'I need to be the conduit for the energy': Rich Aucoin brings final parachute dance party to Halifax

Rich Aucoin hosts one of his parachute dance parties. (Source: Kelli Rip)

Rich Aucoin has two pieces of advice for anyone who comes to one of his performances

“Come hydrated and stretch before the show,” he said.

Aucoin, a Halifax-based musician, doesn’t simply put on a show for audiences; he embodies the show. His performances are characterized by his seemingly bottomless well of energy and enthusiasm. He often puts himself in the middle of the crowd, bouncing along with them and shouting out the lyrics to his songs.

“I need to be the conduit for the energy,” he said. “I’m like the electrician connecting the circuit. I’m trying to bring all the wires together.

“The more people I play for, the easier it is. Keep that feedback loop going so everyone is feeding into it. I call the show crowd karaoke.”

Aucoin has brought his electric shows across Canada for nearly 20 years, keeping clubs, universities, and festivals pulsating with raw energy. One of his signature items for the shows is his multi-coloured parachute, which he employs to create an extra level of entertainment and engagement for his fans.

“In 2009 I saw the parachute online and I said I should do something like this,” said Aucoin, who wrote one of his signature songs “Are You Experiencing?” to match the tempo he wanted for the parachute. “I first played it at the Halifax Commons for the Black Eyed Peas show.

“I’ve gone through 11 parachutes.”

Rich Aucoin hosts one of his parachute dance parties. (Source: Christopher Edmonstone)

Aucoin, who turned 40 last year, said he’s planning to enter a new stage of his career by focusing on electronic music over big-energy dance parties, which means the parachutes will soon be mothballed. He’s bringing his high-wire act back to Halifax one more time this month at the Marquee Ballroom.

“I’m going to decorate the Marquee with the other parachutes,” Aucoin said. “I sold off the first one off. I’m selling off my microphones and shirts and hat and confetti gun and anything you’ve seen me use at these shows.

“I always wanted to end it around this time. It was supposed to end last year when I turned 40, but I was going to do two more years that got robbed from us all during the pandemic. I was going to do one more tour next fall but the stress of trying to sell tickets made me go it might be more fun to end it now and next year go out playing festivals where I don’t have to be as on the hook.”

Aucoin, who started with an EP he made while playing along with the movie "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," is bringing his final parachute showcase across Canada for his “New Nostalgia” tour. His music brought him back and forth along the roads of the country as he developed his sound and performance style.

“I biked across Canada in 2007 and didn’t talk to the crowds during the shows,” he said. “I biked for eight hours to play for one person in Regina.

“I always make these rules to switch what I’m doing for the next record. For the second EP, I recorded it with as many people as possible. I can’t sit in the corner anymore and play tracks that have these pre-recorded voices unless I mask it by jumping into the audience and turning the audience into the people speaking the voices. It turned into a very interactive experience.”

Halifax-based musician Rich Aucoin launched his "New Nostalgia" tour in fall 2024. (Source: Riley Smith)

That EP, “We’re All Dying to Live” (2011), brought Aucoin newfound fame and eager fans. He followed it up with “Ephemeral” in 2014 and “Release” in 2019, among other projects. In 2022, he dropped “Synthetic Season 1,” an instrumental record with no lyrics or singing, which represented a major departure from his established style.

“The next phase is me playing my electronic music I’ve been making with these electronic house records, which is still a high-energy dance party but I’m not singing during it so it’s easier for me to sustain it as opposed to me screaming my lungs out every evening,” he said. “I’m looking to do a sit-down show. So many people have seen me and they’ve aged out of dancing under a parachute.”

Aucoin said he will wrap up this phase of his career with a few festival performances in 2025, bringing the curtain down on the iconic show after 19 years.

“If I got popular off TikTok, I would reconsider,” he said. “Barring that happening, I feel this a good natural conclusion spot.”

Halifax-based musician Rich Aucoin is pictured. (Source: Trevor Savory)

Aucoin noted the “New Nostalgia” tour will officially wrap up in Toronto in November, but the Marquee Ballroom show will be the last one over which he has full control.

“Some of the songs I play at the Marquee might be the last time I play them,” he said. “I’m playing two sets. The first set is my electronic music I’ve been working on for four years. After that we’ll play a 75-minute set.”

As he brings this stage of his career to a typically energetic end, he’s hoping for continued success as he steps through the door to the future.

“It’s definitely not over,” he said. “I’m hoping the phase has its own way of being better than this time.”

Aucoin will perform at the Marquee Ballroom on Oct. 19. Doors open at 9 p.m. and general admission costs $21. 

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