![Five Alarm Funk](https://media.bandsintown.com/150x150/17407339.jpg)
Five Alarm Funk Tour Dates and Upcoming Concerts
Welcome to the official artist page for Five Alarm Funk – your premier destination for
the latest concert tickets, tour announcements, and exclusive shows near you. Dive into
the music, explore the artist’s reviews and photos, and never miss another concert
moment. Stay updated, stay connected, and be the first to grab tickets for an
unforgettable musical experience.
On tour
Yes
Followers
16,641
Category
Punk, Rock, Ska, Funk, Gypsy, Latin
Concerts
Jul
27
Salmon Arm Roots & Blues Festival
Salmon Arm
Tickets
Jul
28
Shambhala Music Festival
Salmo
Tickets
Aug
03
Concerts in the Park
Terrace
Tickets
Aug
04
Five Alarm Funk Street Party
Smithers
Tickets
Aug
15
Summer in the Parking Lot
Thunder Bay
Tickets
Aug
17
Five Alarm Funk
Kakabeka Falls
Tickets
Aug
28
CR Live Streets
Campbell River
Tickets
Sep
07
CrossRoads Summer Street Festival
Prince George
Tickets
Sep
27
Roberts Creek Community Hall
Roberts Creek
Tickets
Oct
17
Bo's Bar & Stage
Red Deer
Tickets
Oct
18
Dickens
Calgary
Tickets
Oct
19
Arden Theatre
St Albert
Tickets
Oct
20
Keyano Theatre & Arts Centre
Fort Mcmurray
Tickets
Oct
23
The Exchange
Regina
Tickets
Oct
24
The Park Theatre
Winnipeg
Tickets
Oct
25
Capitol Music Club
Saskatoon
Tickets
Oct
26
Owl Acoustic Lounge
Lethbridge
Tickets
About Five Alarm Funk
Some bands want to change the world. Five Alarm Funk’s goal is much simpler.
They want you to sweat.
That’s been the idea since the first time drummer Tayo Branston, guitarist Gabe Boothroyd and the original Five Alarm bassist Neil Towers met at a Vancouver house party in 2003. Since that night, the temperature in their leafy green hometown began to rise. Other musicians started showing up to jam. The parties led to gigs locally, which led a few years later to grinding bus tours across Canada and into the States. The crowds grew. The grooves burned. A horn section jumped onboard to punch the beat harder. Percussion cranked it up even more. EPs and albums followed, as studios and gear melted down from the sheer intensity these guys unleashed.
No wonder they called their last album Sweat.
But believe it or not, Five Alarm Funk is just warming up.
To get the full picture, go back to when the future rhythm section first played together. Vancouver was definitely a musical town then, though among its grunge, alternative, indie and even jazz players one genre was conspicuous in its absence. A few young cats were aware of this but didn’t know how to correct the situation until some mysterious force pulled them into the same room at the same time.
“We all loved heavy funk like James Brown and Tower of Power” Branston explains. “But we were also inspired by everything from Tito Puente to Antibalas to Frank Zappa. Their fantastic musicianship and the amount of fun they had was incredible. We wanted that for ourselves too … but it just wasn’t going on in Vancouver at that time.”
From that point, Five Alarm Funk took shape organically. They kept jamming, welcoming like-minded colleagues to sit in, and didn’t really think about much more than having a great time through music. They didn’t even write songs in any traditional way; mostly, they picked up their instruments, kicked off a beat and winged it.
“It was never a structured thing,” Branston says. “There was no rehearsing, no writing. We were just improvising and having fun. If we ended up stumbling across something really cool, we’d maybe work it out to see if it might turn into a song. But we weren’t thinking about shows. We weren’t thinking about where this might lead us. We were just playing grooves.”
People did notice, though. They started nudging the band to try getting a set together for an actual gig. It took a while but eventually Five Alarm Funk officially debuted at a local place called The Fairview Pub. To nobody’s surprise but the guys in the band, more than 300 people showed up, hungry for funk. “It was a huge success,” Branston remembers. “That lit this fire in us, like, ‘Wow, people are interested in this! This is something Vancouver needs. Maybe we can make this happen!”
From the Fairview, they moved to Richards On Richards, a venerable venue with a bigger capacity of up to 800 people. Five Alarm packed it again and again until closing night. Word spread throughout British Columbia and after that throughout Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Now, keep in mind this isn’t at all like some outfit from Philly picking up work in nearby Baltimore or New York. “Canada is huge,” Branston points out. “From Vancouver the closest city is probably three and a half hours away — and those are smaller towns. The closest big city is Calgary, which is about an 11-hour drive.”
That didn’t even slow them down. Grueling van tours turned into even more grueling van tours that eventually grew into a 36-day, cross-continental trek involving some 30 shows from Vancouver to Fredericton. They crossed over to the States a few times too, initially to nearby markets including Seattle, Bellingham and a little later to Portland. They issued albums and EPs too; leading by 2010 to the affirmatively titled Anything is Possible.
That’s when things started exploding for real. They pumped their energy across the Pacific, with a performance in Taiwan that promises to be the first of many in years ahead. They also pushed deeper into the U.S., as far south as Chattanooga, where in 2017 they blew the roof off the Riverbend Festival — or would have, had there been a roof overhead.
And now Five Alarm Funk amps up the heat with an ambitious project that involves raiding their own catalog and inviting some of their heroes to join them. Long known for their percussive gang vocals, they’ve have amassed a library of largely instrumental, chant-punched performances. The first of these is a match they might only have dreamed of when they were just starting to rock those house parties.
“I’ve been a Bootsy Collins fan ever since I was 15,” Branston marvels. “That track we gave him, ‘Capital City,’ is one of the funkiest things we’ve ever cut. With that experience and our back catalog, you’ll see a lot more of this from us.”
Future releases and reissues with all-star rappers and funksters. Sights set on bringing their magic to festivals throughout the world. More sweat, more dancing … more Five Alarm Funk.
That’s global warming as it ought to be.
Follow on Bandsintown
Genres
Punk, Rock, Ska, Funk, Gypsy, Latin
Band members
Tayo Branston – Drums/Vocals, Tom Towers - Congas, Oliver Gibson - Guitar, Gabe Boothroyd - Guitar, Kent Wallace – Trumpet
Photos
![concert photo](https://media.bandsintown.com/300x300/15303281.webp)
![concert photo](https://media.bandsintown.com/300x300/14348901.webp)
![concert photo](https://media.bandsintown.com/300x300/9439053.webp)
![concert photo](https://media.bandsintown.com/300x300/8591250.webp)
What fans are saying
Ronda
Five Alarm Funk never fails so blow me away. Amazing music and then the entertainment!!! These guys are snowmen to say the least.
Blue Grotto
Kamloops, Canada
Feb 23, 2018
Mak
Absolutely fantastic, came to sweat and I sure did, what a show!!
Bridgeworks
Hamilton, ON
Aug 06, 2022
Kelly Mackenzie
Good ‘ol face washing. Amazing. High energy, so fun. Couldn’t stop dancing.
Roberts Creek Community Hall
Roberts Creek, BC
Mar 04, 2023
Brieann
Always so funkin fun! Great crowd and awesome intimate venue!
Wild Bill's Legendary Saloon
Banff, Canada
Oct 17, 2018
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Five Alarm Funk Tour Cities
Terrace, BC
Salmon Arm, BC
Red Deer, AB
Winnipeg, MB
Thunder Bay, ON
St. Albert, AB
Fort McMurray, AB
Campbell River, BC
Regina, SK
Lethbridge, AB
Prince George, BC
Smithers, BC
Calgary, AB
Saskatoon, SK
Frequently Asked Questions About Five Alarm Funk
Concerts & Tour Date Information
Is Five Alarm Funk on tour?
Yes, Five Alarm Funk is currently on tour. If you’re interested in attending an upcoming
Five Alarm Funk concert, make sure to grab your tickets in advance. The Five Alarm Funk tour
is scheduled for 17 dates across 14 cities. Get
information on all upcoming tour dates and tickets for 2024-2025 with Hypebot.
How many upcoming tour dates is Five Alarm Funk scheduled to play?
Five Alarm Funk is scheduled to play 17 shows between 2024-2025. Buy
concert tickets to a nearby show through Hypebot.
When does the Five Alarm Funk tour start?
Five Alarm Funk’s tour starts Jul 27, 2024 and ends on Oct 26, 2024.
They will play 14 cities; their most recent concert was held in
Salmon Arm at Salmon Arm Fair and their next upcoming concert
will be in Salmon Arm at Salmon Arm Fair.
What venues is Five Alarm Funk performing at?
As part of the Five Alarm Funk tour, Five Alarm Funk is scheduled to play across the following
venues and cities:
2024 Tour Dates:
Jul 27 - Salmon Arm,
BC @ Salmon Arm Fair
Jul 28 - Salmo,
BC @ Salmo River Ranch
Aug 03 - Terrace,
BC @ George Little Park
Aug 04 - Smithers,
BC @ Bulkley Valley Brewery
Aug 15 - Thunder Bay,
ON @ Da Vinci Centre
Aug 17 - Kakabeka Falls,
ON @ Amberlite Wilderness Resort
Aug 28 - Campbell River,
BC @ Tidemark Theatre
Sep 07 - Prince George,
BC @ CrossRoads Brewing & Distillery
Sep 27 - Roberts Creek,
BC @ Roberts Creek Community Hall
Oct 17 - Red Deer,
AB @ Bo's Bar & Stage
Oct 18 - Calgary,
AB @ Dickens
Oct 19 - St Albert,
AB @ Arden Theatre
Oct 20 - Fort Mcmurray,
AB @ Keyano Theatre & Arts Centre
Oct 23 - Regina,
SK @ The Exchange
Oct 24 - Winnipeg,
MB @ The Park Theatre
Oct 25 - Saskatoon,
SK @ Capitol Music Club
Oct 26 - Lethbridge,
AB @ Owl Acoustic Lounge