Emerson Drive & the Land of My Oppretunity.

I walked into the Rockin' Rodeo not expecting a big turn out, due to Snoop Dogg also being in Moncton that night, but a hefty turnout happened. I'm not sure exactly how many were there but I would definatly say a packed house.

I wasn't sure how tonight would go, I was supposed to be on the VIP list but they forgot to add me and Joanne to it. So eventually they remembered and we were in. I mentioned to the owner that I do photography and the pics they had on their site weren't that great. So I offered my photographic services. He accepted.

Greg Hanna stepped on stage for the first part of the show, I had never heard of him but he had a few tunes I liked. Following Hannas' finale was the Monctons "hometown heroes" the Divorcees. They had the crowd rockin', I had heard about them and never heard them. The impressed me immensely. During their performance the own of the Rodeo tapped me on the shoulder and said that the band wanted to meet me. I took Joanne up stairs to meet the guys from Emerson Drive.

Brad (lead vocals/acoustic guitar), Dale (keyboard), Dave (fiddle), Mike (drums) Dannick (electric guitar), Patrick (bass) and Mark (manager) met Joanne and I upstairs of the Rodeo. We all talked for a few minutes and we all got our pics taken as a group. Then the band left for a few minutes before going on stage.

When Emerson Drive came on stage all the crowd went crazy. They opened with "Sweet Natural Girl" which had the girls in the audience screaming like crazy. It was nice shooting a concert that while taking pics, I could actually sing along cause I knew the words. The entire show was awesome, with fast songs such as "Countrified Soul", "Fall Into Me", and "I Should Be Sleeping" mixed into the set with ballads such as "Moments", "November" and some acoustic covers of Lifehouse & G n' R. They finshed with their rendition of "The Devil Went Down To Georgia" which had even me dancing while trying to shoot which isn't the easiest thing in the world.

After the concert ended Joanne wanted her pic taken with just Brad Mates, the lead vocalist. So we waited in the autograph lineand she got her pic. I thought I was done with Emerson Drive. That was probably one of the funnest nights (which was a Wednesday) I have ever done photography.

On the following Saturday I went on a road trip to Nova Scotia to photograph animals, when I left the zoo I called Joanne and we decided to meet in Truro to go see the concert again, considering I never really watched it to begin with. So Joanne met me in Truro, and we went to the C.E.C. When we arrived we found out that tickets were gone, then I spotted the bands manager, so I said hi and we talked for a sec.

All in all, we all met the band again, exchanged information and my friends say the concert and I shot Emerson Drive again, this time with a "no holds barred" pass to do so. I got the ok to go where I want, when I want from the band. They just wanted some good shots so they could add to their site, with a credit to me.

If I learned anything over the past week about photography its this: You don't get anywhere unless you open your mouth and ask for it! ...

I do wanna thank ... Mark, Brad, Dale, Dave, Dannick, Pat, Mike, Cusack & Sons concert promotions (David and Shannon) as well as Greg Hanna, Pogey and my friend Joanne. Over the last week I have had a blast, and it wouldn't have been like that without all of you. Thanks for the experience and all the fun.

The photo your looking at is of Brad Mates and is aptly called "Acoustic Cover" it was taken during the cover session of Lifehouses' "You and Me". I was approximately 3 feet from Brad, shooting at probably 45mm, with a shutter of 1/50 (no flash, camera set to Shutter priority), the lighting came from spotlights. This photo was taken at the Rockin' Rodeo, Wednesday January 31/07.