Photos and review by Zachary Coleman
If there was a Mount Rushmore of great Canadian live bands, you would find Arkells on it. Arkells is one of those bands that truly care about their craft. It’s uncommon to see a band give their all for the first five songs of their set and then continue like that was nothing which is exactly what Arkells did at their show at Tribute Communities Centre in Oshawa, Ontario on November 28, 2024. Their massive Big Feelings Canadian tour is coming to a close during its final three dates. These three final dates included Canadian pop locals, Valley. Valley took a break from their North American headline tour to rock the stage as an opener performing mostly songs from their newest album, “Water the Flowers, Pray for a Garden.” Valley will play the final show of their North American tour on December 13, 2024, at History in Toronto, Ontario.
Arkells have been hard at work with releasing their latest single “Big Feelings” as well as releasing a cover album named “Disco Loadout (Volume 1).” The band constantly releases music and plays shows including a surprise show in a garage of a house the night before. Arkells played 23 songs across their entire discography and also included a few surprises. The first surprise has been a tradition for the band and their fans called the request line songs. Fans who are attending shows can call a phone number and request songs for the band to play. For this show, the song was “Laundry Pile.” The more shocking surprise of the night is during the encore, Arkells brought Valley out to the stage to sing Chappell Roan’s smash hit “Good Luck, Babe!”
I think it’s rare to see a band constantly release music, tour, and give so much love to their home country’s fan base. It is truly inspiring to see a local band sell out arenas and amphitheaters because their fan base is so strong. The band knows this and they give back to their fans in more ways than I’ve seen most bands do including free tickets, free shows, free signings, and the request line. Bands tend to forget where they come from and how they got where they are now, but not Arkells. I think this band will continue to give back to the community that built them up for the entirety of their career.
