Steve Shalaty Immolation/Vader Tour Blog – Day 5
Day 5 – Montreal, Canada: After a relatively smooth border crossing we arrive in Montreal. Everyone is a little wiped out from rough and interrupted sleep. The venue's load-in crew is game though so we join them in bringing the gear up the terrible stairs. The stage is very wide but too shallow for more than one kit so we will have to rotate kits all night. Pathology is stuck at the border and won't be rejoining us until Cleveland so after sound check we pull my kit and put up Alex's. The hospitality and accommodations here are beyond anything we've seen on the U.S. dates and all the bands fill their stomachs before show time.
Lecherous Nocturne test the Canadian waters and receive a warm welcome. Alex is on fire tonight. His hands are some of the best in the business and he is the closest thing I've seen to true ambidexterity in a long time. Everybody in this band shreds and they are not to be missed.
Abigail Williams has a bit of a cult following here and they are warmly received as well. Something isn't quite right with Ken tonight. I can see it in his face. He tells me later that he had a terrible show, but I couldn't tell. We are all our own worst critics it would seem. When we are done moving Ken's kit off stage I hop up to help Paul get our kit set up. He hasn't changed the cymbals over from sound check so we go with my cymbals to save time. I hook up the triggers next and one is malfufnctioning so I quickly swap it out with a back up trigger and everything is fine.
As Vader kicks off I see that Paul is straining a bit. This continues through the first 4 songs until he loosens up and settles in. The rest of the set is mint and the Canadian crowd shows their appreciation. Paul says he ate too close to set time and neglected to warm up. Just another example of how so many factors can play a part in your performance.
I make sure I am plenty warm and for the first time this tour I warm up my feet. Paul uses my pedals too so when he is on stage I have no pedals to warm up with. Graciously Alex loans me his Axis and Ken loans me his kick pad. What a difference! Immolation plays the best set of the tour so far. I felt really on top of my playing and the crowd response was great. Time for some putin and then on to Toronto!
Here is a picture of Alex's kit from Lecherous Nocturne:
And Alex behind his kit:
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