Wall of Sound

Friday night, I was at the Horseshoe Tavern for the annual Dwayne Gretzky February residence. I hadn't plan on going this year and braving the long lines, but they offered month-long passes that also let you skip the line-up. Opener Dan Edmonds entertained the crowd with a short set of country-tinged pop. What made his set was his deft guitar picking which gave a nice kick to his tunes.

The first set is always a themed one and tonight was Motown. The entire band was decked out in black and white with the 2 leads going all out in snazzy suits. The boys thrilled the crowd with favourties like Signed, Sealed, Deliver, Tracks of my Tears, and (Reach Out). But what made the night were the ladies of The O'Pears. They've been doing guest back-ups individually in past shows, but they were all there tonight, decked out in full-length dresses and white gloves. They sang harmony on every song and had plenty of chance to sing lead from Jackson 5 tunes (I'll Be There) to classic duets (Ain't No Mountain). But it was their Supremes numbers (You Can't Hurry Love, Stop In The Name of Love) complete with choreography that made the night.

I pondered staying for the regular set. But one drawback with these shows is that with their early doors and late-night partying, the crowd becomes increasingly sloshed. There was a (literal) falling-down drunk behind me. I thought about the inebriation level after another 2 hours and decided a good night sleep was preferable.