The Kimberley Curling Club will be hosting legendary Canadian hardcore punk rock band D.O.A. for a show on Friday, Sept. 8, as part of a fall tour of Western Canada and the Pacific northwest.
With a longevity dating back to their formation in the late 1970s, the Vancouver-based group fronted by Joe Keithley has released 18 studio albums and brought their brand of punk rock activism to stages around the world.
And nearly 40 years since its inception, the band’s connection with the audience keeps everyone young.
“It’s like anything, if you stop doing stuff and stop learning, that’s really when you start growing older, especially mentally. So, to me, you gotta get out there, see the world, play places you’ve been before, play places you haven’t played before,” said Keithley. “And the way I look at this…I know we’ll be back but I try to treat every show like, ‘You know what, who knows? This might be the last time I’m in this town so I’m going to give it everything I got’ and everyone in the band is the same way.
“Let’s just rip this place apart and do what D.O.A. is meant to do.”
D.O.A. currently consists of Keithley (guitar/lead vocals), with Mike Hodsall (bass) and Paddy Duddy (drums).
In the spirit of folk music as a protest against the issues of the day, so too was that ethos entwined with the rise of the hardcore punk rock scene, with D.O.A. at the forefront in the 1980s.
“Put it this way, when I started out, we were fighting against racism, greed, sexism and hate,” Keithley said. “Now, 45 years later, we’re still fighting against racism, greed, sexism and hate, the same things, right? Things haven’t changed.
“In some ways things have gotten marginally better, other things have gotten worse.”
The band’s latest record, Treason, was released in 2020 as a scathing indictment of Donald Trump, the treatment of refugees, and a re-imagined take on Neil Young’s ‘My, My, Hey, Hey.’
Without giving too much away, Keithley said the band is hard at work on a new album, joking that his kitchen island and table were covered with song lyrics and notes ahead of rehearsals in November and recording in early December.
In late January, the band is also heading down to Brazil for some more shows.
Beyond the band’s tour, Keithley will also be doing some solo shows in Ontario this fall in support of his solo album ‘Stand’ which he described has a more “rootsy-acoustic” feel.
Also in the works is the upcoming release of a documentary, ‘Something Better Change’ looking at the rise of D.O.A. and Keithley’s entrance into Burnaby’s municipal politics seven years ago. The hope is to debut the project at the Sundance Film Festival and SXSW (South by Southwest) Film Festival next year.
Keithley successfully ran for Burnaby city council in 2018, taking the last seat by a 215-vote margin, and held on to his seat following the 2022 election cycle.
Keithley’s priorities in the last election included affordable housing, fighting climate change and keeping taxes low.
And while a stage provides the outlet to rage against the issues facing the the world, Keithley is still able to bring the spirit of D.O.A. into city hall chambers.
“My ideals about helping people hasn’t changed,” Keithley said. “The one thing that’s different, I’m not in there with a leather jacket or a guitar, I’m wearing a suit.”
Tickets for the show (+19) at the Kimberley Curling Club are $35 at the doors, which open at 8 p.m.. Tickets ahead of the show are $30 and can be purchased at Berley Skate in Kimberley and Cranbrooklyn Ink in Cranbrook.
trevor.crawley@cranbrooktownsman.com
Sign up for the Cranbrook Townsman’s newsletter here to have local stories delivered straight to your inbox every morning.
