100,000 people turned up in the middle of montreal on a hot september night! they've never sounded so good! even better, throughout the rest of the festival, you could find these guys everywhere, from basketball courts, to art talks, to overcrowded tiny bars, to church basements, supporting, participating, hanging out.. nicely done!







mark+maud from l'equipe pop on the street after arcade fire. maud's smile is a testament to how great production went.

always love running into the stars crew

i like that un played at balattou



this guy looked amazing


dan+fan outside of balattou





i had an immediate crush on the singer of quest for fire @ divan orange.





fucked up! @l'eglise saint-edouard. joy to behold.





drew's world. making it sound good in a church basement.

i missed marcel dzama at every turn for reasons beyond my control, but i stopped in on his installation almost daily. it reminded me i should play chess more.

dan+mel, l'equipe pop, holding it down at notman house, day 3

hadn't realized how big tUnE-YarDs had gotten until i found myself squished up against stage in a swelteringly hot and packed ukrainien centre. and this was 20 minutes before showtime.
the second merrill garbus took the stage, she mesmerized and hypnotized, and immediately showed why exactly she totally deserves it!





around the corner, some folks from way down near louisiana were kind enough to spread their soul and bring their goodness our way with something called a ponderosa stomp. l'il buck and ralph soul jackson@ the cabaret du mile end stole my heart and got me dancing and clapping like there was no tomorrow! special shout out to dan lacroix and kim ho, my front-row dancing crew, goodtimes!




that night capped off with miracle fortress @ mission santa cruz. i think graham's brilliant.
me, not so much.. took me quite a while to figure out how to shoot all those lights on him



and on the fourth day, there was basketball!




the best was the halftime ballet symphony by richard reed parry. beautiful, haunting, unique, i had to put down my camera and just enjoy it cause the chances are i'll never see anything quite like it, in a gymnasium, ever again.





rushed way up to jean talon to sidle into a packed breakglass studios for the plants&animals show.
eric played bass, katie sang, brad played piano, and the plants ruled! killer players that come with soul. beautiful time. great energy.






i really loved shooting all the bands at rialto on saturday night!

uncle bad touch@ rialto



les breastfeeders@ rialto. great lights, great spirits, great showband!







redd kross was awesome!



then i practically ran down to the teeny tiny barlfy to catch a late night showing of metz!
loud, sweaty, and semi-dangerous if you're teetering on a gear pile, between the moshers and the platform they call a stage. SO MUCH FUN!




i had never really heard of the sexareenos, even though they're from here. well, i missed out.
cause when i rolled into the church late night, i found a pretty rockin, slidin, hot and sweaty rocknroll dancefloor in full swing.





the last day got me spiritual. patrick watson and friends put on their sacred sunday at the ukrainien federation and it was moving and beautiful.





josh is amazing! and so was socalled's 'the season' at a sold out theatre outremont!
an actual puppet musical, a collaboration with actors, puppets, music and dancing. made me feel like a kid again.





and straight into..the royal phoenix bar for some rap.
it starts getting quite crowded for astronautalis, especially considering it's past 10 on a sunday.
then he starts going...and maybe this is what seeing eminem near the start may have been like..?
angry, rolling, wicked, fat, rhymes.  fantastic!



head over for the much anticipated closing night raincoats gig @ cabaret du mile end.
which was amazing. inspiring to the max to see these women still rock and spellbind an audience, with truth and laughter and honesty.





 for the finale....off to the midnight show at the church way up high on beaubien.
and here are the arcade fire guys again, playin' old rocknroll like their lives depend on it. since i didn't hear about this until about an hour before, it's a fun show to stumble into.





mr. mark lawson at the sound board

and fittingly...the last show of the festival, in the wee hours of monday morning, in a church basement way up st denis..is think about life! who end the 10th edition with a crazy fun, giant, dance party!
nba star matt bonner crowd surfs, the pop staff celebrates another year done, and i, finally stash my backpack, ditch the camera gear, and dance with my friends.