It was a brisk, sunny November afternoon in Minesing, ON—a small community of 600 people, tucked away over 100 kilometres north of Toronto—when an MX-5 in Racing Orange carefully backed out of Jenn’s garage, soon to be replaced by drums, keyboards, guitar amplifiers and one of Canada’s most beloved rock bands.
But what led to this moment?
For Mazda, it started with a belief that we all seek out experiences that move us. The kind that are worth circling on a calendar and waiting months for, or even driving across the country to experience in person. It’s no surprise, then, that we believe that nothing moves you like live music.
Every live performance creates a rare opportunity to experience something that is meant for only those who are there in the moment. Even on a cross-country tour with dozens of stops along the way, no two performances will ever be exactly alike. Each night, the shared connection between the artist and the audience may exist only for a brief time, but it can leave an impression that lasts a lifetime. As they say, “You just had to be there.”
“You can’t pay money for these type of things. It’s just once-in-a-lifetime.”
KELSEY MCKIBBON, FAN WHO ATTENDED THE SHOW
It’s this unique, yet fleeting experience that fans go to great lengths to seek out. Some travel for hundreds or even thousands of kilometres for a chance to see their favourite band perform live, even if it’s from way up high in a stadium’s rafters. It’s these massive venues that most popular bands tend to find themselves playing night in and night out, often in front of sellout crowds in the tens of thousands—as convention goes, the bigger the band, the bigger the stage. But at Mazda, doing what’s conventional has never been quite our style.
So what happened when we turned a Mazda owner’s garage into a stage in a small town that big bands often overlook?
The first-ever Mazda De-Tour was held in late November in one lucky Mazda owner’s home in Minesing, located in the township of Springwater, Ontario. Hidden over 100km north of Toronto, Minesing is a small community that you’re unlikely to find written on the back of any major artist’s tour t-shirt. But for one night, we brought a live performance unlike any other right to their backyard—or more accurately, right to their garage.
Introducing the evening’s headliner: one of Canada’s most popular and beloved rock bands, Arkells. Earning the moniker, “Canada’s favourite touring band,” Arkells has spent the better part of two decades playing packed arenas across Canada, along with tours of the United States and Europe. Earlier this summer, the band played its their biggest headlining show ever in front of a stadium of over 24,000 fans in their hometown of Hamilton, ON.
“On this tour, we’re playing mostly major markets. But we’re taking a detour and playing a garage.”
MAX KERMAN, LEAD SINGER OF ARKELLS
For Arkells, playing in a garage also had an element of nostalgia to it. It was not only an opportunity to return to their roots as band, but to remember imagining filling their own garage with their dream car one day.
“When I think back to the pandemic, we tried to stay busy. Mike bought himself a 1993 Mazda Miata, his dream car. And I ended up going back to my parents’ house, and we jammed in a garage,” says Kerman. “[Mazda] combined those two things…a love of the car and wanting to get together with friends and that’s what we’re doing here today.”
Around 4:30pm, a crowd limited to just over 100 people began to arrive at the venue, Jenn’s garage, the location of which was a tightly-kept secret until the last possible moment. It wasn’t long before the garage doors opened and the show began.
Arkells invited the crowd to join them inside the garage as they played their opening number, “Come to Light.” The band continued with a setlist filled with their hits and fan-favourites from throughout their career, including “Past Lives,” “Leather Jacket,” and “Knocking at the Door,” which was featured in a recent Mazda TV commercial. Throughout the show, fans moved to the music, danced and sang along. After their set, the band bid the audience goodnight as the garage doors closed once again, sending fans home with a smile and the memories of a truly unique experience.
Words Kyle Carpenter / Images Nathan Nash / Film Mark Myers