Best of: Top 25: My favourite concert photos of 2017

So a lot of humanity decided to double down on stupid in 2017. What are you going to do? There’s no cure for it. And America may be becoming the world cancer. And people have to learn to respect each other and treat each other right. Shouldn’t be difficult, but somehow it seems that it is.

But we have music. And most of the experiences around it are filled with joy, love and positivity. I personally find that I need music in my life, and especially the live music experience, to make my heart right, and to give some balance, and to make me feel like a complete being.

Artists are often tortured souls, with feelings they can’t and won’t contain, with stories to tell, visions to share, a different worldview, a sense of being out of place, of not fitting in, of sadness mixed with passion, of being different, but a desire to share and find like-minded souls. Thank you to the artists brave enough to listen to their guts and to take the risk to put themselves out there. It’s not easy to be that vulnerable and work that hard for art. I often wish I had done more to put my own art out there.

Take a look at my other Best of 2017 lists: My 50 Favourite Songs of 2017 and My 20 Favourite Albums of 2017. 

I love Scotland's Biffy Clyro. Their show at The Phoenix in Toronto was incredible. I'm pretty pleased I managed to get this action shot of singer Simon Neil. From the moment I snapped it, I've loved it. Check out the rest of the photos from this show here.

Mother Mother are always fun to shoot. This shot came from their show last summer at Riverfest Elora. It breaks all kinds of rules, and I can't stop looking at it. That must mean something. The rest of the photos from this show are here.

You don't see a lot of accordion players in bands these days, and you certainly don't get as many who can look as cool playing it as Gogol Bordello's Pasha Newmer. It's another shot from Riverfest Elora that I just can't stop looking at. The rest of the Gogol Bordello shots from this show are here.

Ah, summer, how much I love thee. And I love I Mother Earth, too. This shot came from IME's end-of-summer show at The Ex. Edwin's enthusiasm and energy are captured perfectly here. The rest of the photos are here.

USS got the crowd going full tilt at Riverfest Elora. I love this shot of Jason "Human Kebab" Parsons riding on a wave of the crowd. All my pics of USS at Riverfest Elora are here.

The photos of Pale Waves from their show at The Baby G somehow begged for more contrast. In the end, not much grey remained. I really enjoyed the band's show and how the photos came out. They're all here for your amusement. They're back in town on April 9 at The Velvet Underground. Hopefully, I'll capture more shots of the band at that show.

I knew The Dirty Nil would give good photos based on what I've seen from some of my photo friends. I was not disappointed. The hard part was picking one photo to include in this list. All the photos from The Dirty Nil's Riverfest Elora show are here.

Sumo Cyco are a fantastic live band and an awesome band to photograph. Skye Sweetnam, a.k.a. Sever, and the guys do their best to rock the crowd and I can only try to keep up and capture some of that energy. I loved this shot from their high-energy CMW show at The Bovine Sex Club. All the photos are here.

The Balconies are a fantastic live band with great songs and are wonderful to photograph. I loved this shot from their CMW show at Adelaide Hall. Sadly, the band is calling it quits. Happliy, there are a couple of shows left for us all to enjoy them one last time. Click here for show info. I'll be at The Horseshoe show on February 1; hopefully with camera in tow. All the pics from the band's CMW show are here.

I love Wolf Alice and I've been lucky enough to photograph each one of their Toronto shows. I like this severe crop of singer-guitarist Ellie Rowsell from their recent Danforth Music Hall show. All the pics are here.

Cults was one of the first bands I ever photographed with a proper camera back in 2014. I got to try again when they played Lee's Palace again this year. This is my favourite shot of singer Madeline Follin. The rest of the shots are here.

This year marked my first time attending and photographing Osheaga. I got to spend the weekend in Montreal for a rain-soaked adventure shooting for Canadian Beats. These shots of Lorde, Death From Above 1979 and Rag and Bone Man are some of my favourites. All of the coverage is over at Canadian Beats' site and their Facebook album.

I got myself right up front for Japandroids amazing Danforth Music Hall show. I questioned my wisdom since I'm not much of a mosh pit guy, but the crowd was great and the band allowed me some great photos. This is my favourite from this fantastic show. The rest of the pics are here.

If you've read this blog much before, you know of my love for the music of The Lowest of the Low. I had a perfect spot for their sold-out Danforth Music Hall show and caught many amazing shots, including this one. The rest are here.

Sleigh Bells put out some of the most sonically unique, high-energy earworms that you'll ever hear. They put on one of the most incredible live shows, too. This shot of Alexis Krauss from NXNE Portlands is one of my favourites. I can't wait for their Mod Club show on January 28. I'll be there, hopefully with my camera.

K.Flay puts on one hell of a show. The music and her presence make for a powerful experience. I love this shot from the show this past summer at Riverfest Elora. Check out the rest of the pics here. I'm hoping to be at The Danforth Music Hall on March 15 to experience it again.

Broods singer Georgia Nott is an incredible presence on stage. I embraced the red for this shot from their show at Danforth Music Hall. The rest of the photos from that show are here.

The Pursuit of Happiness has been one of my favourite bands for decades. Their debut album Love Junk spun it's perfect power pop on my turntable and then on my i-devices throughout the years. I loved every second of their show at The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern for the dive bar's 70th anniversary and I hope to see them again soon. All my photos from this show are here.

Bully rock. They put on a great show at Lee's Palace and this photo captures the attitude and energy of singer Alicia Bognanno. The rest of my shots are here.

I liked this moody shot from Slowdive's Danforth Music Hall show earlier this year. The rest of the photos are here.

I love the interaction between Stars' Amy Millan and Feist during Broken Social Scene's performance at Field Trip this past summer.

I love the brotherhood captured by this shot of Le Trouble from their CMW show at Adelaide Hall. The rest of the photos are here.

As night fell, the trees behind the stage at Riverfest Elora revealed greater and greater evil. I captured this photo but was too terrified to get closer. All my Riverfest Elora pics are available from this post.

Biffy Clyro at The Phoenix Concert Theatre - Concert Photos

I've been a Biffy Clyro fan for a long time now. I discovered their intensely powerful, emotional and inventive music back in the days of Blackened Sky, Infinity Land and The Vertigo of Bliss. Their 2007 album Puzzle cemented my love of the band as their sound evolved to include more traditional structures and melody without losing any of their bite.

I've also managed to miss seeing them live at least twice in the past few years. I was super excited to be able to catch their most recent show; a packed night at The Phoenix Concert Theatre on April 8.

They took to the stage, staring straight ahead under stark white light, hands at their sides, still as mannequins. Then all hell broke loose.

Biffy Clyro's music is intense, passionate and rousing. I had heard that they were one of the best live bands on the planet and I know they are past headliners of major European festivals like Reading and T in the Park. Their show was everything I could have hoped for, except maybe if they played all of Puzzle.

The set got going with the incredible "Wolves of Winter" and one of my all time favourites "Living's a Problem Because Everything Dies". Amazing tunes like "Biblical", "Who's Got A Match", "Black Chandelier", "Mountains" and set closer "Many of Horror" populated an awesome set punctuated by acoustic moments like "Medicine" and the first encore song "Machines". They finished the night appropriately with the powerhouse "Stingin' Belle".

Biffy Clyro proved to me that their reputation as one of the world's best live bands is well deserved and I will certainly try not to make the mistake of missing one of their live performances in Toronto again.

"Wolves of Winter"

"Living's a Problem Because Everything Dies"

"Biblical"

"Howl"

"Who's Got A Match?"

"Bubbles"

"Re-Arrange"

"Black Chandelier"

"Mountains"

"Many of Horror"

"Stingin' Belle"

New videos from Biffy Clyro's Ellipsis: Howl and Animal Style, plus Wolves of Winter

I’m just catching up on Scottish alternative rock trio Biffy Clyro's Ellipsis videos. They released the album in July, they’ve just released this cool new video for “Howl” and last month they released a clip for “Animal Style”.

“Howl” is a great song and the clip is alternately creepy and fun with scenes that look like they came right out of the Overlook Hotel from The Shining.

“Animal Style” is a black and white clip for the powerful rocker, alternating between shots of the band performing to various animalistic close-ups.

Check the videos out and catch the band live if you can. I’m crossing my fingers for a Toronto date in the not-too-distant future.

Back in March, I featured the tune “Wolves of Winter”, but I never posted the video. Here it is:

Pic from Facebook.

New music from Biffy Clyro: Wolves of Winter from Ellipsis

Biffy Clyro are one of my favourite bands and one of my big regrets for missing their last Toronto show. I really hope that doesn't happen again. The boys have a new album called Ellipsis coming out on July 8. They've just unleashed the first single "Wolves of Winter" on the world.

It's a powerhouse track of the kind that only Biffy Clyro can deliver. Those power chords, that drumming, Simon Neil's in-your-face vocals, the shifting dynamics and tempo. It's all fantastic and indicative of a great new album. Give the track a listen below.

Pic from Facebook.

The Top 20: The best albums of 2013, according to me. The year's most awesome and cool pop, indie, and alternative albums.

As has become my habit, I'm not ranking my albums list. These are the 20 albums that made the biggest impression on me in 2013, alphabetically.

1984 Influenza

Biffy Clyro Opposites

Chvrches The Bones Of What You Believe

Cults Static

Frank Turner Tape Deck Heart

Frightened Rabbit Pedestrian Verse

Haim Days Are Gone

Lorde Pure Heroine

Metz Metz

MS MR Secondhand Rapture

Neko Case The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You

Sleigh Bells Bitter Rivals

Small Black Limits of Desire

Superchunk I Hate Music

Telekinesis Dormarion

The Darcys Warring

The Joy Formidable Wolf's Law

The Naked And Famous In Rolling Waves

The National Trouble Will Find Me

Young Galaxy Ultramarine

Five-by-Five: Tunes to get the energy up

My main smart playlist has been in some kind of downtempo slow moaning hell this week. Here are some songs that hopefully form some kind of antidote.

Holy Fuck's "Lovely Allen"

"Echo Chamber" by Parts and Labour

The Twilight Sad with "I Became A Prostitute"

"Time To Pretend" by MGMT

Biffy Clyro's "A Whole Child Ago"

Catching up on Biffy Clyro

Biffy Clyro released their latest album Opposites in March in North America. They've been busy putting out videos and I haven't done a great job of keeping up since I posted videos for "Stingin' Belle" and "Black Chandelier". This post should catch us up.

"Victory Over the Sun"

"Opposite"

"Biblical"

Ambitiously, I'm hoping to go catch Biffy at The Opera House after Nine Inch Nails show on October 4. Wish me luck and caffeine!

Great cover of Biffy Clyro's Who's Got A Match? by Frank Turner

I'm a big fan of both Frank Turner and Biffy Clyro. Here's Frank Turner's great cover of Biffy's "Who's Got A Match?" from their 2007 masterpiece Puzzle.

And the original.

What do you think the chances are that I can get over to Biffy's Opera House show after the Nine Inch Nails show?

Five-by-Five: Great UK bands

Why does the UK have such a stronghold on freaking awesome bands? I was grooving to a playlist of 5-star songs and I heard Radiohead, The Kooks, Biffy Clyro, Hard-Fi, and Maxïmo Park. Rule Britannica!

"High And Dry" by Radiohead from 1995's The Bends

"Naive" by The Kooks from 2006's Inside In Inside Out

"Saturday Superhouse" by Biffy Clyro from 2007's Puzzle

"Hard to Beat" by Hard-Fi from 2005's Stars of CCTV

"Graffiti" by Maxïmo Park from 2005's A Certain Trigger

Official video for Black Chandelier

Videos, for me, are primarily a way to consume new songs. YouTube provides a no-muss, no-fuss way to put tunes up on this site and hopefully they're an easy way for you to check out some of the music that I suggest.

For that reason, I'm always a bit hesitant to post an "official video" for a song I've already posted in it's music only or Soundcloud form.

However, it's not stopping me from putting up "Black Chandelier" from Biffy Clyro's forthcoming album Opposites, due out January 28 in Europe and March 12 in North America. Damn, I hate waiting.

The clip looks like it's got the mysterious black oil from The X-Files along with a gang of clone-like characters storming an office building like something from Fight Club.

Buy the album so these Scottish lads can afford some shirts!

Another new Biffy Clyro track: Black Chandelier

I previously posted the video for "Stingin' Belle" from Biffy Clyro's forthcoming album Opposites, which is coming out January 28 in Europe and March 12 in North America. Why make us wait?!?

They've put out another track, which will be the first single. It's called "Black Chandelier".

New Biffy Clyro

Biffy Clyro are a fairly heavy but still melodic band from Scotland. For my money, 2007's Puzzle is their greatest album (so far).

They've got a new one on the way. It's called Opposites. You can check out "Stingin' Belle" below. I like it!

As for a release date, the band's web site somewhat-ambiguously states, "You'll also be able to pre-order 'Opposites', and get your hands on 'Stingin' Belle', from September 17th."

My First iTunes LP: Muse's The Resistance

Well, I've purchased my first iTunes LP. It's the latest release from Muse, The Resistance.

What do I think of it? I think it's pretty cool. A lot of my friends like buying physical CD's over digital because of the booklet - they want to have something tangible in their hands to look at and read lyrics. iTunes has been offering digital booklets on some albums, but this is definitely a step up.

I compare it to a DVD menu. When you open the iTunes LP, a nice screen appears (shown above) and some music plays. There are links to listen to the album, view the song list, read the lyrics, view videos and view pictures. For The Resistance, you can listen to the album, view the song list, which contains descriptions of the inspiration for each song, view photos, videos and credits. There are no lyrics with The Resistance.

Overall, it's a cool experience, but I wouldn't pay extra for it.

And how about the new Muse album? It's pure Muse, but they are stepping up their game from album to album. There are some really good rockin' tunes, like "Uprising", "Resistance" and "Unnatural Selection". The more symphonic tunes, like "United States of Eurasia / Collateral Damage (Excerpt from Nocturne in E-Flat, Op. 9 No. 2)" and the three-part "Exogenesis: Symphony" will take some time to grow on me.

Here's a video for "Uprising" from the new Muse album for your viewing and listening pleasure.

Muse |MTV Music

And if you're interested in seeing the band live - I saw them on their last trip through Toronto and they were absolutely fantastic live - then look for dates on their web site. Their first string of dates has Biffy Clyro and The Big Pink supporting.