Ottawa feasts on Arkells with Joel Plaskett Emergency on American Thanksgiving

Our neighbours to the south weren’t the only ones giving thanks on the third Thursday of November. In Ottawa, music lovers celebrated the much-awaited return of Arkells to the stage at TD Place Arena for their Blink Once/Blink Twice tour. And what a party it was!

From the moment the multi-coloured stage lights revealed the Ontario homegrown darlings in the flesh, the euphoria was palpable; already piqued to the max following a crowd-pleasing opening show by East Coast music legends Joel Plaskett Emergency.

Arkells lead vocalist Max Kerman calculated that it had been 1,387 days since the band last graced an Ottawa stage and, boy, did they ever make up for lost time! The audience was putty in Kerman’s hands with his first commanding words: “Ottawa, on your feet!” leaving nothing but discarded gloves and coats in the seats for the entirety of the nearly two-hour fan fest.

The Arkells touring band, which features the talented brass ensemble, Northern Soul Horns, comes across like a tight-knit family, and they’re known to seek out the same intimate connection with their audiences. This is evident in the house rules that the charismatic frontman set out at the show’s start: 1 – dance like you don’t give a f*ck; 2 – take care of your neighbours; and 3 – sing from the bottom of your heart.

Thursday night’s performance was an experience meant to be lived, not merely watched. Arkells launched their set with “Past Life,” an anthemic reminder to be present in the moment. From there, the hits kept coming with “Leather Jacket,” “Nowhere to Go,” and “Quitting You,” to name a few. Arkells saved one of its most popular songs for last, “Knocking at the Door,” before returning to stage for a 3-song set encore.

At one point, overwhelmed by the rocking energy in the house, Kerman admitted that he was getting emotional. This may have inspired his offstage mini-tour through the crowded floor and up into the arena seats, causing a dizzying frenzy of fans scurrying to point their phone cameras at the larger-than-life frontman.

Speaking of frontmen, who better to open for Arkells than Juno Award-winning Joel Plaskett, a singer-songwriter from Halifax with two decades of music in genres ranging from rock to folk, blues and pop under his belt.

Along with drummer Dave Marsh and bass player Chris Pennell, who round out the Emergency, Plaskett soared through a virtual time machine of songs from the 2001 album “Down at the Khyber,” to an unreleased work-in-progress he’s calling “Hey Moon,” a sing-along campfire song he originally wrote for the YMCA.

Plaskett has toured extensively in North America and Europe, opening for the Tragically Hip in 2004 and collaborating with Arkells on the recent single, “Something’s Gotta Give,” which he performed with the band during the main performance.

For Ottawa fans, it was certainly an evening to savour. With any luck, you’ll catch these bands performing at a future venue near you.  In the meantime, if you ever need a boost, just flip on your favourite music streaming service to Arkells/Joel Plaskett radio and remember the house rules.

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