Arkells perform surprise encore late into the night at the Marquee

STORY BY BRITTANY PREOCANIN

Hamilton band Arkells surprised the pumped up crowd at the Marquee Friday night with an unexpected encore.

After an 18-plus set, which opened with Come to light, the band walked off stage and through the hallways to the back of the bar.

About 15 minutes later, band members Max Kerman (lead vocals), Mike DeAngelis (guitar) and Anthony Carone (keyboard) appeared atop a platform at the back of the bar, across from the main stage.

All they had to do was wait for the crowd to turn around and notice them.

After trying to quiet down the cheers and excitement, Max announced, “This is a social experiment,” where he would play alongside Mike and Anthony, an acoustic version of Book Club. 

https://youtu.be/2mH-CTgoqsc

With a sold out show, an estimated 450 students and guests attended the final event of #froshonfleek.

Three excited students waited outside the Marquee in the rain at 8 p.m. for doors to open at 9.

“If you see them, tell them that we’re here. There’s only three of us so I’m sure they can meet and greet us,” said Michael Mofina, a second year Industrial Design student and one of the first in line for the show.

Around 8:30 p.m. the line was packed with students waiting to experience the Arkells’ most adventurous album to date.

After opening act The River and the Road, the SSU pumped up the audience by tossing 20 SSU tees into the crowd that would give them admission to meet the Arkells after the show.

Three additional tees signed by the band were thrown into the crowd.

If she got to meet the band, first year Art Fundamentals student Janelle Lewis said, “I would tell them how great their music is.”

Another student who started listening to the Arkells when the record Michigan Left was released in 2011 hoped to meet the band as well.

“I love this band and wouldn’t it be awesome to get my record signed?” said Dillon Phantharangsy, a Bachelor of Photography student.

Whether you got a tee or not, the show was full of energy, with non-stop dancing, singing and clapping.

The interaction with the students continued through the night, from Max standing on the edge of the stage holding the mic up for students to sing into, to engaging the crowd with questions and stories between songs.

At 11:22 Max asked the audience what time it was.

After joking about not playing the song anymore and skipping to the next one, the band rocked out its new hit song 11:11.

During Oh, the boss is coming, Max asked the audience to repeat after him, “we’re punching in, we’re punching out.”

“You guys sound like a bunch of rich kids from Oakville, can you pretend for one second that you’re from Hamilton? We’re punching in, we’re punching out,” shouted Max, as the audience laughed and cheered.

It wasn’t his only shout out to Hamilton, as many of the lyrics from the Arkells new record High Noon—recorded in Hamilton at an empty nightclub, originally an old spice factory—are politically charged with roots from their hometown.

After all, Max walked on stage wearing a Tiger-cats t-shirt.

They rehearsed on Arkell Street while attending McMaster and became the Arkells in 2008.

Their show at Sheridan on Friday was the only frosh event they performed for this year, sending the crowd into cheers as the night at the Marquee came to an end.

The Arkells closed with a three-song encore, and their hit Leather Jacket just after midnight.

“We found we loved doing these shows because we felt the excitement in the air,” said Max.

“We feel honored that we get to share this with you tonight; you have been an incredible audience. Have a great semester, love each other, don’t work too hard.”