On Jan. 23, Canadian indie rock band Tokyo Police Club (TPC) announced their farewell tour, and on Oct. 12, they played for the last time in Montreal, a city with strong ties to their beginnings as a band. The news of their breakup was met with overwhelming support from fans. Hailing from Newmarket, Ontario, high school friends Dave Monks (lead vocals and guitar), Graham Wright (keyboard and guitar), Josh Hook (guitar), and Greg Alsop (percussion) formed TPC in 2005. Nearly 20 years later, the band has released eight albums and captured the hearts of countless fans.
Before TPC could say their goodbyes to Montreal, the Toronto-based indie rock band Born Ruffians opened with an energetic set. Even if they were unfamiliar faces to some audience members, their music still had people moving and singing along with their friends. The longtime friends of TPC celebrated the band’s career, and by their last song, the crowd’s energy was palpable.
People eagerly awaited TPC’s arrival, erupting into raucous applause the moment the band stepped onstage. Kicking off the set with “Argentina (Parts I, II, III),” the band’s passion for performing shone through. When not playing, Wright danced around on stage, having fun with both the audience and his bandmates. Hook and Monks also moved around the stage, making sure to include Alsop in the fun. Their setlist featured songs from all eras of their discography, including their biggest hits and fan-favourites like “End of a Spark” and “Nature of the Experiment.”
Between songs, they celebrated Montreal as their honourary second home and a major part of their origin story. In 2006, they performed at POP Montreal, a not-for-profit music festival. Monks attended McGill at the time, so all four band members crammed into his Gardner Hall dorm room. Shortly after, the band signed with Toronto-based label Paper Bag Records and released their debut record A Lesson In Crime. Both Monks and Alsop dropped out of school to pursue music, and this risky decision has evidently paid off: TPC has performed on Late Night with David Letterman and at festivals like Osheaga and Coachella, making themselves a household name in Canada and beyond.
The band views this tour as a celebration of their career and friendship, and though the show had its fair share of headbanging, the stage’s small standing lights also made for a more intimate atmosphere. Near the end of the set, Monks entered the stage alone to perform “The Harrowing Adventures Of…” and “Ready To Win.” Monks wrote the latter about looking back on mistakes but finding the strength to move forward (the day after turning 30). It includes the lyric, “So turn on the house lights, turn to your left / Shake hands with someone that you’ll probably forget”—and the audience did just that. The lights came up and people who didn’t know each other shook hands before turning back to the stage to enjoy the music they all came to see. This felt especially fitting for a TPC performance, as the band expressed the desire for their music to bring people together.
TPC exited the stage after playing “Tessellate,” but the crowd chanted “Tokyo” until they returned for the encore. During “Cheer It On,” whose lyrics feature the band’s name, the audience joyfully yelled the lyrics back to them. Before closing with “Your English Is Good,” an indie-rock favourite, Monks asked the audience to wave, and the band waved back, saying their final “au revoir” to Montreal.
Throughout their performance, the band leaned on each other—literally and metaphorically—making sure to tell their fans how much this experience has meant to them. The audience members showed their love for the band with enthusiastic cheers and energetic dancing. It’s clear that even though Tokyo Police Club’s time as a band is coming to an end, their music will still have a place in Montreal, and in the hearts of many fans, both old and new.
