Last night's Gloryhound & the Skyhawks show was notable for a couple of reasons. One of which, as noted, was the opening set by Dave Marsh and True Love Rules. More on that in a minute.

I went down early, immediately after Survivor (about which I will only say, for the moment, that as far as this season is concerned Kipling was absolutely right, the female of the species is more deadly than the male. Or possibly just smarter) because I thought things might possibly get started a little early. And they did, because it turned out there were three acts playing last night. Busy!

First up, just after ten-thirty, was Lonnie James (don't have a MySpace link for him yet) who used to play drums for the Super Friendz. He did the solo-acoustic singer-songwriter thing, played about a dozen songs and got a good reception. I think I'd have to hear the CDs to form an opinion about him, though.

Next up was Dave Marsh with True Love Rules (Scotty on drums, Paul on bass and guitar, Tim Brennan on guitar and bass, Adam when needed on keys, and Joel Plaskett a couple of times on guitar and backing vocals.) When I arrived the bar area was so crowded I went and sat at a small table near the stage but when the second act went on the crowd sort of moved forward so I made my way back to the bar to pester Erin. The stools are more comfortable than the chair I was in originally, anyway.

I've only seen True Love Rules once before, at a show at the Seahorse, and I was favourably impressed. It's a pretty eclectic record--on different songs you might hear a reggae influence or a sort of electronic pop thing or something like that. I bought the CD at the end of the night and if I come up with some more coherent observations you'll be the first to know.

True Love Rules played about ten songs and then Gloryhound came on at probably sometime after midnight. (I generally don't wear my watch on Thursday nights, because I tend to just stay until it's over.) They ended up playing one long set and went over well--a lot of people stuck around until the end, and at one point I was treated to the sight of Joel Plaskett at the other end of the bar, air-drumming along to one of their songs.

And to bring this back to the post title, it turns out that last night was the final show in the weekly Tribeca series. The news took me by surprise (I'd have figured it out eventually...) but all things must end, and it was nice for this one to go out on a high note. Erin and I agreed we were getting a little sentimental by the end of the evening, and I think Paul thought we were crazy, but there you go.

Set List

Rockaway Beach (The Ramones, a new one to me from these guys)

"Sure don't feel the same"

Out Of Hiding

Standing Still

Bright In the Dark

On My Back

See You Round

Flee the Scene

Don't Do It (The Band)

Where I Lie

LA Woman (The Doors, with Scotty on drums)

Last Dance With Mary Jane (Tom Petty, with Harper on harmonica)

You Gotta Learn

Before You Fall

Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues (Bob Dylan, Adam: vocals and guitar, Evan: drums, Shaun: keys, Scotty: emergency running repairs on the mic stand)

Going Home (Ten Years After)

The set ended amid shoutouts from Gloryhound to the other bands on the bill, and to Tribeca and its staff for being more than great to them, and to the folks who came out regularly (a bunch of whom, led I think by Ryan, were in the process of giving the band a standing ovation at the time.)

And so it ended. Gloryhound's next scheduled show is the CD release party at the Seahorse on May 31st, after which they'll be playing several shows around the Maritimes.

I myself have no firm plans for future Thursdays, but I'm sure something will come up.

And it kind of bears repeating: it's been a lot of fun to follow this series. I've mentioned before that I generally only find out about bands after their second CD or so, and it has been really cool to watch Gloryhound closely over the past year and a bit. The Tribeca series gave them the opportunity to work out new songs and experiment, and they are definitely a tighter band now--they've gone from being a very promising band to being a very good one (not to mention kind to the elderly--thanks), and it's been a lot of fun to watch. It should be just as much fun to see where they go from here.

And on that note--see you May 31st at the Seahorse.