Concert Review: Arkells Spark A Rally Cry At Irving Plaza

Arkells know HOW TO PARTAY!!!!!!!!!!!! (Says In Kristen Wiig Voice!) When someone goes to the second balcony of a building to publicly announce, “You need a doctor’s note to take off tomorrow!” because you are going to be exhausted from fun, they are setting themselves up. You fully expect to have the juice of Life squeezed out you from dancing and singing so much. Well, by the end of the night, everyone at Irving Plaza was pressed fruit because the Arkells’ had exhilaratingly taken their energy. 

Rally Cry is a perfect name for their previous album and also the band, itself. From the beginning, they waltz into the room with an ownership that, had it been a job interview, they would have gotten hired as CEOs. Everyone wishes they could own themselves enough to own a room, and “Leather Jacket,” “People’s Champ,” and “Show Me Don’t Tell Me” play to that notion, but add an extra layer; sometimes, we wish to own the room because we feel owned by it. Thus, in song and presence, Arkells promote that desirable switch we all wish to stir. in ourselves, that makes us refuse to be a wall-flower and instead become a main event.

Lead Singer Max Kerman might as well call himself Confidence Incarnate. He is jovial, friendly, and completely unfazed. He knows the crowd came for him, which means there is no negative thought or doubt that fun will be had. I know this, again, seems like an obvious detail to a performer, but it is not. Every artist has a certain energy, and Max treats the stage like his element and his bandmates like his brother in arms. They jump around, banter, and play like life is in the middle of a war, and the “good guys” need to pick up their music swords and win. Songs such as, “Never Thought This Would Happen,” “Whistle Blower,” and “Hand Me Downs” alludes to such a world and these guys are not shy about saying our current times are toxic. Yet, in that, they treat music as universal healing. 

Throughout their show, I kept on thinking of this college motto “Puke and Rally!,” which, of course, is about getting drunk and up again. Yet, I kept on thinking that their show is really about a more spiritually mature version of this motto, “Cry And Rally!” It is okay to say these times are terrifying, and Max Kernan’s voice simultaneously ignites permission with his fiery delivery while also moving you to accept the joys you still have that make you rally. For him, even in a dark room a candle burns brightest, and it is concerts like the Arkells that remind you laughter, love, and mass sing-alongs are our “candles.” For More Information On Arkells Click Here.