The Morning Report tour named after their fourth studio album, rolled into town on February 13th 2017. 3,000 "Private School Girls" and "Private School Boys" packed into TD arena for a night of dancing and live music.
Morning Report Is In!
The night kicked off at 8pm as Frank Turner took the stage, hailing from the United Kingdom. Turner brought his alternative rock sound with the crowd singing along as he powered through his hits from "I Still Believe" all the way to his last tune of the night "Four Simple Words".
Turners energy and distinct vocals shined through in every song he played, engaging with the audience and even bringing a fan on stage at one point to join him by playing the harmonica. Using his witty humour, and wording while teaching the fan how to actually play the harmonica, and the result was pretty incredible.
This wasn't Frank Turner's first visit to the Nation's Capital with an earlier visit in 2016 to the Bronson Centre. With familiar fans, and new ones joining along with every tour stop, there is no doubt that we will see him again in Ottawa soon.
It wasn't until a few minutes after 9 when Max and the boys casually strolled on stage for their set which lasted about two hours. Kicking off the set with "A Little Rain (Song for Pete)" from their latest album "Morning Report" got everyone in the stands up on their feet and dancing, and singing along.
Hailing from Hamilton, Ontario and their name deriving from Arkell Street in Hamilton. The boys have been all over Canada and toured a bit in the States. This wasn't their first trip to the Nation's Capital. Their last trip up here was when they visited Ottawa University for a smaller crowd of roughly 500-600 people. The energy the boys give off is the same with all their shows. Whether it be to a crowd of 100 or to a crowd of 3,000 the energy level is always cranked up to 100.
The set consisted of hits from their albums "Michigan Left", "High Noon" and "Morning Report" and a few from "Jackson Square". When going to an Arkells show, you have to expect three things, crowd surfing, strobe lighting and Max ending up somewhere in the back of the audience for a song or two.
There was not one point in the show when you didn't feel the ground shake beneath your feet from all the dancing. With everyone on their feet, and energy levels high, there wasn't a single person not on their feet singing the words back.
Before jumping into performing "Hung Up", Max talked about the political state the USA is in by voicing his opinion on how Trump is (to put it in G-rated words) "Not the President US Needs"; then showing his love for all those who attended the Women's March in Ottawa, and his love for everyone who attended a women's march, and shown their support for those who need it now. The crowd cheered in agreement.
The main set was drawing to a close, when they started to play some older tracks, such as "On Paper" and "Book Club". Though they couldn't leave the night without playing their latest single "My Heart's Always Yours" and the debut track "Private School".
It wasn't long before the fans cheering brought them out for their encore, to which Max came out and did an acoustic rendition of "Whistle Blower" before the rest of the guys joined in on stage for "Cynical Bastards" and the final cap off of the night "Leather Jacket" which was their first number one hit on the Canadian Alternative Music charts and number two on the Canadian Rock charts, with the audience knowing every word, singing and dancing along. The energy was still beaming at the end of the show.
So the verdict is in, and I'd say that Max K, Mike D, Nick D, Tim O, and Anthony C, rocked the house, and the fans shook the ground from all the dancing. It was an incredible night, and I am certain this won't be the last time the boys roll into Ottawa.
Until Next time Arkells.
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