I didn’t get to have a lovely Thanksgiving dinner last night, but I did get to go to the last Gilded Palace of Sin gig ever.

The evening was bittersweet to say the least. It felt like old home week in the Prince Albert pub, with lots of familiar faces from past Gilded Palace gigs and Salter Cane gigs, and it was lovely to walk in and be greeted with so many smiles. But it also felt a bit like the end of an era, so the happiness was tinged with poignancy. The fact that it was Thanksgiving made it doubly poignant for me as an American; the two performers last night were American as well, so there was a lot of talk of missing family back home, and the Albert was decked out with paper turkey garlands, and there was even pumpkin pie and hot cider for the audience. In the end, it took all my willpower not to well up at some of the more emotional songs that were sung last night.

So, the Gilded Palace is gone, but the music will continue. One of the first gigs Jeremy and I went to in Brighton was a Gilded Palace gig with a band called Caramel Jack. In the intervening years, we’ve seen and played with Caramel Jack numerous times, and the next Salter Cane gig in December will be another Caramel Jack/Salter Cane affair. We’re all really looking forward to it—for the music, which will be great; for the atmosphere, which will be friendly; and for the chance to affirm that Brighton is still a great place to play music.