Ancaster’s Dan Maragno celebrated his 40th birthday watching Canadian rock stars the Arkells up close and personal in a stranger’s garage last night.
Maragno and his pal, Melanie Harrison, joined about 75 other folks — contest winners, friends and neighbours — for an hour-long private performance on Wednesday in the ample three-car garage of a home near Snow Valley, about 15 minutes northwest of Barrie.
“It was definitely worth the drive,” Maragno said after the show. “They were fantastic.”
Maragno and Harrison left Ancaster on Wednesday afternoon and drove a couple hours north to Snow Valley, as directed in an email they received after they were notified that they’d won tickets to the exclusive, surprise show.
They had no idea of what to expect.
“There wasn’t a whole lot of information, just that it was in a secret location,” Harrison said.
Arriving at Snow Valley, they signed releases, grabbed a swag bag, a hot beverage and an oversized cookie.
A rented bus wheeled them to the secret location — about five minutes east of Snow Valley, deep in the twisty, turny roads of an upscale Springwater Township subdivision.
Arriving on the street, which was sealed off by Ontario Provincial Police on both sides of the host’s home, there were food trucks, heaters and washrooms — all the items needed for an almost-outdoors gig in late November in Canada.
The home’s owner, Jennifer Volz, explained how it came to be that the Arkells, one of the country’s most popular and successful large-venue acts, ended up jamming in her garage.
“I own a Mazda dealership in Orillia,” she said. “The people from Mazda called about a month ago and asked if we could put on a surprise concert for 50 of our customers. They didn’t mention any names, but I called some of our customers to see if they’d be interested and the vast majority said they were.”
According to Neil Bouwmeester, director of marketing for Mazda Canada, the Arkells, whose music is used in the company’s commercials, have an honest connection to the brand — one of the band members owns a Miata and a CX-5, two Mazda models.
“We were looking for other ways to work together and we thought it would be great if we could bring music to smaller communities that don’t normally get serviced with large bands,” Bouwmeester said.
In the span of about 30 days, Mazda put the event together.
Max Kerman, the band’s lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist, said the relationship with Mazda came about because of events that happened during the COVID-19 pandemic.
With nowhere to play — every venue in the world was shuttered — he ended up jamming with his high school buddies in a neighbour’s garage.
At the same time, Mike DeAngelis, the band’s lead guitarist, bought his dream car — the Miata.
“But those two things together and we’re playing a gig in a garage and Mazda is hosting the whole thing,” Kerman said prior to the garage show.
Kerman said he was looking forward to playing in the garage, especially after years of playing arena shows, like the one that brings them to Barrie’s Sadlon Centre on Friday night.
“The big show is something we’re really proud of, but this has its own charm,” Kerman said. “I know I”m going to butcher the quote, but we want to a band that can play on the back of a donkey’s ass. If you’re a rock 'n' roll band that knows what it's doing, you should be able to play anywhere.
"With all the bells and whistles or in a garage."
