Baby’s Day Out: Ollie Meets Arkells

October 21, 2018September 8, 2019 Joshua Baby, Baby's First, Music, Toronto

Ollie had his first rock & roll meet and greet on Friday when we ventured into Toronto to see Arkells at their Rally Cry pop up at Union Station!

The trip into the city to see the band was our first daddy/baby solo outing, so there were a lot of feelings and some anxiety and excitement and worry going into the day, and throughout our adventure, but it was worth it.

We left home in the early afternoon and made the walk from our condo to the Pickering GO station, caught the train, and were on our way. This wasn’t Ollie’s first GO train trip, so that was a bonus. When we got on the train I pulled him out of his seat and he sat on my lap for a few stops. There was a lot of looking around, we went and sat at a window seat for a couple minutes to look at Lake Ontario, and then settled back in.

Another lucky break was that baby boy was ready for a nap. Jess and I both figured that he’d fall asleep on the walk to the train station, and we were both wrong. But when I put him back in his seat on the train he quickly closed his eyes and faded away into dreamland. In fact, he fell so deeply into his nap that he barely flinched when I buckled him back in and put on his headphones as we approached our Union Station stop!

Note: We were fortunate to have mama’s blessing and help in getting ready, getting Ollie fed, and making sure all of our t’s were crossed and i’s were dotted so we could make it happen.

My dude continued his nap as we started our wait in line, and woke up with near perfect timing when we were joined by his auntie Trish (my partner at thereviewsarein.com). Together the three of us stood and crept forward in line. Ollie did a lot of looking around with his big bright eyes, and caught the attention of a lot of people standing in line waiting for their turn to meet the Arkells on the stage in the middle of Union’s west wing. And without fail, smiles spread across the face of those who saw him, saw how adorable he looked in his denim jacket, beanie, and headphones.

As we stood in line, we reached bottle time for the baby. At first I was looking around for benches (all full of people) or someplace to take him to sit. But Trish suggested we just give it a try in line. So we pulled out the bottle from the baby backpack (we LOVE this diaper bag!!! Click here to see it), screwed on the nipple, and my guy ate like a champ while we stood amongst the crowd.

What I didn’t anticipate, and should have, was the length of time that we’d be in line. In my head I thought that we’d get there a half hour before the 3pm event, get a good spot in line, and be out of there by 4pm. Not so much. We bought our albums, and made our way to the front of the line as the clock neared 5pm. Ollie was starting to get sleepy again, but wasn’t making a fuss. And the closer we got to the stage, the more attention he got.

Note: Dads, remember to send updates to moms when you’re out on solo adventures. Especially the first one! I was caught up in the excitement and holding Ollie and didn’t text Jess until I looked at my phone and she was asking for updates. That’s my bad. I dropped the ball. Don’t be like me on that one!

The Universal Music Canada team was doing a great job of capturing the event for socials and we assume future content, and when we got to the very front of the line, they were pretty locked in on Ollie. At least three cameras captured him in photos and videos, each one of them smiling as they did it. And then it got really fun.

Arkells meet and greet Rally Cry launch event

As part of the Rally Cry album launch fun, the Arkells and their team were printing lyrics and logos on t-shirts that fans brought with them to the pop up. It was a cool idea, fitting perfectly with the first track on the album, Hand Me Downs. I brought a white onesie with us and had it out and ready as we got closer and closer to our turn. What we didn’t know is that as we were getting closer, they were nearing the end of their stock.

In what felt like a flash, a team member spotted the onesie, told us that they were running low, and grabbed it. We didn’t pick a design, we didn’t ask for anything specific, heck, we didn’t ask for anything, they just went for it. And they were excited. A video camera even tracked Ollie’s onesie to the printing machine. And when it came out (looking amazing) there were more smiles on event staff faces than we had seen all day.

After some quick photos were snapped of the newly updated threads, Oliver and I were on the little pop up stage with Arkells.

Max, Mike, Anthony, Tim, and Nick were great as we stepped up to meet them. There were smiles and Max leaned in to say hi, and I don’t remember what was said, but the laugh that Anthony is giving in one photo might be my new favourite thing.

All five dudes signed my LP, the seven of us posed for photos (a lot more photos than I think other people had taken) and we said our thank yous and congratulations on the album and were done.

Like a lot of things in life, the anticipation and waiting was massively longer than the actual moment. But in that moment (if only for a moment – Arkells lyrical reference) everything was amazing.

On Instagram I posted some photos and wrote in the caption that he was a superstar. And he was. I told him he was my hero. And he was. But not for the attention he got or the love that people were showing him, for how he handled all of it. The mundane standing in line, the changing his diaper on the men’s room floor (seriously, Union Station has had millions of dollars in renovations, but no change table in the men’s room?!), the strange faces looking at him all day, he handled it all without a fuss or crying or anything else. He’s my hero.

The first time I met the Arkells I was interviewing Max and Mike at WayHome 2016. This time, 2+ years later, I stood with my baby boy in my arms and said congratulations to the band, 16 hours after posting the review for their new album.

Life, right?

By the way, Rally Cry is a really good album from Arkells. The guys did a great job writing and putting together these 10 songs and we look forward to seeing them played live on tour next year and beyond.

Here’s that album review at thereviewsarein.com -> Rally Cry: Arkells Album Review

Final thanks go to Jess for being cool with me and Ollie making the trip, Trish for coming to hang out with us, help maneuver in line and loving the baby, Universal Music Canada for showing Ollie some love on social media and being great to us, and Max, Mike, Anthony, Tim, and Nick of Arkells for being good dudes that make good rock & roll.