Front Row Pics: Heavy Montreal Day 1
Meshuggah
******
Strung Out
There’s something really cool about arriving at Day 1 of Heavy Montreal each year ~ obviously, the promise of the three days of music that lie ahead is a huge part of the equation, but stepping off the Metro right into the courtyard that serves as the entrance to the festival, heading over to the media table (where it feels kind of nice to be greeted by smiling event higher-ups, even before giving our names and FlashWounds’ name, with “Hey guys, good to see you, how’ve you been? We were hoping our friends from the US would make it again this year…pleasure to have FlashWounds back, have a great time!”), and then setting off through the park (already filling up with fans despite our very early arrival) to take a few minutes in the VIP section to go over the days’ itinerary (with four stages and more bands than a fleet of writers and photographers can cover all at once, there’s a lot of planning that goes into who goes where, and when, and for how long, and which lenses we each need to carry to accommodate shooting each stage ~ and we wind up alternating between laughing hysterically at the number of bands we’ll try to cover for all of you and the distances we’ll each have to sprint in very short amounts of time in order to do so to looking at each other in total panic about the same), doublecheck gear, grab a bottle of very cold water, and then literally synchronize phone clocks and watches…
Extreme
And it’s then, as we take to our respective routes that’ll lead us to our first band, it hits: the realization that hey, we’re back at Heavy Montreal, [this year] the weather’s great, the music’s going to be killer, the energy is already incredible, and shyte, what an awesome opportunity it is to be part of the festival.
And since 99% of the reason (OK, y’got me, maybe 89%, since as music fans ourselves it certainly doesn’t suck getting to hear all the bands and enjoy everything HM has to offer!) we’re there is to share the festival with you guys in a bunch of different ways ~ videos, photo galleries, slide shows, our commentary (don’t worry, what hasn’t popped up on the site and/or our FB pages like some of the videos and teaser shots have is still coming your way) ~ here are some of the great photos we got on that first day…enjoy, seriously consider joining us at HM 2016 (the dates are already scheduled ~ August 5 – 7!), and like I said, stay tuned for more (and if you haven’t been following our HM coverage from the very beginning, just key in Heavy Montreal to FlashWounds.com’s Search field) coverage of one of summer’s best music weekends!
Gorguts
******
Korn
Neurosis
Meshuggah
Lofofora
Veil Of Maya
Lagwagon
Nothing More
Extreme
Arch Enemy
Strung Out
Revocation
Anonymus
Toy Guitar
Gorguts
Korn
Neurosis
Meshuggah
Lofofora
Veil Of Maya
Lagwagon
Nothing More
Extreme
Arch Enemy
Strung Out
Revocation
Anonymus
Toy Guitar
Gorguts
Editor’s [tongue-in-cheek] note: Yes, this year you’ll notice a much heavier, um, haze showing in many of the photos of both the audience and the bands…and yes, it’s a combination of more onstage fog machine use and more of exactly what else you think it is.
Very special thanks to Christine Montreuil , Caroline Audet, and everyone at evenko/Heavy Montreal, Sarah Lutz of Metal Blade Canada, Ramone of Fortas Security, and Igor Tseitlenok, the newest member of our Canadian FlashWounds family…and of course to all the bands and crew members who made Heavy Montreal 2016 another major success!