Foo Fighters – October 29, 2002 at the Opera House in Toronto

Foo Fighters got into the habit of playing small venue one-off surprise shows around the time they were releasing a new record. This show was for One By One which was released one week prior.

Like the photo of Thom Yorke / Radiohead that I took in 1997, this one is another example of perfect atmosphere and film grain. Backlit, you can't make out any of the faces but if you're a fan you know exactly who this is.

What I remember most about this day was that they played Come Back (my favourite song on the record) during sound check but not at the show. I'm sure they've played it a bunch over the years but I never saw them play it again.

Foo Fighters would end up using this photo as the back cover the Times Like These single.

Sometime around '97-'98 I crashed at Nate's house after a show and I remember seeing so many international versions of Foo Fighters & The Colour and the Shape some with alternate art and liner notes in various languages. I thought it would be so cool to be in a band with that many different versions of their record. So one of the raddest things I ever got in the mail was the Japanese Edition of Times Like These with my photo!

Queens Of The Stone Age – September 7, 2002 at the Warehouse in Toronto

One of the greatest live bands of all time, Queens quickly became a favourite to photograph. I briefly met Josh Homme when they played at Lee's Palace in Toronto a few months earlier because Dave Grohl was drumming for them. But this show at the Warehouse was my first time shooting them. Thanks Meg Symsyk!

My favourite photo from the night, and probably the most recognizable one is the first in this set; the silhouette of the late great Mark Lanegan. For years I'd admired him as the singer in Screaming Trees and loved that he was collaborating with Queens!

This was the one and only time that I shot the band with Nick Oliveri playing bass.

Billy Talent – September 1, 2002 in Toronto

This was my first shoot with Billy Talent. It was for a poster for the MTV Campus Invasion Tour, and my friend Krista got me the gig. She later became my manager for several years.

To give some background about how I met one of the bands that I have worked with the most, here's an excerpt from my interactive photography book “Billy Talent: Photographs 2002-2005”:

Rock & Roll photography was a hobby for many years before I decided to move to Toronto to make it my career. One of my goals was to build a working relationship with a new band from day one, and grow with them. But it couldn't be just any band. First of all, I would have to love their music. Second, they'd have to be people that I'd enjoy being around (and who would enjoy being around me).

In 2002 I met that band. Now, Billy Talent wasn't exactly a new band, but they were about to sign their first big record deal and move to the next level of their career.

Coincidentally, Billy Talent and I had just reached the 10 year mark in each of our careers, and found one another other when we were both making a name for ourselves. Interestingly, our careers have been on similar trajectories ever since.

In January, 2002 I went to 102.1 The Edge in Toronto to photograph Tenacious D. I was sitting across from Jack and Kyle while Bookie interviewed them, when I got a tap on my shoulder. It was the show's producer, Ben. He asked me if I shoot a lot of bands, I said yes, and he invited me to come see his band Billy Talent play at the Reverb that weekend.”

Later that year we did this shoot, and the rest is history.

Tomahawk – August 25, 2002 in Hamilton, ON

Tomahawk is yet another supergroup led by Mike Patton, with bandmates Duane Denison (The Jesus Lizard), John Stanier (Helmet) and Kevin Rutmanis (Melvins).

In classic Patton/Rabin photo shoot tradition, it was going to be quick and dirty using whatever we could find within walking distance. The extra ingredient going for us this time was their cop uniforms that they wore on stage.

We walked by a shop with a bunch of bongs in the window and they stopped and said this is the place. I went in ahead to see if the owner would be cool with a bunch of guys dressed as cops, not real cops, taking pictures with drug paraphernalia. He looked out the window and was like “on shit is that Mike Patton??”, and we were in.

A few doors down was Tim Hortons the renowned Canadian donut institution. That's 2 for 2, Hamilton!

Finally we went back to Copps Coliseum where Tool had just finished sound check, and the guys posed around their pet deer. Another successful day at the office. The last slide is Patton with Metal documentarian/host Sam Dunn in a shower stall backstage.