Hamilton Ontario Canada.. what have you birthed?! … THE ARKELLS!!! that’s what!

Canadian Rock band ARKELLS made their way into London Ontario to blow the roof off of Budweiser Gardens Along with Nashville’s own indy pop band COIN as the opener on the #RallyCryTour. Coin were incredible.. honestly, I had never heard of them before, although one of their songs I’m pretty sure i heard playing in a store once when i was shopping, it was their song “Talk To Much”. With their pop, new age kind of sound you can’t help but want to move. Pretty impressed with their set and for being an opener, I was blown away that they played almost an hour set, usually the opening band doesn’t get that long, but with 2 albums out, a great sound and only them and the Arkells on the bill… I’m glad they got that long because I was really getting into them. For the first 3 songs we were allowed to shoot pit, but to my surprise, once all 3 songs were over I was getting ready to get escorted out until Arkells came on, but out of no where we were told we could stay and shoot the rest of their set from the crowd which was a very welcomed surprise! Coin is a great band, their singer is a pleasure to watch, always moving and jumping, quick little dance moves, just over all fun to watch will definitely be watching for them to come back around again.

A large silver tassel curtain rose from the stage floor up to the top of the stage to make a large sparkling backdrop, a large sign hung reading ARKELLS TOURING BAND in the middle… stairs with a drum kit on top rolled out.. large pillars with rotating light heads in the background and some strobes… IT”S ARKELLS TIME!!!!!!!! Running out on stage Arkells opened the show with “Hand Me Downs” , what a great opener.. crowd participation right off the hop and boy oh boy did London participate singing all the “OH OHHHH OHHHHH’s “ at the top of their lungs putting a big ol ‘ smile on MAX’s face (lead singer). While there was no confetti at this show, you can be sure there will be some somewhere on this tour, actually I’m pretty sure there already has been.. I was ready for it and wanting it because while it’s very tough to photograph through.. it’s fun and can make an image great.. but while walking around the stage and runway I did not see cannons or the compressed air .. my heart sank a little.. but with a low stage and runway it was quickly picked back up with some nice wide angle shots and Max using the runway a lot. In all honesty .. this was my first time seeing Arkells live, and they did not disappoint one bit.. amazing performance, high energy, lots of movement .. such a fun band to hear, see and photography…

HUGE thank you goes out to Budweiser Gardens for having me out… couldn’t have had the opportunity without them.

- Kevin.

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