You Can't Be Us, We're Rock Stars! Our Big Night Out with Arkells

When it comes to luck, Ashley doesn’t have a lot of it. Not for winning things, anyway. So a couple of weekends ago when she was encouraged to enter an online contest through the Edge for one of their Big Night Out ordeals, she did so in jest, not expecting much from it. And yet somehow, she won.

On December 3, Ashley and nine of her friends (including Veronica, who co-captained the evening by assisting with pre-show preparations, organization and keeping Ashley from cowering away in awkward social interactions) were escorted by limo to the Phoenix Concert Theatre to check out Dinosaur Bones, the Reason, and headliner Arkells.

We were whisked past the line and up to the balcony area, where a roped off VIP section was set aside for our entourage to watch the show. Pizza and wings from Pizzaiolo were provided and the balcony housed it’s own bar so we could meet our needs without having to travel too far. The balcony, however, was also open to the nosy public who were often found trying to invade our VIP section, leading us to have to enforce our own security team (Veronica) to keep our premises clear of mooching bystanders.

Around 10:30, we were once again greeted by an Edge rep and taken down into a back room where a few members from Arkells were waiting for us. They had lost part of the band along the way, Max (vocals, guitar) informed Ashley. But it was fitting; since we had lost half our group as well, leaving behind reinforcements to man the fort while the rest of us played rock star with the band.

The next few minutes were full of nervous ramblings, photos, autograph signings and an embarrassing fall as Ashley’s feet slipped out from under her, sending her crashing down on a platform in front of the entire band. But the boys themselves were great, not only for agreeing to do something like this, but they were genuinely down to earth, cool guys. We couldn’t have anticipated a better meet and greet.

When we finally made our way back up to our section, which was once again overthrown by the general public, the Reason were just finishing their set. Ashley managed to befriend a couple of the band member’s mothers, who were welcomed into our VIP section without question, and we all waited patiently for Arkells to take the stage.

Simply put, they were awesome. We were fairly familiar with the tunes, but to see them take the stage with such energy, breathing life into songs from an album that is already two years old was pretty impressive.

We are definitely the kind of concert goers who like to be down in the scene and feel a part of the show, so to be sitting up on a balcony, detached from the crowd, and yet still drawn into the performance speaks volumes about their showmanship. And the cover of Bryan Adams’ Run to You during the encore was one of the best things we have seen in a really long time.

The night definitely ended on a high note as we all went our separate ways, the limo taking the East Enders back to where the night began.

A big thanks to the Edge and Arkells for such a wonderful night!

Images © CityGirlScapes and google images.