IN CONCERT
What: Arkells with Lord Huron
Where: Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre, 1925 Blanshard St.
When: Sunday Feb. 3, 7:30 p.m. (doors at 6:30)
Tickets: $36, $46, and $60.50 from , by phone at 250-220-7777, or in person at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre box office
Arkells have played several big festivals in Victoria over the years, sometimes in front of thousands of fans.
The tour bringing the rockers to town Sunday puts them in their biggest Victoria venue to date. But singer Max Kerman says the spirit of the performance won鈥檛 change for the Hamilton group, as it prepares to enter Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre for the first time.
鈥淚t鈥檚 usually a pretty joyful, communal time,鈥� Kerman said.
There is one big difference, however, between a tiny club and a large arena: more room to play.
鈥淥n this tour, we have a catwalk, and you don鈥檛 get that when you play a club. Recognizing that you鈥檙e going to have to connect with somebody who might be standing 100 feet away from you, as opposed to three feet away from you, is the mental exercise that we are thinking about right now.鈥�
Kerman, guitarist Mike De-Angelis, drummer Tim Oxford, keyboardist Anthony Carone and bassist Nick Dika are touring the country in support of Rally Cry, the band鈥檚 fifth album.
Venues on the 11-date tour are either arenas or large auditoriums, which speaks to the rising popularity of Arkells, who once performed an unnannounced pop-up set on Government Street during Canada 150 celebrations.
Those with tickets to see the band鈥檚 arena concert can apply to [email protected] for the chance to attend a free Arkells performance during the half-time of Super Bowl Sunday at Big Bad John鈥檚 in the Strathcona Hotel.
That鈥檚 no small offer: Arkells are one of the hottest rock bands in the country at the moment, with four Juno Award wins from 13 career nominations over a nine-year period, including two trophies for group of the year (that total includes the pair of Juno nominations Arkells earned on Tuesday, including one for group of the year and rock album of the year).
Breakout success in the U.S. has not yet materialized, though the group played some notable rooms 鈥� Antone鈥檚 in Austin, Texas, and the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C. 鈥� during its most-recent U.S. tour.
Kerman and his bandmates are committed to increasing their profile, both at home and abroad. 鈥淭he goal is to play slightly bigger and better shows than the last time we鈥檝e played each town,鈥� Kerman said. 鈥淏rick by brick, it has been baby steps along the way. We鈥檝e never been a band that gets known overnight. There鈥檚 20 people at a gig, then there鈥檚 100, then 500. You hope that you鈥檙e going the right way.鈥�
The video for the Rally Cry song American Screams was shot on the side of a road in Buffalo, New York, under a billboard paid for by the band.
The billboard was a nicely timed bit of guerrilla marketing, as the song touches on political hysteria in America. It contained a phone number along with lyrics from the song, in hopes passersby would call. What they鈥檇 hear on the other end was American Screams.
The stunt was a peaceful protest by the band, amid similar billboards along the highways of the U.S. advertising religion and pro-gun propaganda.
鈥淭he song touches on gun violence in America, and the hysterical conversation between the left and the right,鈥� Kerman said. 鈥淚t comes from a pretty helpless place. When you see the type of dialogue that exists in America, it鈥檚 disheartening a lot of the time. If you鈥檙e ever roadtripped through the States, there鈥檚 these post-Apocalyptic billboards about going to hell. They always bum me out a lot. We tried to think about a way we could put a spin on it a little bit.鈥�
Since its members met as first-year students at McMaster University, the band has become synonymous with the city, even writing the official anthem for the CFL鈥檚 Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 2012.
91原创ions to Hamilton weave through every facet of the band, all the way back to the beginning of the Hamilton renaissance, which saw the city transition from a working-class town into something a little more diverse about a decade ago.
Band members once lived on Arkell Street, in a house not far from campus. Their 2008 album Jackson Square is named after a shopping mall in downtown Hamilton.
Videos for three of their biggest hits (Leather Jacket, 11:11 and People鈥檚 Champ) were filmed in the Hamilton area, including the neighbourhood where Kerman and Dika own a sports bar, Odds.
鈥淭he reason why we love Hamilton is the people that are there, and the relationships that we鈥檝e made over the years,鈥� Kerman said. 鈥淎ll of us are from Southern Ontario, but we met in Hamilton. We feel really lucky to have had the experience of growing as a band in that city.鈥�
The connection to Hamilton 鈥� where Arkells recently performed before 24,000 fans at Tim Hortons Field, the city鈥檚 biggest concert to date 鈥� has drawn comparisons to the relationship the Tragically Hip had with their hometown of Kingston, Ont.
Kerman has taken cues from the Hip and several other bands during the band鈥檚 steady rise, and is committed to furthering what has become a 91原创 tradition for up-and-coming rock acts.
鈥淚 think about some of my favourite artists and how they are connected to where they are from, and the songs they sing about their city, whether that鈥檚 Joel Plaskett 鈥� who sings about Halifax and Dartmouth, Nova Scotia 鈥� or The Weakerthans, who are such a Winnipeg band. It鈥檚 natural to draw inspiration from the place that you鈥檙e from. We鈥檙e extra lucky that the city has embraced us in the way that it has. Whenever we鈥檙e home, there鈥檚 a lot of people rooting us on.鈥�
