The Mars Volta at MTelus – 25-09-2023

I have very mix feeling about the show of The Mars Volta at MTelus. First I need to say that I am not a big fan of the group. I know them because I heard a lot about them when I was a teenager, but never really listened to their music. So I was a bit disappointed when I saw them live and it was kind of all over the place and not as metal/rock, as I imagined. It was really hard for me to get into their music.

If you had on top of that far from perfect condition for a photographer, I would have expect a better night. But it is also the job of a music photographer, being able to deliver pictures even in complex situations. So here are my photos of the show !

The Mars Volta at MTelus

Photographer’s Corner.

I was speaking about bad conditions as photographer for this show, I will explain a bit more what they were.

First we were not allowed in front of the stage but we were restricted to the sound board/console. Even if MTelus is a place where we usually always have direct access in front of the stage. So I needed to bring the big guns, and most of the time limit our movements as the place where we can shoot from is very limited.

Second, the lighting was not really good expect for some little windows of time, where you need to be fast to get most of them. We got full songs with almost only red light and not a really strong one, keeping the band mostly in the dark.

Be prepared to crank up your iso and have very fast lenses.

Gear used for at The Mars Volta at MTelus :

My gear for The Mars Volta at MTelus, we were shooting from the sound board/front house :

• Canon R6 + RF 100-500
• Canon R6 II + RF 24-240

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Thank Vecteur Magazine, who allowed me to get to MTelus to shoot the event. If you want to read my full review in french, it is here.

Full gallery here.

Let me know what you think about the photos!

Have a good day.