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
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.
- Mood:
sentimental
There is a slight possibility Joel himself might stop by and sit in.
I would so be there, if I wasn't there already. So to speak.
- Mood:
hopeful
Halifax, NS
Saturday, May 31 at 10:00pm
* GLORYHOUND @ THE PARAMOUNT
Moncton, NB
Moncton, NB
Thursday, June 5 at 10:00pm
* GLORYHOUND @ BABA'S
PEI
Charlottetown, PE
Saturday, June 7 at 10:00pm
* GLORYOUND @ THE A KHORD
NB
Saint John, NB
Thursday, June 12 at 10:00pm
* Gloryhound @ The Capital
NB
Fredericton, NB
Friday, June 13 at 10:00pm
Also, remember the CD release date is May 31! You don't want to miss that!
- Mood:
chipper
So last night Skank Williams and Realiser were playing at Gus's Pub, so I rearranged my usual Thursday plans and and went out to see them. As I explained in the Tuesday post, fully half the participants are Tribeca regulars so someone had to go and report back, right?
The show was listed as starting at ten. In my experience, this invariably means eleven, so I went ahead and watched the end of Survivor (which was kind of awesome) and then made my way downtown, arriving at about ten-thirty.
Just as well, since Skank Williams was just about to go onstage. In fact, if the sound guy hadn't gone missing they've have been onstage already when I arrived! (The sound guy was Scotty, who is too large to steal, and once again I must note that if I'd been writing this story things would have looked bad for Scotty. At least until I relented in the second draft.) Luckily Troy, Scotty's band mate and brother, stepped in to look after sound and the girls got started just after ten-thirty.
As I have mentioned before, Skank Williams is the self-proclaimed "only all-female Hank Williams cover band in the Halifax-Dartmouth area!" Which is certainly factual, but it would perhaps be more true to say they are the best all-female Hank Williams cover band in the Halifax-Dartmouth area.
( Meet Skank Williams! )
The girls came offstage to general congratulations (I wasn't even the only library type present) and Realiser went on.
( Realiser notes but no set list. )
After Realiser had literally played every song they knew, I looked at my watch and it was only about a quarter after one. Dawn and Kathy and I were at a table together and they joked that I was probably calculating how fast I could get to Tribeca.
( More on THAT good idea. )
It's possible that a giant, awesome jam session broke out after hours--if there wasn't one there should have been--but two bars in one work night seemed like enough for someone my age, so I said goodnight and called it one. Whew!
- Mood:
accomplished
![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
latsyrk's place again, snuggling David Donald again (this is not the first such occurrence.) Compared to the last time I saw him (too long ago--being ouchy and self-centred should not preclude admiring new babies) he still weighs significantly less than Coney, but is a little bit sturdier. However, he can't hang on yet so I made sure I was sitting down the whole time I was holding him. Hey, I know my limitations. So it was a little after eleven when I left
latsyrk's place (the family is on David Donald time so it wasn't as late as it should have been, if you follow) and started downtown. Put on my windshield wipers to combat the snow that had started to fall. Big, wet, melty snowflakes. I was out of David Donald's hearing by this time so I expressed myself accordingly. And spared a sympathetic thought for Benson, one of the horses at the barn who was just body-clipped on the principle that he didn't need that big old winter haircoat anymore. Well, at least he has a blanket. And by the time I got downtown the snow had become rain anyway.
( It was all worth it, though. )
I said good night and went outside, where the snow was still coming down and turning to sleet. Agreed with Shaun and Dave that there was no need of this nonsense.
But it's all right today, so I assume the trip to the Island will be no trouble. I hope, anyway. Because the Island is always a good idea.
- Mood:
content
Why yes, I am acquainted with that play in which the lady doth protest too much, why do you ask?
There was a pretty good crowd out last night including quite a few dancers, which always livens things up. Patrick has invented a new drink, and both Ryan and Dave were wearing ties. I don't think there was an occasion or anything, but they did look pretty spiffy.
Also spiffy was the black acoustic guitar Dave played in the first set. (Both he and Evan went acoustic in that set but I don't think I'd seen the particular guitar Dave was playing before.) After the first set the band went back to its electric ways for the next three sets.
Yeah, there were four sets last night. The third one was very short. I have no idea what was up with that. Evan sang pretty much the first half of the night and Adam the second half, and although I couldn't see the stage a lot of the time (as I say--dancers!) it seems to me that Evan played keys a lot in the second half. No idea whether that organization meant anything, but tweaks large and small tend to keep things interesting. I may have said that before.
( Set list. )
- Mood: chipper
Gloryhound was back to their plugged-in ways and included one new-to-me (I think) cover, "Forever Young" by Bob Dylan (although I confess to a really soft spot for The Band' version from High On the Hog, with Levon's old-guy vocals. It sounds more like sage and affectionate advice coming from him.) Andy from El Torpedo was in attendance but the band couldn't persuade him to join in. Oh, well.
It's been a long week so I think i'll just leave you with the set list this time.
Set List
Set #1
Break
Set #2
Break
- Mood:
sleepy
Well, for a given value of "HAAAATE."]
Anyway. In what appears to be a trend, I was a little bit late for Gloryhound & the Skyhawks last night, although I think I arrived during the first song. I would be a lot more contrite about my tardiness if I hadn't had such a good reason: I was over at
latsyrk's place, hanging out with her and her husband and mother, and their new baby boy David Donald. Who is four days old, and weighs half as much as Coney, and has the tiniest perfect little fingernails and a whole lot of dark hair, and kind of curls up in a ball when you hold him and... EEEEEEE.(I may not have much in the way of motherly instincts, but my auntily instincts are second to none.)
Ahem. You'll be hearing more about David Donald, I assure you. But in the meantime, I believe I had a point here somewhere...
So last night Shaun was among the missing, apparently off doing "Shaun things," so the set was not only unplugged again, it was without percussion. Which was interesting again, because the acoustic sets call for rearrangements in the first place, so what was played last night were... you know what I mean.
( More on the rearranged rearrangements here. )
Next gig up is not actually Gloryhound, but Paul (who is sort of the host of the fun at Tribeca) is playing at the Seahorse with a project called The True Love Rules, which is a solo thing by Dave Marsh of the Joel Plaskett Emergency. I was planning to go to Ginger's to see Rob Szabo, but if I hop really fast I can probably manage both. At my age I should be slowing down, but at my age I also have no time to waste!
- Mood: content
After the rowdy double birthday party last week, this Thursday at Tribeca almost had to be a little quieter. Which is not to say the music was quiet. As someone commented, when Paul is away, everybody turns up everything.
And apparently turns down the lights, judging by how dark the stage was. I was worried for a minute that my eyesight was failing, until Erin and Scotty confirmed they couldn't see anybody onstage either. It sounded like Gloryhound & the Skyhawks, though...
Okay, so there weren't as many people out this week as last, but special awards should be given to the band's friend who not only showed up on the night before he had to write an exam, but brought his two study partners with him. Now that is some devotion to the cause. I hope the exam went well!
And also the other friend of the band who, possibly owing to his hat, the generally dim lighting, and the fact my eyes are really not what they used to be, kept reminding me of someone. Like, I would notice him and think, "That guy looks just like Bob Dylan!" Well, he did from a bit of a distance in bad light. Or maybe I just had Dylan on the brain because, after failing miserably in my efforts to get Cohen tickets last week, I really did not want to miss out on Dylan at the Metro Centre in May.
(And as a matter of fact I just got a pair of tickets through the pre-order, and if my leg didn't still hurt I would be doing high kicks right here in the office, but I digress!)
( Enough digressing. Here is the set list. With, come to think of it, a significant amount of Dylan content. )
And that, for now, is that.
- Mood:
awake
I had nearly forgotten that Gloryhound & the Skyhawks were playing a set at Monte's Bar and Grill over in Dartmouth, opening for an act called the Hip Replacement, which with a name like that you will not be surprised to learn is a Tragically Hip tribute band.
I haven't been to an "away game," so to speak, in quite some time, and I don't know Dartmouth at all, so I sort of took it as a navigational challenge.
( As challenges go, this one wasn't bad. )
And when I stood up it turned out that, after sitting sideways in my chair all evening, that pinched nerve had sort of unpinched and I was perfectly fine.
Or at least I was all the way home and until I rolled over at some point in the night and tweaked it again.
But aside from that, definitely a good evening!
- Mood:
busy
(1) I tried to get tickets to Leonard Cohen, and was unsuccessful.
(2) I was supposed to get a parcel from UPS, but they never showed up. I just learned there was something wrong at their end so they'll be making their last delivery attempt today. I guess that means I'm making a UPS run tomorrow morning. Have I mentioned that I really, really prefer to get my mail in the mail?
(3) I was also planning to bake chocolate chip cookies for Evan's birthday party at Tribeca that night and, thank God, managed to pull that off without screwing it up. I use the recipe from the Crisco package, except that instead of measuring the chocolate chips I just dump in the entire bag. It's amazing how that extra shot of chocolate cheers things up.
( More on this and other birthday parties behind the cut. )
The third set actually ended a few minutes early, which is unheard-of and may have had something to do with the increasingly rowdy enthusiasm of the audience. Or possibly it was time to make another run at the birthday cake. At any rate, it looked like everyone relevant was having a pretty happy birthday.
It being Good Friday by this time, I figured it was time to go home and lie low for a while, because the weekend wasn't over yet!
- Mood: content
I'm still taking a small amount of cold medication which has a terrible effect on my ability to think creatively, so I'm just going to stop here for now. Take your vitamin C, folks!
( Set list is here. )
Incidentally--and this looks very Groundhog Day at first glance--the band's next gig is at Poley Mountain, outside Sussex, NB. Yes, I know I said that last week. But if you were in the Maritimes last weekend you know that it rained like Noah's Flood last Saturday in Nova Scotia, and apparently it was no better in New Brunswick so the event Gloryhound was supposed to be playing at got postponed until today. Which probably means the band is on the road pretty much even as I type. Hope it's a good one, and drive carefully!
Hmm. The next Tribeca show is on Holy Thursday. Which means I'll be starting Good Friday in a bar. Which is, I think, an entirely new one for me and something perhaps we won't mention to my mother...
- Mood: awake
The release party is scheduled for May 31st, at the Seahorse.
Just so you know, that conference that has been plaguing my mind and interrupting my sleep? Ends on May 30th.
I know I say I don't drink, but if there was ever an occasion to start, this might well be it...
- Mood:
anticipatory
This, of course, is not one of them.
( No, really. )
Gloryhound's next show is in Sussex, New Brunswick, at the Poley Mountain Ski Resort. Which sounds like fun, and it's even a pretty part of the province. With less moose activity, certainly, than the bit that I come from.
Hope that goes well, and we'll see everybody back next week.
Maybe even some medical students.
- Mood: mellow
Everyone else seemed to be fine, though.
( More on music, less on Shakespeare, and positively no lutes behind the cut. )
Anyway--good night. Even the massively drunk guy at the end of the night, out on the dance floor, capered harmlessly and managed not to collapse into anything expensive--although I did notice most of the audience watching him carefully, in case he needed to be redirected or something.
But he didn't end up drowned in a butt of malmsey like the Duke of Clarence, so that's something.
- Mood: mellow
I started the evening by taking a swing by the public library to pick up an item on hold, which was Gimme Shelter (and more about that in a post of its own.) I watched the Altamont section (which amounts to about half the movie) before setting out for Tribeca, so really, as far as I was concerned as long as nobody got stabbed or beaten with a pool cue I figured it would count as a good night.
Which was, you know, a pretty high-percentage bet.
( And this one has turned out long and sporadically silly, so let's put in a cut. )
This was a good one, particularly the vibe, and I must say I shambled off into the night feeling a great deal better than I had when I shambled in. Perhaps I should re-read these notes when I get around to watching Gimme Shelter in its entirety...
- Mood:
impressed
For one thing, by wearing black t-shirts, about which I have no comment. But they did bust out all the Valentine-red guitars they own (well, Evan's Gibson that looks like this one and Adam's Gretsch that looks like this.) Evan also played a new (to me, anyway) black Stratocaster (or at least Strat-type) on a few songs. And judging by the sound of things, the guitars just loved everybody last night.
You'll notice there are a number of missing titles in the set list--that's because I don't know and can't find the title anywhere. There are quite a few new songs making their way into the set these days, and I'm inclined to think they're originals. The band seems to have a pattern lately of playing the newest songs early in the evening and moving them into the second or third set as they start to sound more at home. I don't know if I'm imagining that but it seems to me that's what's happened for the past couple of weeks anyway. There have been quite a few new songs turning up lately, covers as well as originals, which is always great. Among other things, there's no danger of turning into Sha Na Na...
Okay, there's a mental image I probably didn't need this early in the morning. And neither did you. Sorry.
Anyway, really good show. And the cupcakes couldn't be beat, either...
Set List
Set #1
Break
Set #2
Break
Set #3
I've heard that song performed by these guys once before but it was definitely unexpected. The ending spun out to the point where the logical next step would probably have been smashing things so... probably just as well they stopped where they did. And by then it had to have been after 2:00... so after a short conference they went into:
Oh, and one unrelated comment before we leave this post: when I leave Tribeca I generally drive to the end of Granville Street and turn up the hill toward Barrington. And lately I've noticed that when I'm going home at 2:00 (or, in the case of last night... considerably later...) there are all these people coming out of the building directly across from the mouth of Granville. They look like they're emerging from a club, judging by their appearance of... inebriation. And it's a large building, so I suppose there could be all sorts of establishments in there. But the sign over the door they're coming out of advertises two quite prominently: a Catholic bookstore and the passport office.
Which makes me wonder, what do booksellers and civil servants get up to in their off-hours?
Possibly, the same thing as librarians.
As Hercule Poirot used to say, it gave me furiously to think...
- Mood: alert
thallid's birthday, so last night he and deceptivelyevil joined me for the Gloryhound show at Tribeca. They haven't seen the band in a while (I can't remember whether the Battle of the Bands was after the first Key Largo's show, but I think one or the other was the last time those two folks have seen Gloryhound. And the sound was so bad at the Battle that it hardly counts) and both of them thought they sounded a lot tighter and heavier than before. Actually, my brother (who showed up during "Hey Joe," which is only funny if you know my brother's first name is... Joe) thought the same thing and the last time he saw Gloryhound was just in October. He particularly commented on how good Shaun sounded.
I thought they especially started firing about halfway through the first set, which opened with some new originals and covers and sort of got rolling from there. It was a really good (and amusingly interactive--more on that in a minute) night.
Set List
Set #1
thallid commented that he was surprised at first they were covering such a recent song... but being by Tom Petty puts it in the band's wheelhouse, so to speak)Break
My brother hasn't been out to a show in quite a while, but the band should not feel too neglected since when he walked in it was the first time I've laid eyes on him in... God, about a month. He's been working on a TV movie filmed partly in Windsor, at one point was working eighty-hour weeks, and was out with the location department celebrating the show's wrap. I understand they were at some other bar when my brother noticed the time and talked everyone into heading over to Tribeca. As noted, he was impressed with how Gloryhound sounded. His friends seemed to be enjoying themselves as well, but I would not take bets on whether they remember very much about anything this morning. Ahem.
Set #2
Break
Set #3
Getting out at the end of the night was a little more complicated than usual, since along with
thallid and deceptivelyevil I also ended up wrangling my brother and one of his friends (a very large friend. My car kept wandering toward the right, is how large the friend was!) out the door and into the car. But we all got home all right and I remembered to wish thallid a happy birthday at midnight. Hope we all do this again sometime soon. In the meantime, I hope everyone feels okay this morning!
- Mood:
cheerful
Anyway. Aside from that, today I got my driver's license renewed. The picture is not better than the old one, but at least I don't look like a startled frog in this one. I just look sort of high. (You know how they advise you not to put pictures of yourself drunk on the Internet? Every picture of me I've ever seen looks like I'm drunk, and I don't drink. Just in case you're wondering why I usually use my pets in my profile pics.)
Last night I met up with an old friend from my undergraduate days and we went over to Tribeca for the second Unplugged show by Gloryhound & the Skyhawks. This time it was a little less unplugged, since Dave played electric guitar in several tunes (using both Adam's Gretsch and his black Strat-type with the reversed headstock.) Christina Martin played a set to begin but it started before eleven and I missed most of it. Evan and Adam played guitar with her, which was nice, and she contributed vocals on the first few songs of their set. Harper joined in on harmonica, as well as guitar on one tune (who knew he was also multi-talented??) and Jeremy played mandolin on "The Weight," with the bassist from Harbourfire (I think) guesting on, well, bass. The banjo and lap steel were also much in evidence. It was an awful lot of fun and the crowd was good. I think my friend will be back, and we might bring along another of the usual suspects from the old (oldoldold) days.
And since I'm running out of time:
Set List
Set #1
Break
Set #2
Break
Set #3
And on that note--we're out.
- Mood:
rushed
Anyway, if you've been thinking "Hey! I should check these guys out!" *coughcough
tigereyed24coughcough* this would be an excellent night to choose. Otherwise... I'll just tell you later how it goes. Promise! (And I'm meeting up with an old friend from my undergrad days tonight, plus I have tomorrow off, so bonus fun points!)
- Mood: optimistic