A couple couldn't see Arkells in St. John's. Then the singer showed up at their wedding
Newlyweds blown away by surprise performance
Stephanie and Noah Brace say they go to see Arkells every time they play in Newfoundland, but other plans meant they could not see the band last weekend in St. John's.
They were, after all, getting married.
"We usually go to see them whenever they're in town, but we were a bit busy that day," Stephanie Brace said with a laugh.
But one of Stephanie's friends came up with an idea, and sent Max Kerman, the frontman of Arkells, a direct message asking if he was by chance staying at the Delta Hotel in downtown St. John's, where the reception was being held.
As it turns out, he was.
"We get a lot of DMs asking if we can attend people's weddings and maybe play a first dance. And most of the time we can't cause we're in a different city or we have a show," Kerman told CBC News.
"Sure enough, we were staying at the Delta. And so I messaged back...[and] we co-ordinated a little bit of surprise."
Kerman made plans to get to the wedding after their concert in Churchill Park — where they were supporting festival headliners Nickelback — and was able to surprise the bride and groom at the first dance.
He performed an acoustic version of the song, And Then Some — one of Noah's favourites.
The Braces had been informed of a potential surprise, but said it was the last thing they ever could have expected.
"I saw somebody walk in with a guitar, and I was like 'Oh, was one of my friends playing a song or something? And then I saw Max's face from the Arkells, and I was just completely shocked," Stephanie said.
"It was so awesome to have everybody there and singing along with him."
"It was the last thing I was expecting," Noah Brace added. "I thought she ordered some pizza or something."
Kerman said the band gets invited to a lot of weddings but said they've only ever been able to play two because of being on tour in other places.
However, he made it very clear that the band is open to doing more in the future.
"The deal moving forward is if you are getting married in the hotel that we're staying at and we can just go down the elevator and say hello, you got a deal," he said.
"If I were booking a wedding and I wanted Arkells to play, I'd book it on the same day we're playing in town. And book us all the hotel rooms at the hotel. That's how you get us there, it's quite simple."
Asked if he had any advice for the couple, Kerman told them to be patient and kind with each other, and make sure to find time to dance and laugh.
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With files from Amy Feehan
