KISSed : A tribute to KISS

Le Club Soda - Montreal
with Rusted (opening act)

Photo set of the band KISSed, a Montreal based KISS tribute band.

Being a KISS fan since the age of 9 (1979), I simply could not miss this opportunity to shoot the band KISSed, a tribute to KISS. I've had the chance to see the real KISS only once in my life and KISSed sure delivered the goods. It was a great concert indeed and a night to remember.

KISSed Tribute

The band began performing together as KISSed in 2008. Band members are Stéphane Mackay on bass (as Gene Simmons’ Demon character), François Gagné (as Paul Stanley’s Starchild character), David Brazeau (as Ace Frehley/Tommy Thayer’s Spaceman) and Eric Major (as Peter Criss/Eric Singer’s Catman). The concert took place at Le Club Soda on Friday, January 25, 2013. The Montreal band Rusted warmed up the crowd.

Le Club Soda has a nice mezzanine/balcony that is accessible on nights with larger crowds. It's the ideal spot to take pictures from. But on nights with smaller crowds, the second floor is closed to the public. Security was nice enough to grant me access for the show.

All these pictures were shot with a Pentax K-5 DSLR mounted with a smc Pentax-DA* 50-135mm F2.8 ED [IF] SDM lens. Photo editing was done in Adobe Lightroom. 

A look at the stage before the show.

François Gagné as Paul Stanley’s “Starchild” character.

Stéphane Mackay, as Gene Simmons’ the “Demon” character.

David Brazeau as Ace Frehley/Tommy Thayer’s “Spaceman”.

Eric Major as Peter Criss/Eric Singer’s “Catman”.

(Above) This is one of the few pictures that was shot with a Sigma 17-50mm F2.8 EX DC OS HSM lens. The auto focus is not very accurate in low light with this lens so I don't use it that much. I normally use it in the manual focus mode when I take it out of the bag in low light shootings such as this. This picture was shot at 1/125 sec at ­f / 3.2, ISO 1600 at 50mm. Shake reduction (SR) was ON.


(Above) Another picture shot with the Sigma 17-50mm F2.8 EX DC OS HSM lens. Also shot at 1/125 sec at ­f / 3.2, ISO 1600 at 50mm.

BRAND NEW NEVER BEFORE SEEN PICTURES OF Kissed Tribute ― Hommage à KISS!!!

Kashmir : A tribute to Led Zeppelin

with Be Astronaut (opening act)

Le Club Soda - Montreal

Tonight, I saw one of the best tributes to Led Zeppelin by the band Kashmir. The band was put up in Montreal in 2001 by guitarist Thierry Voisin, Bruno Sévigny (vocals), Martin Robert (bass, keyboards, mandoline) and Alain Lacaille (drums). It was the fourth time I've seen them perform. The guys were very much into it tonight. High energy, great music. Everything was set for the perfect evening. A real crowd pleaser.

This set was pretty much all shot with a Pentax K-5 mounted with a Pentax smc DA* 50-135mm f/2.8 lens. Here's the photo set of the concert.

The stage before the show.

This one was also shot before the show started. Believe it or not, there's no smoke in this picture. It's only the result of light, creating this smoky atmosphere.

Not Pagey's Orange amp... but let's say it is just for the purpose of coolness.

The guys of Kashmir getting set up before the show.

Gibson (Epiphone) EDS-1275 double neck with Theremin. I don't know but, doesn't that already smell like trouble fast approaching?

One of the best things about Le Club Soda, when set up in a « general admittance » fashion, is that you can pretty much shoot from anywhere you want and easily get good shots. It's the perfect size and configuration for shooting live bands. This picture was taken from the side balcony.

One more from the balcony.

Thierry Voisin (guitar). The resemblance with Jimmy Page is quite impressive.

This is one of my favorite pictures in this set. It's almost like a still coming straight out of the movie The Song Remains The Same.

Alain Lacaille (drums), Thierry Voisin, Bruno Sévigny (vocals).

Martin Robert on bass and Alain Lacaille on drums.

What a whole lotta... hair?

1973 or 2013?

Here are some pictures of the opening act, Be Astronaut.