The OBGMs play The Camel on Sunday, Nov. 8

The Polaris-shortlisted Toronto punk band brings its East Coast run to a 200-capacity room, in what our records show is its first Richmond show.

Two hundred people, one loud Toronto punk band, and a Sunday night that may be the first time a lot of Richmond hears them live. The OBGMs play The Camel on Sunday, Nov. 8, at 7 p.m. Tickets are through The Camel.

We have no earlier Richmond show for the band in our records, and The Camel holds 200, so this is about as close as you'll get to a band whose last full album made a national prize shortlist in Canada.

That album is *The Ends*, released in 2020. It was shortlisted for the 2021 Polaris Music Prize, Canada's top album award, according to the band's Wikipedia entry. CBC wrote that with nothing to lose, the band "dialed up the danger," and that's a fair description of the record's speed and volume.

The band's path to punk wasn't direct. The OBGMs began in 2007 as a hip-hop production duo of Densil McFarlane and Colanthony Humphrey. Their sound turned toward punk after the two were arrested in what they've described as a racial profiling incident. Today the lineup is McFarlane on vocals and guitar, Humphrey on drums, Simon Outhit on guitar and Joe Brosnan on bass. The JUNO Awards profiled them as proof that "Black music has never been limited by genre." Early on, they were often booked on urban-music bills and had a hard time breaking into the punk scene.

Two hundred people, one loud Toronto punk band, and a Sunday night.

This date sits right in the middle of an East Coast swing. The band plays Atlanta on Nov. 6 and Charlotte on Nov. 7, and after Richmond heads north to Baltimore on Nov. 11, Philadelphia on Nov. 12, Boston on Nov. 13 and Brooklyn on Nov. 14. Richmond gets them on the third night in a row, warmed up and road-tight but not yet worn down.

A band like this belongs in a small room. The OBGMs' songs are short and they hit hard, and in a 200-person space the line between the stage and the crowd gets thin quickly. If you've only heard *The Ends* on headphones, this is a different experience.

Practical notes: with a 7 p.m. start on a Sunday, you'll be home at a reasonable hour. Openers and door details aren't on our listing yet, so check The Camel's site before you go. At 200 capacity, buying ahead is the safer bet.

Go early, stand close, and maybe give your Monday a little slack.

Sources: The OBGMs (Wikipedia) (en.wikipedia.org); With nothing to lose, the OBGMs dialed up the danger (CBC) (cbc.ca); The OBGMs Prove Black Music Has Never Been Limited by Genre (The JUNO Awards) (junoawards.ca); The OBGMs (CBMA) (thecbma.com); The Camel (thecamel.org)