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]