Arkells frontman Max Kerman explains how they got Nick Nurse to play onstage
Riding high on the heels of an NBA championship, Nick Nurse and his new-found Toronto superstardom took the stage at one of the city’s greatest concert venues.
The Raptors head coach on stage with Arkells quickly became a trending topic north of the border, with clips showing Nurse jamming with a gorgeous Fender Telecaster making the rounds online.
I was lucky enough to be at Budweiser Stage (formerly known as Molson Amphitheatre) for Nurse’s big musical debut, and man, was it loud! Arkells are always a big draw when they pull into Toronto, but the audience at the sold out venue seemed to have a little extra energy stored away for Nurse’s big, surprising moment.
nick nurse with a casual shred on stage with @arkellsmusic pic.twitter.com/K3ptdeu8pP
— Yahoo Sports Canada (@YahooCASports) June 23, 2019
Two days after the band and the coach brought the house down in Toronto, we’re learning more about how this all came to be.
Arkells frontman Max Kerman, who made an appearance on TSN’s OverDrive on Monday, shared the story about how the band and Nurse came together, which apparently began with the coach looking to procure a piano.
“A few months ago, a friend of mine at MLSE reached out because Nick’s assistant, Jenny, put a call out to see if anybody could help her find a piano for his office,” Kerman shared on the show. “So they reached out to our camp and we know some people at Roland [piano company] and we connected the dots, and they seemed to be really happy about that.”
After the Raptors won the championship, Kerman says he sent Nurse’s assistant a quick message to invite him out to last weekend’s show — as a performer, as a guest or whatever Nurse was willing to get up to.
“And I wasn’t really thinking much of it. I assumed, you know, he’d be off on a scouting mission or on vacation somewhere but she got right back and said ‘he’s really blown away by this offer, let me check the schedule.’ And within a few days he was learning ‘Signed, Sealed, Delivered.’ He was practicing up for his big debut.
“He knew his stuff, we ran it in soundcheck and he totally delivered!”
This was my first Arkells show and as a Raptors fan, Nurse playing the Stevie Wonder classic during the Motown portion of the band’s set was definitely my favourite moment of the night, and it looks like Kerman would agree.
“Honestly it was one of the loudest things I’ve ever heard at a show,” Kerman said about Nurse’s performance. “Like right from the first song, people were ready to go, you know? Saturday night, we couldn’t have asked for more beautiful weather. But yeah, that [Nurse] was definitely the highlight of the night for me and probably the loudest moment. Because, you know, anything Raptors related right now just puts people in a good mood. Everyone is lit up!”
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