The world could always use a little bit more kindness, and when it comes to the Canadian music scene, the band Arkells always seems to deliver. Fellow Canadian Jamal Murray is the latest beneficiary of that kindness after the band’s lead singer, Max Kerman, gifted the Denver Nuggets superstar the new console that’s been in high demand on launch week.
As the band shared on its TikTok and later Twitter account, Murray had his wisdom teeth taken out and was searching for a console to play games on, most notably an enhanced edition of NBA 2K21. Somehow, the members of the band each ended up with one, and Kerman apparently decided to pay it forward and give it to someone who would actually put it to good use.
The length the band went to make it happen in a pandemic is actually pretty impressive, and the level of trust Kerman put in a random rideshare driver to make the delivery is notable. He sent the PS5 in an Uber from Toronto to Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario, a good 110 kilometers (just over an hour’s drive on a good day) away. Both Murray’s and the band’s stories have more videos about the exchange, and it’s a fairly wholesome endeavor all around: the driver said he’d call Kerman when he made it to Kitchener and everything.
It’s worth noting that Kerman is a huge Toronto Raptors fan, not a Nuggets fan. But Canadian basketball sticks up for its own kind here. You must now, per my editor’s request, watch Raptors head coach Nick Nurse play “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” — a standard often covered in Arkells live sets — with the band last summer after Toronto won its first NBA title.
In other news, Arkells put out an album of live songs along with a new track, “Quitting You,” earlier this year. They’re also releasing another, called “Pub Crawl” that they actually gave to a certain set of Canadian (and Western New York) bars and restaurants early in an effort to get fans to order takeout from businesses that may be struggling during a pandemic. If they order food for pickup and ask nicely, they get to hear it early.
Huge love to all the bars/resto/wineries/breweries who’ve been blasting PUB CRAWL for the past three days. And thanks to everyone who came in to pick up food and drink. Support your local when you can!
The jam is officially out at midnight tonight
pic.twitter.com/z2BEJCL42O
— ARKELLS (@arkellsmusic) November 12, 2020
Those good Canadian boys, always looking out for everyone else.