It’s been years in the making — Hamilton’s Arkells are finally back home

Hamilton's favourite rock band is back in town Saturday. After two years of cancellations due to the pandemic, The Rally" is ready to shake the city with their biggest concert yet.

We have been dreaming about this day, like it's Christmas," said Arkells lead singer Max Kerman. The coolest part is that the tickets sold so well that we added more seats. A couple of weeks ago, we added like 3,000 more general admission seats on the floor because we sold through the first batch so quickly."

Kerman said the week anticipating the concert at Tim Hortons Field, is the band's busiest week of the year. The concert obviously is a big undertaking. There's a lot of details there that go into that. But there's a bunch of other programing around the weekend that is also quite detail extensive. We are very hands on in every part of it."

More than an Arkells concert, The Rally" is willing to highlight the best of Hamilton and bring the community together. From free public transportation to the concert to a bike ride with the band to the stadium.

We named it The Rally' because it's our big hometown show and it felt more like a festival than just a normal concert. We tried to think like what's the most succinct word for what that represents and (is) trying to convey," said Kerman.

The band collaborates with small businesses, charity organizations, Hamilton Flea (a curated collection of local artists), and of course, the Ticats. Besides the party happening inside the stadium, a ticket-free artist vendor market will be open to the public from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. located at Gate 1 of the stadium.

It all felt very sort of community facing and trying our best to celebrate all the people that do all the heavy lifting in our city. And, you know, we start The Rally' with that spirit."

This year K. Flay, who has a song with Arkells You Can Get It," Juno Award-winner Haviah Mighty and Mt. Joy will be sharing the stage with Arkells.

Haviah - she's amazing and has opened so many of Arkells shows. She's a very celebrated young female MC and a kindred spirit. And Mt. Joy is just a great timeless Americana folk band with a couple of songs that even if you don't think you know them you know, they're one of those kind of bands," said Kerman.

With a new song coming out this week, the show's set list might bring some surprises. Dance with you' features Aly&AJ, Coeur De Pirate and sung in French by Kerman.

We'll see if we get to in the set. I love French music. If Paul McCartney can sing in French on the show then I can give it a go as well. It's a real dance, disco song. It's very exciting for us," said Kerman.

There is no question Arkells are working hard to make June 25 the best weekend of summer. But what happens on the big day?

I try to get a good night's sleep and then I have another nap. I usually try to not eat anything for about 4 hours before the concert, just so I feel and athletic by the time we hit the stage. The show itself should be really fun. Honestly, it's like all the other stuff that's a lot of work," said Kerman.

Is there a 2023 Rally already in the making?

Probably, we're on to the next thing. I think we'll take the day off, and then on Monday, we'll get back to it."

Don't Blink Twice" - pun intended on the title of the new album - or you might miss everything Arkells have been up to over the past two years. Besides a new album coming later this year, which Kerman called an adventurous" one, the band is gifting Hamilton with The Rally Court" a brand new basketball court at Woodlands Park.

That kind of came from the idea of when we go on tour, we like to play basketball at local parks and meet people in the neighbourhood, whether it's New York or Chicago or New York or L.A. I realized in Hamilton there wasn't any places that had professional grade glass backboards in any of the city parks. So we were like Oh, what if we refurbished a court?'

The celebrations start on Friday, the unveiling of the court will count with Eva Rothwell, a non-profit charitable organization focused on afterschool programs and Liberty for Youth, a not-for-profit charitable organization that provides a prevention and intervention mentoring programs.

We are going to have a ceremonial tip off. Nick Nurse is going to be there, Superfan Nav Bhatia and The Foxcroft Family. We're also getting some players from the Canada basketball team. It's going to be awesome. And I'm going to play and we're going to have a bit of a pickup game," said Kerman.

Over 25,000 tickets have been sold so far, but Kerman said it's still possible to get a seat. This is going to be the biggest show we've ever played and we're adding more seats now. So if anybody's looking for tickets, we were we're trying to serve everybody." said Kerman.

Beatriz Baleeiro is a reporter at The Spectator.bbaleeiro@torstar.ca

The Rally

When: Saturday, June 25.

Line up: Haviah Mighty 5:30 p.m., K. Flay 6:15 p.m., Mt. Joy 7:30 p.m. and Arkells 9 p.m. Doors open at 4:30 p.m.

Where: Tim Hortons Field, 64 Melrose Ave N.

Ride To The Rally with Hamilton Bike Share: June 25, departing from Gore Park to The Rally Market (Tim Hortons Field) at 12:45 p.m.

Pre-show Market: 11 a.m. to 4.p.m outside Tim Hortons Field Cannon Street entrance at Gate One.

Tickets: Available at Ticketmaster.ca. A dollar from every ticket sold is going to Indwell in partnership with PLUS1, a Hamilton charity that creates affordable housing communities.