Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors at Turner Hall in Milwaukee
Strangers No More: We’re All Members of Drew Holcomb’s Neighborhood
Ever been to a show and thought: “I could hang with these people”? That’s the type of artist Drew Holcomb is. He welcomes you in and before you leave you want to invite him to hang out with you on your front porch. It’s like he’s your favorite neighbor.
The Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors “Find Your People” tour is aptly named. After 20-plus years in the business, Holcomb has found his people. The group that filled the Turner Hall Ballroom in Milwaukee on a rainy Tuesday night were his faithful congregation. But this wasn’t Sunday mass — more like a neighborhood picnic. Maybe, just maybe, the Neighbors aren’t just Holcomb’s talented band. Maybe we’re all his neighbors. Maybe he will come have a beer with us on the front porch.
Donovan Woods, too, is a member of that neighborhood. The Canadian singer-songwriter opened the night with a handful of his heartfelt and languorous folk songs, including two from his forthcoming album Things Were Never Good If They’re Not Good Now due out July 12. I’m uncertain which left a bigger impression on the Turner crowd: Woods’ songs or his lengthy interludes between them. If he doesn’t make it as a musician, Woods may have a future as a stand-up comic. I suspect, however, that he’ll be headlining his own music/comedy tour soon.
When Holcomb and band took the stage, they opened with the tour’s rousing namesake “Find Your People” from the 2023 album “Strangers No More.” They followed with the title track from 2019’s “Dragons” before inviting the neighborhood to participate in the call and response of “All the Money in the World.”
“Tennessee,” “a song about our home” came next before the band took a break and left Holcomb to perform the tender ballad of young love “American Beauty” — during which a hush overfell the mesmerized neighborhood.
“Wisconsin’s always been good to us,” said Holcomb after receiving a thunderous applause that put the rattle and clatter of the heavens outside to shame. “We appreciate y’all coming to our shows. As a way of saying a special thank you just to y’all and no one else on this tour, right before we came on I worked up a little bit of a Wisconsin artist song that I really love. If it’s a trainwreck, I’m really sorry. I just got this down about 20 minutes ago.”’
That Wisconsin artist: Bon Iver. The song: “Skinny Love.” The gesture accentuated Holcomb’s effort to connect with his audience on their terms. I’ve been to a large number of shows over the years, and while nearly every artist throws in the perfunctory “How you doing <insert name of city here>?!”, it’s a more rare thing to see an artist go to great lengths to connect with the audience. For Holcomb, it’s common. In Columbus, Ohio, he performed Gillian Welch’s “Look at Miss Ohio.” In Fairfield, Connecticut, he performed John Mayer’s “Gravity” (Mayer was born and raised up the road in Bridgeport).
Beyond serenading the Turner crowd with “Skinny Love,” Holcomb’s other efforts to connect included quizzing his new neighbors on how far they had come to see the show; awarding a woman who traveled from Florida her choice of item from the merch table. He also spotted a 10-year-old boy — Joshua — and handed him a vinyl copy of “Strangers No More.”
“That’s not a Frisbee®, Johsua. Tell your parents to buy you a record player,” quipped Holcomb, adding “I love it when people bring their kids to our shows.”
If Joshua likes the record, his parents may soon be buying another. Holcomb announced that a “whole ’nother volume, 10 new songs” would be coming soon (look for it Sept. 12) in the form of “Strangers No More Volume Two.” Included in Tuesday’s set were “a big rock and roll song” — “Suffering” and a collaboration with Donovan Woods “For Some Reason.”
Woods wasn’t the only neighbor Holcomb included in his set. He invited the young lady who was there to manage his merch table up to perform a song. That young lady — Jac Thompson. “She’s one of my favorite songwriters in Nashville,” said Holcomb as he introduced her — high praise from a great songwriter himself. Together with the Neighbors, Thompson performed an upbeat version of her song “I Saw You.”
Perhaps the most unexpected and most engaging event of the night was a cover of Adele’s “When We Were Young.” During the song, Holcomb left the stage to perch himself atop a stool in the center of the audience. From there, he proceeded to pivot, focused on making as many personal connections with as many of his neighbors as he could.
Holcomb would return to the floor again during the encore, weaving his way through the neighborhood, shaking hands, bumping fists and slapping fives as he sang “Dance With Everybody.” The words to the song seemed poignant and real: “When you walked into this room you hardly knew anyone; Sea full of strangers, crashing on the runs; When the band strikes by the end of the night, strangers no more; I wanna dance with everybody who came through that door.”
All of us in attendance that night are now part of the neighborhood, and as we collectively filed out after the show, I wondered how many of my new neighbors were also thinking about inviting Drew over for a beer on the front porch.
Drew, the next time you swing through town the offer stands.
Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors’ “Find Your People” tour continues with Donovan Woods into May. Visit http://www.drewholcomb.com or follow on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and bandsintown.com for more information.
Enjoy our previous coverage here: Show Review: Drew Holcomb & the Neighbors in Milwaukee
Set List for Donovan Woods
Seeing Other People (Without People 2020)
Rosemary (Things Were Never Good If They’re Not Good Now 2024)
Clean Slate (Without People 2020)
I Hope You Change Your Mind (Single 2021)
Man Made Lake (Without People 2020)
I’m Around (Things Were Never Good If They’re Not Good Now 2024)
Portland, Maine (Hard Settle, Ain’t Troubled 2016)
Next Year (Both Ways 2018)
Set List for Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors
Find Your People (Strangers No More 2023)
Dragons (Dragons 2019)
All the Money in the World (Strangers No More 2023)
Tennessee, acoustic (Good Light 2013)
American Beauty, acoustic (Medicine 2015)
Skinny Love (Bon Iver cover)
Free (Not Afraid to Die) (Strangers No More 2023)
I Like to Be with Me When I’m with You (A Million Miles Away 2009)
Suffering (Strangers No More Volume Two 2024)
Avalanche (Medicine 2015)
I Saw You performed by Jac Thompson and the Neighbors
On a Roll (Strangers No More 2023)
When We Were Young (Adele cover)
Fly (Strangers No More 2023)
For Some Reason with Donovan Woods (Strangers No More Volume Two 2024)
Without a Light, acoustic (2021)
Live Forever, acoustic (Chasing Somebody 2011)
End of the World (Dragons 2019)
Here We Go (Medicine 2015)
Family (Strangers No More 2023)
ENCORE
What Would I Do without You, acoustic (Good Light 2013)
Dance With Everybody (Strangers No More 2023)