Great Big Sea formed in St. John's, Newfoundland in the early 1990s and built something that hadn't quite existed before: traditional Newfoundland folk music, with its 500-year-old Irish, Scottish, and Cornish roots, played with the lift and energy of a rock band. The character of the songs stayed intact. The volume went up! It was kitchen-party music that somehow thrived on mainstream radio at the same time.
"Ordinary Day," "When I'm Up," and "Mari-Mac" made them household names. The album Up went quadruple platinum in Canada. Eleven of their albums went gold. Between 1996 and 2016, they were the sixth-best-selling Canadian band in the country, full stop. The band has since retired, but the catalogue is too good to leave on a shelf.
That's where Off The Rock comes in. Anthony Clayton, Thom Danger Speirs, Sean Panting, Steve Peckford, David Skolnick, and Aaron Young have spent years on the road as Canada's go-to Great Big Sea tribute, playing the classics alongside the East Coast traditional songs that fed the original band's sound. Expect an interactive show, a lot of singing along, and the kind of evening you keep talking about for weeks.
Bring your Canada Day spirit. The kitchen party is at Peller Hall.
Peller Hall is fully accessible, with parking behind Memorial and in nearby lots, and bar service on site. Each show runs two 60-minute sets with an intermission between. Tickets are available exclusively through our box office, online or at 905-304-3232.