Wayne Petti is a busy man. He pulled double-duty on Thursday night, first with his band Cuff the Duke for Ryerson's fall party at El Mocambo (opening for The Trews), and then immediately afterward sprinted to the Drake to do a short solo opener for the Islands show. And all this following an announcement just 2 days prior on Cuff the Duke's website that founding member Jeff Peers would be leaving the band.

When Cuff the Duke hit the Elmo stage Thursday night, the news was confirmed. No Peers among them. Band friend identified simply as "Jord" (one mysterious name, much like Prince or Madonna?) filled in for the set. Jord also played with Cuff at the recent release party at Lee's Palace for their self-titled sophomore CD. Although it was bittersweet to see him using a mic still labeled "Jeff", Jord supported the band pretty darn seamlessly throughout a well-selected short set of their trademark fuzzy-guitared rollicking twang. Setlist included...

The Future Hangs
Meet You On the Other Side
Blackheart
The Ballad of Poor John Henry (for which they've just filmed a video!)
Belgium or Peru
Take My Money and Run
Anti-Social

I talked with Petti briefly after the show. He immediately wanted to impress that there were no bad feelings between Peers and the band. "There are a lot of rumors going around," he said, "that just aren't true. Jeff and I have been playing together forever, we've been friends for a long time. We'll remain friends and I really do wish him the best." He also assured that Cuff the Duke isn't done. Although no name can be released yet, the band has chosen a new member. "He's great", Petti said, "I'm really excited about it."

Cuff the Duke's next show is scheduled for New Year's Eve in their hometown of Oshawa, followed by some Northern Ontario dates in early January, so look for the new lineup soon.

Photo gallery for this show can be found at: Rock//Paper//Pixels.com