Hevy Devy
It’s kinda hard when you are shooting an act who you really, truly dig! It is sometimes hard to divorce yourself from the sheer magic that is pouring off the stage when a band is pounding through tracks you have played to death many, many times over in the past and concentrating on getting your shots – becomes somewhat difficult.
Tonight was no exception.
Big fan of anything and everything Devin Townsend touches be it the mind bending heaviness of Strapping Young Lad, or his various other endeavours in the form of the Devin Townsend Project et al.
Tonight, I made it to Billboard by the skin of my teeth. Last time I checked, the band wasn’t gonna hit the stage till 10pm but a last minute check on the venue’s website informed me that the time had been shifted back to 9.30. I was still at home at 9pm so there was a frantic dash to get to Billboard, park the car, get my pass and then wade through the gathered throng to the front of the stage.
And it was packed. To the fucking rafters. Getting to the front proved to be a monumental task.
By the time I got to the pit, Devin was already creeping out from behind the amps to a rapturous crowd. With cheeky grin and pin-stripe suit… the man approached the mike looking like a demented, bald, scientist… albeit with a flying-V guitar! As I got the camera ready, they mercilessly started grooving to the lead song from the masterful’Addicted’ album. Holy fuck it sounded just magnificent live! Kaboom!
Devin looked positively maniacal. Stomping the stage and pulling and contorting his face with every lick and riff pouring off his glorious flying V axe! The wall of sound behind him was as magic as you can get.
Standard fare in the pit, three songs and you’re out. Lucky tonight the opening three songs were nice and long so I was firing off shots like there was no tomorrow. The pit was also packed with at least 6-7 photogs and as many bouncers so it was awfully crowded and very, very hard to move.
Devin Townsend Project & Meshuggah, Live @ The Forum, Melbourne, Australia | Visceral Industry March 1, 2012
[...] always incredible Devin Townsend project were next. What can I say? Big fan! And even tho I had photographed them on their previous tour, I wanted another crack at [...]