The Honest Heart Collective and friends deliver Zaphod’s last live show

It was a night of mixed emotions at Ottawa’s beloved Zaphod Beeblebrox on Saturday, as it was to be the last live show in the club’s history.

The iconic club announced recently that it will be closing it’s doors after 25 years. The honours for Saturday night’s show were given to Thunder Bay’s indie rock sweethearts The Honest Heart Collective, who had brought along Hamilton’s New Love and London’s Texas King.

The evening opened with Ottawa’s Sounds of Stories led by the lovely Vanessa Luis, who delivered smooth folk roots to the anticipating crowd, followed by notably energetic Texas King, who might as well been the headliner at that point given the amount of people jumping and singing in front of the stage already as early as 9.30pm.

Most memorable part of the Texas King performance was the Bruce Springsteen cover Dancing in the Dark, which was delivered by members from all the bands performing that night.

Front man Jordan Macdonald’s charisma is undeniable and it is evident that this band is heading up for even more success. Texas King has already played several festivals including the Canadian Music Week, and supported bands such as Z-Ambassadors, USS, The Trews and Current Swell, as well as recorded their first full length album with Juno award winner Dan Brodbeck last year. We are left with anticipation to see what these guys will do next!

Indie rock band New Love paid their second visit to Ottawa within the past couple of months having just been to in town for the JunoFest.  The band has been busy touring and supporting several bands including July Talk, as well as recorded an EP ‘Close’ earlier this year, which is hopefully a teaser for a full length album later on this year.

With the lead of the singer Ian Flynn, the band delivered forty minutes of energetic punk influenced rock and paved the way to the headliner of the night.

The Honest Heart Collective, which mixes anthemic folk rock with punk influences, has slowly but surely been gaining adoring fans wherever they play, most recently and notably at the Canadian Music Week.

The Zaphod’s audience was already high on music and Gargleblasters when the band climbed on stage to deliver the most heartbreaking and heartwarming finale in the club’s history.

Front man Ryan MacDonald made sure to remind the crowd of the club’s best moments and share his own personal memories of Zaphod’s.

The band played a long, strong, crowd pleasing set, and when it came time to wrap it up, the audience did not want to let go.

As the final three songs, all three bands climbed on stage to perform The Gaslight Anthem’s The ’59 Sound, The Killers’ Mr. Brightside and as the last song of the night, The Killers’ When You Were Young. 

We will miss Zaphod’s pangalactic atmosphere and neon lights, its theme nights and Sunday nights’ Trailer Park Bingo, its staff who have given all their love to the club for many years, and its faithful patrons.

Thank you Zaphod Beeblebrox, for all the years of amazing live music.