Crowd

ARKELLS

November 09, 2019

Hamilton Ontario Canada.. what have you birthed?! … THE ARKELLS!!! that’s what!

Canadian Rock band ARKELLS made their way into London Ontario to blow the roof off of Budweiser Gardens Along with Nashville’s own indy pop band COIN as the opener on the #RallyCryTour. Coin were incredible.. honestly, I had never heard of them before, although one of their songs I’m pretty sure i heard playing in a store once when i was shopping, it was their song “Talk To Much”. With their pop, new age kind of sound you can’t help but want to move. Pretty impressed with their set and for being an opener, I was blown away that they played almost an hour set, usually the opening band doesn’t get that long, but with 2 albums out, a great sound and only them and the Arkells on the bill… I’m glad they got that long because I was really getting into them. For the first 3 songs we were allowed to shoot pit, but to my surprise, once all 3 songs were over I was getting ready to get escorted out until Arkells came on, but out of no where we were told we could stay and shoot the rest of their set from the crowd which was a very welcomed surprise! Coin is a great band, their singer is a pleasure to watch, always moving and jumping, quick little dance moves, just over all fun to watch will definitely be watching for them to come back around again.

A large silver tassel curtain rose from the stage floor up to the top of the stage to make a large sparkling backdrop, a large sign hung reading ARKELLS TOURING BAND in the middle… stairs with a drum kit on top rolled out.. large pillars with rotating light heads in the background and some strobes… IT”S ARKELLS TIME!!!!!!!! Running out on stage Arkells opened the show with “Hand Me Downs” , what a great opener.. crowd participation right off the hop and boy oh boy did London participate singing all the “OH OHHHH OHHHHH’s “ at the top of their lungs putting a big ol ‘ smile on MAX’s face (lead singer). While there was no confetti at this show, you can be sure there will be some somewhere on this tour, actually I’m pretty sure there already has been.. I was ready for it and wanting it because while it’s very tough to photograph through.. it’s fun and can make an image great.. but while walking around the stage and runway I did not see cannons or the compressed air .. my heart sank a little.. but with a low stage and runway it was quickly picked back up with some nice wide angle shots and Max using the runway a lot. In all honesty .. this was my first time seeing Arkells live, and they did not disappoint one bit.. amazing performance, high energy, lots of movement .. such a fun band to hear, see and photography…

HUGE thank you goes out to Budweiser Gardens for having me out… couldn’t have had the opportunity without them.

- Kevin.

COIN

ARKELLS

THE MUDMEN

August 19, 2017

If you like music.. you like that Scottish, East Coast kind of vibe, great vocals, bagpipes, drums, bass and guitar with some funny in-between song banter... THE MUDMEN are for you!

These guys were amazing, had a fantastic time photographing them in my home town at the Cowapalooza festival. This festival happens every year and every Friday and Saturday night there are concerts. In the past we've had bands such as: April Wine, The Stampeders, Trooper and more. This year: The Mudmen, The McCartney Years which happened on Friday Night... then tonight: Tim Tyler and the talented Colin James! I will be heading back down tonight at 7pm to capture both acts.

Not only is there music, but there's rides for the young kids, horse back rides, all kinds of vendors and food trucks which all takes place is the beautiful SouthSide Park, Woodstock On. Canada... so if you live in the area and want to get out of the house, or want to see an outdoor concert on a gorgeous summers day... WOODSTOCK is where you want to be! As always... if you see me out shooting, feel free to come by and say hi wether I know you or not... I'm always up for meeting potential clients ;) - Shutter Click.

The MudmenWoodstock ON. Cowapalooza Festival 2017. — The Mudmen
Woodstock ON.
Cowapalooza Festival 2017.

NEW YEARS 2015/2016

January 01, 2016

"When he woke his, body was covered in coke fizz ".

SLOAN!!!! SLOOOOAAANNN!!! was being chanted by the crowd in Victoria Park - London Ontario and when they took to the stage the crowd went wild. Playing many different songs of many albums, Canadian Icon rock band SLOAN put on an amazing show despite the -4ºC weather and the bit of snow. Once the band started to play, it was like the cold didn't matter, no one cared, people were singing along, jumping around and dancing having a great time.

Ivory Hours is another Canadian band from London Ontario who is now getting national attention. This energetic band with an original poppy sound came out to open for Sloan and were a fan favourite as many people knew their lyrics and the band mates names, constantly yelling out " LOVE YOU! " "PLAY " so and so song... also chanting for an encore at the end of their set.

Once Sloan hit the 30 min before midnight mark, the countdown clock popped up on a screen behind the band on stage. They filled the 30 mins with a few hit songs including " Money City Maniacs " complete with the siren, which told everyone what song was about to be played and made the crowd lose their minds. At the 29 second mark everyone started counting down, when 1 second hit, the fireworks went off on top of the London Life building. Sloan's lead singer and bass player disappeared off the stage and their guitar tech jumped on bass as the band started to play AULD LANG SYNE ( the New Years Song ). We could hear the lead singer singing but no one knew where from until the band pointed out he was behind the crowd on the ice rink skating around with a wireless mic singing... how Canadian is that?, EH! What a great way to ring in the new year. Happy 2016 to all! - Shutter Click.

Oh PS. I didn't think I would be able to get as close to the stage as I did, seeing as how I read that last year there was 10,000 people attending the event, so my lens of choice was my 70-200. This lens is quite long and with me being so close my images had to be individual members. If I would have backed up to get everyone the crowd was so dense that it would have just been band members heads so I stayed where I was and did the best I could with what I had.

© Kevin Vyse Photography All Rights Reserved 2015 SLOAN — © Kevin Vyse Photography
All Rights Reserved 2015

SLOAN

IVORY HOURS

2014 RAM RODEO

September 06, 2014

Mud getting kicked in my face, Men and Women flying through the air, Bulls and Horses Jumping through the air.... this was my day at the 2014 RAM Rodeo in Woodstock Ontario, Canada.

I never knew a rodeo would be so much fun! I'm not a cowboy by any means, sure I live in a small town that has a ton of farm land, and we're known as the Dairy Capitol, but I'm more of the city photographer guys. Still, I enjoyed myself quite a bit and Bull Riding.. geez those guys are nuts! I really wanted to give it a try but they wouldn't let me, must have been afraid I would have done really well.. hahahha just kidding, I give them a lot of credit, those Bulls go nuts out there.
Not only was there Bull riding, but they also had: Barrel racing, cattle roping, bucking bronco, both with saddle and bareback, horse slalom, and they even had these young ladies that did all these tricks while riding on horses, it was impressive. I will definitely be attending again next year, one of the best events Woodstock has to offer. - Shutter Click

Images Below.

Cowboy tries his best to hold on for 8 seconds, but this Bull had a different idea. This was the best bucking bull out of them all, I couldn't believe how wild he was.

Cowboy gets thrown head first by this bucking bronco at the 2014 RAM Rodeo in Woodstock Ontario, Canada.

Cowboy comes out of the gate with Lasso ready to rope the calf and tie em up!

Cowboy quickly dismounts his horse and runs over to the calf, flips it over and ties up its feet

After being thrown off this wild bulls back, it spins around and comes after the cowboy while laying in the mud... sometimes, the bull wins.

Almost made the 8 second mark, but this bull had other plans and quickly spun to the side throwing this cowboy off his back into the mud.

Cowapolooza Festival: THE MUSIC Pt.1

August 17, 2013

A beautiful, warm summer night in August, the sun is setting, the stage is up, people are buzzing all around. Guitars squealing, drums pounding, bass rattling chests and vocals blaring in your ears.

This was the experience you had if you were in Woodstock Ontario, Canada on Friday August 16th 2013. Cowapolooza is a festival that Woodstock puts on every year, full of music, vendors of all sorts, buskers, and small rides for the kids. Held in South Side Park, hundreds of people gather to experience this two day event, and as you can guess, the bands are what drive me to attend each year. In the past we've had acts such as: April Wine, The Stampeders, Thunderstruck ( Canada's best AC/DC cover band), and The Beagles ( A Beatles cover band ). This year Thunderstruck came back to join us and rock out the best AC/DC covers I've ever heard... a band that definitely doesn't disappoint and leaves you wanting more, as well as the band After The Lounge, London Ontario's favourite rock band with an original sound that grabs you hard and blows you away.

I suggest you check out both of these bands and get to a show near you to get the full experience.

AFTER THE LOUNGE: http://www.afterthelounge.com

THUNDERSTRUCK: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Thunderstruck/16277603667

Facebook was the only webpage I could find on these guys but they're from Toronto and just blew me away with their covers... they are dead on and have an amazing stage presence.

this blog Pt. 1 ... are the images of AFTER THE LOUNGE.
i'm still editing Thunderstrucks images, but they will be posted ASAP.

Shutter Click.