The Shore Club sign

The Shore Club has long been a storied venue in the heart of Hubbards, a room that has always carried with it a dual identity.   By day, it is a beloved supper hall, well known for its Lobster Suppers. Then by night, those Shells are swept up, and the floor is cleared to welcome patrons back in for a night of music and dancing.  That fabled building even played host to Royalty in the early 80s when Princess Diana and Prince Charles were visiting.   

While the room is renowned for its Lobster Suppers, there is another name that has become almost synonymous with the Shore Club.   That name is none other than Matt Mays, who for the past 20 years has been performing on that stage out in Hubbards.   In recent years, Mays’ performances in that room have become the hottest ticket in town, with multiple nights selling out in mere minutes.   If you’ve been lucky enough to attend one of the shows over the years, you know you are going to leave sweaty and smiling at the end of the night.  To commemorate the two-decade mark, Sonic Concerts and Shore Club opted to move the party outside, erecting a stage across the street and welcoming Kathleen Edwards and The Sheepdogs to join Mays as part of the celebration.  

Kathleen Edwards

Kathleen Edwards has long been a counterpart to Matt Mays, as the pair got their start in the music industry in the early 2000s, with Edwards releasing Failer and Mays releasing his self-titled album.  Both artists have a sound that sits comfortably at the crossroads between Rock and Country music, which harkens back to the pair’s shared influence of Neil Young.   Edwards also had cause to celebrate, as her 6th studio album, Billionaire, was released over the Sundown Salute weekend, and those songs were heavily featured in her set.

We couldn’t have asked for better weather to take in Edwards’ set on the third and final night of this mini-festival, as plenty of folks were standing down at the edge of the stage, while many others lounged on the grassy slope (which also afforded a prime viewing location).   This writer went into that show a casual listener of Edwards, and left a die-hard fan, as her wry sense of humour and her warm, sun-kissed tunes filled many a heart on this afternoon.  The highlight of the afternoon was certainly hearing “Little Red Ranger” from the new record, as it talks about that inevitable conversation between a parent and child when they choose to spread their wings and move away (while taking a dig at the Maple Leafs and their playoff ineptitude).  It is a beautiful slice of ear candy that also tugs at the heartstrings.   

As the sun started to make its retreat, it was time for a band that was no stranger to the illustrious Lobster Hall.  The Sheepdogs may originally hail from Saskatoon, but the lure of the East Coast proved too much as front man Ewan pulled up stakes and opted to head East earlier this year, and has called Nova Scotia home ever since.   Fans may not have known it at the time, but that trio of Shore Club shows would be some of the last for founding member Sam Corbett, who opted to leave the band after 20 years to spend more time with his family.

Ricky Paquette

For a band that has long been seen as a throwback to that 60’s and 70’s era of rock n roll, their August dates in Hubbards did little to dissuade that notion.   If anything, the 2022 addition of Ricky Paquette gave the band’s sound a much-needed heft, and it was evident on that Shore Club stage that The Sheepdogs have an added bite to their performance.   The set list didn’t drift too much over those three nights, and features such prerequisites as “I’ve Got a Hole Where My Heart Should Be”, “I Don’t Know” and “Feeling Good”, towards the tail end of their time, the band did tip its cap towards another Nova Scotia luminary in Joel Plaskett with a cover of his classic “Down At The Khyber”.   It was a fiery set from the beloved Canadian rockers that left the crowd satiated.  

Matt Mays

Then it was time for the fella at the top of the bill, the one who keeps us all heading to Hubbards year after year.  The one and only Matt Mays, backed by his incredible band (with the Hubbards legend himself, Leith Fleming-Smith, Serge Sampson, Damien Moynihan, R.C Stanley, and Matt’s right-hand man, Adam Baldwin), hit the outdoor stage to a wave of uproarious fanfare. From there, the band launched into the fan favourite “Indio”.   In looking around the concert grounds, you could see that the folks up on the hill were now on their feet, watching excitedly.  For many of those in attendance, it’s safe to say this was not their first Shore Club trip to see Mays (for some, not even the first trek that weekend) as folks were singing their hearts out with a set that was loaded with a beloved collection of hits and fan favorites including “Tall Trees”, “Building a Boat” “City of Lakes” and “ Take It On Faith”. 

Matt & The Band

On the third and final night, fiddle player Kendel Carson (a regular Mays collaborator) was missing in action due to prior commitments. While that meant the show would differ slightly from Friday to Saturday, the Saturday night crowd was instead treated to a duet between Matt and Kathleen on “The Plan” (from the Mays & El Torpedo self-titled debut album). It was a great pairing between two artists who have travelled similar parallel paths in their careers.   Matt looked to be in top-tier form, as he left the stage at one point in the evening and headed down to the crowd, where he proceeded to perch precariously on the barrier’s rail (with some assistance from the crowd) and performed “Terminal Romance”.    Later on in the set, Matt welcomed his long-serving guitar tech, Lucas Reeves to the stage to perform with the band during “On The Hood” so that Mays could bound across the stage with ease, as he worked his way from riser to riser.    Earlier in the evening, Reeves also played a part in the highlight of the night when Matt was winding down his “City of Lakes” solo, the tech chucked Adam Baldwin’s guitar to him across the stage, where Adam strapped on his Axe and tore into a solo of his own as Matt took up residence at the keyboard.  

Matt Mays

While Mays did add in a couple of new tracks to the set, it was largely a set of well-known and storied tunes.  These nights aren’t for the deeper cuts; it’s for that communal feeling when we are all basking in the familiarity of the music.   I would liken the experience to something similar to attending a Blue Rodeo show in recent years, while the band does work in a new song or two into the set, it’s largely comprised of massive hits that are well known and adored, and that you can guarantee that those in attendance will sing out in unison, as they are indelibly and deeply etched on their hearts.    The same goes for Matt Mays’ catalogue; these are songs that are etched equally as deeply on his longtime fans and will keep people coming back again and again.

Now that the dust has settled, the stage cleared, and the parking lot restored, our hearts filled with the songs of the summer, we look ahead to doing it all again in 2026.  Maybe we won’t be back outdoors, but we will be back where we belong, in Hubbards, celebrating the music of Matt Mays.

Matt Mays

The Sheepdogs

Kathleen Edwards