PHOTOS: Arkells, Ernesto Barahona @ Commodore Ballroom - May 09, 2026

Arkells, with Ernesto Barahona
Commodore Ballroom
May 09, 2026

Christine McAvoy Photography

Arkells City Takeover: Vancouver -- May 07 - 09, 2026

To celebrate their brand new album, Between Us, Arkells decided to stage a Western Canadian takeover with nine intimate shows in three cities; Vancouver, Edmonton, and Calgary. They kicked it off with the very first venue they ever played here, The Penthouse (yes, that Penthouse), with another show at the Hollywood Theatre, and then the first venue I saw them play, the Commodore Ballroom (though, I’m sure they didn’t choose it for that reason specifically).

I wanted to make the hat trick of shows, but night two conflicted with Holy Fuck at the Pearl, so had a little Arkells sandwich, staring with:

Night One: The Penthouse

Opening the show for the first night was Ernesto Barahona, the ‘trombone DJ’. He promised to hype up the crowd with some party jams as he DJ’d a set that spanned from soul classics like “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” to modern hits “Where Is My Husband!”. But the twist lied where every few songs he would bust out the trombone to play along. He also had the crowd singing along with “Psycho Killer” before ending the set with the biggest singalong to “Mr. Brightside”. It was a very fun opening set, especially in a venue like the Penthouse, with my only quibble being I wish he had played along on trombone to more of the songs.

After a brief break, and the owner of the Penthouse coming out to thank everyone for coming, “People Get Ready” by The Impressions blast over the speakers and the lights flashed red, transitioning first into a train crossing noise, and then “Next Summer” as Max Kerman, Mike DeAngelis, Anthony Carone, Nick Dika, and Tim Oxford took the stage.

They ran through the entire new album Between Us front to back, with highlights including the infinitely catchy “What Good?”, “Money” which had Max throwing Arkell Bucks out into the crowd (sadly, no one tried to tuck them back into his shirt), and the heartfelt “Desire’s Got Some Questions”

As ever, Max was an unstoppable force of energy, bounding around the stage, spinning around the pole, and even jumping into the crowd for “Ride”. Mike also made use of the catwalk, strutting up to shred on his guitar, but Anthony was the only other member to come forward, just for a brief moment at the end for a spin. Max also made sure to pause and tell the story of the first time they played in Vancouver, in that very room, not even realising it was a strip club until they were on stage & Max saw the pole.

There was a nice moment when, during “Two Hearts” Max noticed a couple people making a ‘hearts exploding’ hand gesture, and when the song ended he grabbed someone’s phone to get a video, getting the band to replay the chorus so everyone could mime along, as he hoped it would catch on.

Near the end of the album, Ernesto was back out to join on trombone for “What’s On Your Mind” and the album wrapped up with the ethereal “Escape Door” before a quick intermission from the band.

The second half of the night was a set of Arkells classics, starting off with the explosive “Come to Light” and not slowing down. They hit songs from their entire career, from the titular “Michigan Left” up to “Skin” off Laundry Pile, and even a deep cuts they haven’t played in a decade, “Coffee”.

Max introduced “And Them Some” as the most romantic song ever played in a strip club, before telling the story about how many people contact them saying it was the first dance at their wedding, then when he found out some people in the room used it as theirs, he got everyone to make some space on the floor so they could have another dance.

After the incendiary “Whistleblower” and a massive singalong to “Leather Jacket”, Max threw back to the first time they were on that stage, with hands down my favourite Arkells song, “John Lennon”, as the raw emotion pouring off the stage — and reciprocated, from the crowd joining in.

And of course what would an Arkells show be without a cover, as the wrapped up the night with The Boss’ “Dancing in the Dark”, Max once more wading into the crowd to sing with the packed room.

The band thanked everyone as “Pony” by Ginuwine filled the room, and despite the crowd chanting for one more song, it was clear they had left it all on stage already.
(And as someone that wants to normalize no more encores, good for them!)

Night Three: Commodore Ballroom

Ernesto once again opened the show with the same trombone DJ set, before the “People Get Ready” intro and Arkells came out to play through Between Us in full. They hit some of the same notes, Max wading out into the crowd for “Ride” and passing out their Arkell Bucks for “Money”, but also some new twists. A young girl joining them on stage for the latter, and thanks to their socials, the hand gesture for “Two Hearts” had already taken off. And being at the Commodore, they had more room to flex, musically and literally as Max used every inch of the stage. He also made sure to tell the sold out crowd how lucky we are to have the venue, and how much the band loves playing it.

Like with the Penthouse, there was a quick intermission after the album and they were back for a set of classics, starting off with another they hadn’t played in a decade, “Fake Money”. Incredibly, the second half of the night was almost entirely different across all three shows as they delved through their whole history, from “Past Life” off Blink Twice to a special version of Michigan Left’s “On Paper”, which started with the slow and moody ‘In the Dark’ version before bursting with energy.

Other highlights including the explosive “Relentless”, and the killer one-two punch of an old favourite “Oh, The Boss is Coming!” with everyone yelling along, and somehow upping the energy with “Knocking On The Door” as Ernesto rejoined them on trombone.

Their cover for the night was the Talking Heads classic “Life During Wartime”, and after a raucous “You Can Get It”, they took their leave, but the crowd was eager for more, even chanting “we’re not leaving”, which happened the previous night at the Hollywood as well. And so most of the band took back to the stage, except for Max who snuck out the side door and stood on one of the tables for an acoustic beginning to “Leather Jacket”, singing the first verse completely unamplified with the crowd joining in, only for the band to kick back in and Max to run back on stage, ending the night with a bang.

The last few times I’ve seen Arkells have been arena shows, and as much as they deliver in those big stages, there’s nothing like seeing one of Canada’s best live bands play one of Canada’s best venues (and also a strip club). They could have easily booked another big arena show and been done with it, but this city takeover created something special for the fans.

Commodore Setlist
Next Summer
What Good?
Ride
Money
Imagine Barcelona
Desire’s Got Some Questions
Universe Talking
Two Hearts
What’s On Your Mind
Rumour
Escape Door
[intermission]
Fake Money
Past Life
Relentless
Oh, the Boss Is Coming!
Knocking At The Door Ernesto
American Screams
Life During Wartime [Talking Heads cover]
Only For A Moment
On Paper
You Can Get It
(encore)
Leather Jacket

Penthouse Setlist
Next Summer
What Good?
Ride
Money
Imagine Barcelona
Desire’s Got Some Questions
Universe Talking
Two Hearts
What’s On Your Mind
Rumour
Escape Door
[intermission]
Come to Light
Michigan Left
People’s Champ
One Thing I Know
And Then Some
Coffee
Skin
Dirty Blonde
Whistleblower
Leather Jacket
John Lennon
Dancing in the Dark [Bruce Springsteen cover]

Arkells @ Rogers Arena -- November 15, 2024

I’ve never made it a secret that I’m not super fond of arena shows. The last time I had been to a show at Rogers Arena was 2011 (Foo Fighters!) and since then I’ve only been to three other arena shows. But, funny enough, two of those were one of the few bands that would get me to an arena: Arkells. So even though it was a busy weekend in Vancouver, when they came back to town on their Big Feelings Tour, it was a no-brainer to see one of the best live bands in Canada.

Opening the night was K.Flay, backed with just a drummer & guitarist, she opened the set with “Are You Serious?”, as she danced through her high energy alt-pop songs.
Partway thought the set, she picked up her own guitar for “Weirdo” and my fave of the set, her 2016 hit “Blood in the Cut”, which segued into a cover of Green Day’s “Brain Stew”.
After her latest single “Punisher”, she capped off the set with the lockdown anthem “Zen” and “High Enough” for a solid opening set to get people energized for Arkells.

It wasn’t long after that the lights dimmed and hand-held searchlights light up on stage, scanning the crowd as the five members of Hamilton’s Arkells took their places: frontman Max Kerman joined by Mike DeAngelis on guitar, Anthony Carone on keys, bassist Nick Dika and drummer Tim Oxford.

Kicking off with the slow-burning “Come To Light”, and not wasting any time inviting K.Flay back for their collab “You Can Get It”, the band came out of the gate hard. As always, Max was a ball of energy, rarely slowing down for a moment. But he also made sure everyone on stage getting their own time to shine; like Anthony’s piano solo going into “People’s Champ”, where Max also introduced the Northern Soul Horns section, while they slipped in a little bit of “Don’t Stop ’til You Get Enough”.

After the raucous “Relentless”, the energy came down for a moment early in the set, as a string interlude transitioned the set to be a little more intimate. With a black curtain cutting off most of the stage, the band huddled up for a few acoustic tracks. First, they took a request from a couple that was just married, playing “Show Me Don’t Tell Me” for them, before “Quitting You” and “Skin”, which started with just Max, before the curtain dropped and the rest of the band kicked in.

Throughout the night, it was clear that the band was feeding off the energy of the packed arena; the just-married couple made a later appearance as Max gave them an opportunity for another ‘first dance’ to “And Then Some”, during “Past Life” Max brough up a small child to join in on vocals, before dipping into the crowd to get to their payphone prop in the middle of the arena & taking a voicemail request for “Nobody Gets Me Like You Do”, and later he danced through the crowd again for “Dance With You”.
And the crowd reciprocated with huge singalongs to songs like “Hand Me Downs”, the anthemic “Years in the Making”, and a couple classics (and personal faves), the cathartic “Oh, the Boss Is Coming!” and “Ballad of Hugo Chavez”.

After a full cover of Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5”, they wrapped up the set explosively with “Knocking at the Door”. But the stage stayed dark, and they returned moments later, K.Flay back with them for another cover, duetting (ironically) “Dancing On My Own” by Robyn, before the tender “My Heart’s Always Yours” and bringing the night to a close with “Leather Jacket”, the entire arena once again joining in.

The first time I saw Arkells headline their own show was at the Biltmore Cabaret in 2009. Since then I’ve seen them outgrow venue after venue, go from opening festivals to headlining, and become one of Canada’s biggest rock bands. Heck, I even remember conversations in the old CBC Radio 3 days saying they were an “arena-worthy” band. And through their years of hard work, Arkells have absolutely proven that sentiment correct.

setlist
Come to Light
You Can Get It (ft. K.Flay)
People’s Champ
Relentless
Show Me Don’t Tell Me
Quitting You
Skin
Hand Me Downs
Big Feelings
And Then Some
Past Life
Nobody Gets Me Like You Do
Michigan Left
Oh, the Boss Is Coming!
Ballad of Hugo Chavez
Whistleblower
Dance With You
Years in the Making
9 to 5 [Dolly Parton cover]
Knocking at the Door
(encore)
Dancing On My Own [Robyn cover] (ft. K.Flay)
My Heart’s Always Yours
Leather Jacket

PHOTOS: Arkells @ Bill Reid Millennium Amphitheatre - July 1, 2022

Arkells
Bill Reid Millennium Amphitheatre
July 1, 2022

Christine McAvoy Photography

Arkells @ Pacific Coliseum -- 02/02/19

A couple years ago (almost exactly two years ago, in fact), I talked about witnessing the journey Arkells have taken from venues like the Biltmore, all the way up to arena shows, when they played Doug Mitchell. And now this weekend they were back for another headlining arena show, this time at the Pacific Coliseum.

The Hamilton band burst onto the stage with "Relentless", an appropriate title for the entire band's energy (and work ethic) but especially singer Max Kerman, who started at a 10 and somehow barely slowed down throughout the night. And the crowd reciprocated, as "Leather Jacket" had the majority of the building singing along while Max sang on the edge of the catwalk that stretched out into the sea of people. In fact, over the course of the show every single member of the band (plus the Northern Soul Horn Section) would strut out to the tip of the stage at one point or another, for a showcase solo -- keyboardist Anthony Carone even broke out the keytar to the band's chagrin -- or the stripped down, full band performance of "Kiss Cam" as they huddled together.

Their two hour set focused on the new Rally Cry, but also hit every album, going back to their origins with "Champagne Socialist" seguing into "The Boss Is Coming" and back again, and even deep cuts requested by fans on a hotline they set up. They listened to a recorded message from an audience member (Max on the prop payphone they had onstage) before going into the rarely-played "Agent Zero".

Other highlights included huge singalongs to powerhouse hits like "11:11" and "Knocking At The Door", the darker "Come To Light", and my favourite off the new album, the Motown-infused "Eyes on the Prize". During which Max disappeared off the stage only to reappear among the crowd in the lower bowl, checking in on people around him, making sure they had the day off work tomorrow (and handing out sick notes if they didn't) before making his way back through the crowd and to the stage.

The 'main' set wrapped up with "Hand Me Downs" and bursts of confetti, leaving the crowd to sing the "ohh-oo-oohs" for an impressively long time after they left the stage (especially for a crowd that large) before they returned for a couple more.

One of my favourite things about seeing Arkells perform is what kind of covers they break out through the set and they absolutely didn't disappoint with the first song of the encore, "Dancing Queen", before capping off the night with the promise "My Heart's Always Yours".

I'm not gonna lie, I absolutely miss being able to see Arkells in smaller venues, even a Commodore-sized room. But watching them onstage at the Coliseum, it was undeniable that they belong there, and put on an as incredible a show as they always have.

Check out more of Christine’s snaps here!

setlist
Relentless
Leather Jacket
Michigan Left
Never Thought That This Would Happen
Show Me Don't Tell Me
Champagne Socialist / Oh, The Boss Is Coming!
Eyes on the Prize
American Screams
People's Champ
Kiss Cam
Only For A Moment
Come To Light
And Then Some
Agent Zero
11:11
Saturday Night
Whistleblower
Knocking At The Door
Private School
Hand Me Downs
(encore)
Dancing Queen [ABBA cover]
My Heart's Always Yours