Hailed as one of 2021’s buzziest bands, Canadian heavy alt-rock duo cleopatrick are set to play a sold-out show on Saturday, December 11th at TheDanforth Music Hall in Toronto. That evening, the Cobourg-based two-piece, who have amassed over 80 million streams via Spotify alone, will be celebrating the release of their groundbreaking, self-produced, critically acclaimed debut LP BUMMER(Nowhere Special Recordings/Thirty Tigers). This not to be missed concert will start at 8 pm ET with cleopatrick hitting the stage at 9:30 pm ET. Opening for cleopatrick at The Danforth will be Ready The Prince and Heaps. cleopatrick also recently announced that they will be direct support for Royal Blood’s 2022 North American tour. Kicking off with a Toronto play at HISTORY on April 18th, the Canadian portion of the tour will also include dates in Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver. Tickets are available to purchase HERE. Tour artwork and a list of Canadian dates are below.
Written, recorded and produced by cleopatrick and their close friend Jig Dubé of Ottawa punk band Zig Mentality, BUMMER, which dropped in June 2021, sees the band harnessing all the magic they’ve been brewing over their two-decade friendship and funneling it into a record that aims to re-invigorate the rock landscape from the ground up. Featuring the brash, groove-heavy, distortion-rich single “THE DRAKE”, (which landed the talented duo on Spotify’s marquee New Music Friday Billboard at Yonge and Dundas Square in Toronto), the bold, swagger-filled fan favourite single “FAMILY VAN” (video game, PowerPoint Presentation, official video), the riff-heavy lead single “GOOD GRIEF” and the haunting and heartfelt standout ballad “2008”, BUMMER is an album made to mean something.
“Making BUMMER, we actively spoke about it as if it would be the only chance we ever had to make an album,” shares Gruntz. “With this in the back of our minds, every note we played and every line I penned carried a tremendous weight. BUMMER is meant to capture what could be our “famous last words.”
At its heart, BUMMER is an album about two friends, who’ve been with each other since the formative first steps that adorn BUMMER’s heartwarming cover images (two pictures taken by the pair’s kindergarten teacher from when Luke and Ian accidentally showed up to school in matching sweaters) and made something that’s a testament to the power of sticking to your guns.
“To look back and reflect on the people we were at the start of all this when it was a pipedream and still feel like the same people, that feels cool. Although there’s a lot that’s changed, it still feels like the same vision,” Ian smiles. “We’ve been comparing the album to the Voyager One probe – it has everything about us in it and we don’t know if people will get it or if people will care, but it feels so good to have it out there,” Luke nods. “It feels like a small way to live forever.”
About cleopatrick
Best friends since the age of 4, Luke Gruntz and Ian Fraser are cleopatrick. And while they are from (and still based) in the tiny town of Cobourg, Ontario, their sound is anything but small. The core of their mission: to restore the outspoken provocation of rock & roll through raw, abrasive honesty. Along with two other like-minded-artists (Zig Mentality and Ready The Prince) cleopatrick formed the loose DIY collective “New Rock Mafia”. Together the artist and fan collective provide location-based info, curated content and organize secret events / shows within the community, all for members only. It has been instrumental in helping the band get the word out while keeping a familial feel and a safe space for fans.
At just 23 years old, cleopatrick have proved themselves to be a genuine underground global sensation. Since releasing their sophomore EP, the boys across five singles in 2018, cleopatrick have amassed over 80 million Spotify streams, have been featured on the front cover of Spotify’s massive “Rock This”, performed at a wide range of festivals including Lollapalooza, Austin City Limits, Riot Fest and Shaky Knees, and recorded a live session at BBC’s legendary Maida Vale Studio 4. Their first international headline tour in late 2018 consisted of 38 dates across UK, Germany, France and USA, and was followed up with a completely sold out 10-date return to Europe in March 2019. Since then, the band has performed multiple headline tours across UK, France, Germany, Benelux, & LATAM included a notable support slot for Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes on their EU headline tour.
The band has been championed by the likes of FLOOD Magazine, NPR New Music, Brooklyn Vegan, The Independent, Kerrang, Guitar World, and Exclaim! to name a few. Major accolades continue to pour in from personalities including Jack Saunders (BBC Radio One), George Stroumboulopoulos, and Allison Hagendorf (Head of Rock, Spotify) as the band gears up to release their debut record.
