Something that I could have never imagined or dreamed of happened , not only 3 bands that I have followed since they all started making music but would actually be touring together--above all that touring in my neck of the woods and I got to see this all happen? Pinch me I must be dreaming--ouch! not so hard.
The first stop was at the building at 2 pm to meet this great man Ted Aguilar(above) guitarist for Death Angel. Went to security they called down Dustin Bodnaryk who is Director of Marketing and he lead me to the room where I met with Jeramie Kling Death Angel's tour manager. He went and got Ted and we started the interview.
Here is the interview below:
It was then still a number of hours away until show time as we headed back to security office Joey from Anthrax was also downstairs walked right by him and Slayer was onstage doing their soundcheck, pretty awesome feeling at that moment.
Went across the way to a pub called Finnagen's Pub & Grill really nice place, good food. Also met some really awesome guys from Tofino that came over to just see the show, shared some good stories about past concerts with them.
Then when I went and got my tickets saw my friends Char & Rita Tupper from Metaltitans: Guardians of Metal who were also there to cover the show, always nice to see these two women.
The photo pass is something that I have had before but not where you are so close to the stage that you can reach out and touch these icons in Heavy Metal, looked more than I shot just being of awe of this actually happening for me. Imagine a band that you have followed since their beginnings and then seeing them this close, kind of a powerful thing to happen as far as I am concerned--this does not happen everyday I am so thankful.
I was also lead into the Administration Office of the building with the other professional photographers that do this very often, Char with Metaltitans was of course there as well as Derek Carr who I just met for the first time that night. We all were given permission to shoot the first 3 songs of each of the bands , then go back to the room and leave the cameras and go to our seats and watch the rest of the bands performances.
Death Angel was on first and had an amazing set --short but sweet either way being my first time seeing any of these bands live I was impressed with the tightness of the group and the vocal range of Mark hitting some amazing high notes and the scream held for a few seconds added to the great set of music.
Band Members:
Mark Osegueda – vocals (1984–1991, 2001–present)
Rob Cavestany – lead guitar (1982–1991, 2001–present)
Ted Aguilar – guitars (2001–present)
Will Carroll – drums (2009–present)
Damien Sisson – bass guitar (2009–present)
Next onstage: Anthrax
Seen them onstage a number of years ago when they were on The Big Four tour me and my buddy Tony saw in the theaters when it was simulcast live they shared the stage with Metallica, Megadeth and Slayer. This was better seeing Joey and Scott Ian & the rest of the band --this was so amazingly awesome.
Was on cloud 9 all night hard to remember most of the songs, but Joey sure got the crowd going early and kept it all through their set amazing entertainer he is. Indians has always been my favorite song of theirs and getting goosebumps as I write this, remembering the crowd going nuts for most of their set, with his encouragement.
Band Members:
Scott Ian – rhythm guitar, backing vocals, occasional lead vocals (1981–present)
Charlie Benante – drums, percussion, occasional lead guitar (1983–present)
Frank Bello – bass, backing vocals (1984–2004, 2005–present)
Joey Belladonna – lead vocals (1984–1992, 2005–2007, 2010–present)
Jonathan Donais – lead guitar, backing vocals (2013–present)
Next Band--Slayer
I remember first seeing War Ensemble on Much Music's Power Hour and then being impressed of the speed of the band and the immense power of the drums of Dave Lombardo. Slayer is not a band for all and also having followed them for most of their career , this once again like the other bands prior to them in the evening is my first time seeing them. Not the case for many there , they have seen them before.
For this group as they are the headliners had a curtain up before their entrance and we were to stand to the far left of the stage for the curtain is heavy when it drops and they need to catch and carry it away fast and get it out of the area. That allowed us to see the band enter the stage and ready for the intro to finish and the curtain to drop--when the lights dimmed the crowd went completely mental , curtain dropped even more insane.
They started their assault on the ears and in true Slayer fashion they kept a strong menacing impact on the crowd even after the last song. Gary Holt was thrashing his head around all night , like Angus Young on acid it was amazing to watch--how he could play the guitar for an hour and a half set is beyond me.
One of the few times I got lucky with an out of focus shot--just showing how fast his head thrashes around.
They played a ton of their classics and some their new stuff from Repentless as well, did not matter what they played it went over well with the crowd, they loved it all. I admire their dedication to the Heavy Metal scene but felt they were possibly off that night , just felt that Death Angel & Anthrax were more into their sets that night. Some would agree but many I spoke too did not said they loved it.
I would like to personally thank Liz Ciavarella-Brenner of Earsplit PR for the interview with Death Angel's Ted Aguilar.
David Monnich for the ticket and photo pass.
Dustin Bodnaryk for being a good host at the Abbotsford Centre and escorting me and the other photographers to the photo area, back to the room and even to our seats when we were confused where to go.
All in all a memorable day/evening not sure of many other opportunities like this I may have , therefore so very thankful for it all.
Upon seeing my fellow photographers shots through the night and after they all posted their photos on their respective websites and seeing their gear that night, if I want to do this more often I need to upgrade my camera and fast. I did not have much to work with when most of what you shoot is out of focus , sometimes that worked in my favor though.
Thank you for reading this
Sincerely
Anthony Nadeau
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