Arkells are no openers. They proved themselves as headliners when they returned to the Ottawa Civic Centre for Pandamonium March 28.
“We played this event two years ago with Girl Talk. This year we’re playing with Lights,” said lead singer Max Kerman. ”So you guys have to be a lot louder!”
The crowd happily obliged as Arkells and Lights belted out an upbeat cover of Hall & Oates’ “You Make My Dreams Come True” on stage together.
Arkells wasted no time once they took the stage, breaking into the building of chords of “Whistleblower.”
The crowd was right there with them, singing along, crowd surfing and raising people onto their shoulders.
Arkells have come a long way over the past two years. They won a Juno for new group of the year in 2010 and this time around, they’re nominated for rock album of the year.
This is the first time Pandamonium, a joint year-end concert with the University of Ottawa and Algonquin College, was a Juno event.
The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences approached Carleton University Student Association (CUSA) vice-president (student life) David Tapiero about the possibility of a partnership between the year-end concert and the Junos.
Tapiero said he hoped to set a record and bring out 3,000 people. The turnout fell short but hundreds of students still came out for the event.
Arkells weren’t the only Juno-nominated stars to grace the stage. The lineup included Juno-nominated electro pop star Lights and East Coast rapper Classified — headliners in their own right.
Classified emerged out of the darkness after the lights went out right before 8 p.m. He blitzed through a 15-song set, spitting rhymes off his new album Handshakes and Middle Fingers, which is up for rap recording of the year.
He hyped up the crowd with stage antics from pouring a beer for a crowd member to smoking a joint on stage to the cheers of “weed lovers.”
He travelled back in time, rapping over as the DJ remixed Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, the Wu-Tang Clan and Outkast’s ‘90s hits and then wrapped up his set with his own song, “O Canada” that had the crowd on their feet.
The crowd lost momentum when it came to Lights’ performance. The 24-year-old couldn’t seem to get the crowd dancing even after whipping out her electric guitar. Bouts of crowd surfing erupted and the crowd finally clapped and danced along to “Siberia.”
Carleton disco-rock quartet Tympanic, along with Montreal pop-rock band On a créé UN MONSTRE, took the stage as the two opening acts.
However, it was clear from the start who the crowd was there to see.
Kayla Bear, a third-year journalism student, said she saw Arkells two years ago at Pandamonium and came out just for them.
“They’re Canadian and their references are too, so I can relate to [their music],” she said.
She added she liked them even more after meeting them.
“They are really down to Earth,” she said.
Arkells got to know the crowd really well throughout the night. They joked with the crowd , shared tales of college life and even invited them out to the Elgin Street Diner after the show.
The crowd just didn’t want them to leave so Arkells played two encores, “John Lennon” and “This Little Light of Mine” before leaving the crowd with a bit of advice they said has brought them to where they are today.
“Whatever you guys do from here on out, do what you love,” Kerman said.
