Neighbor took up residence at Nectar’s in Burlington, Vermont this past weekend for a three-night stand. The Boston-based quartet, who played their 100th show together on Thursday, treated fans to their take on The Beatles’ Abbey Road medley on Friday and premiered a new original and covers on Saturday.
Consisting of keyboardist Richard James, drummer Dean Johnston, bassist Dan Kelly and guitarist Lyle Brewer, Neighbor’s audience grew each night and they sold out the famed venue on Saturday. The four-piece went without repeating a song over the course of the run as their repertoire continues to get bigger.
Neighbor kicked off the run on Thursday with staples “Love Like Stone,” “Don’t You Cry” and “Magna Zero.” Next came the band’s first “Wait Another Day” since the previous May and a “Hot Air Balloon” featuring teases of “Wait Another Dy” and “Planet Silver.” A sequence connecting “Yo Yo Ma,” “Ulsa” and “Cucamonga Carl” followed along with a set-closing take on JJ Cale’s “Clyde.”
The 100th Neighbor concert featured a second set that began with a “Drums” segment connecting “Magic Marble Crew” and “Lonely Rider.” Later, the band worked Star Wars teases into “Terror For Free” and previewed the Beatles’ medley that would come the next night by covering “Why Don’t We Do It In The Road” for the first time since August 13, 2019. Neighbor covered Phish’s “Waste” to start a Thursday encore that saw Johnston provide a solo to intro “Stranger Part Of Town.”
Friday’s first set started with “Clover” and saw the band follow with a “Great Barrier Reef” they would finish after pairing “Why I Like You” with “You Could Be Mine” and “Silver III.” Neighbor went on to perform “What Should Will Never Be” in a funky style and later closed the frame with “Sleep When You’re Dead.” The middle night featured a four-song second set that included “Mighty Apple Tree,” “Move Along Little Jimmy,” “Pine Tree” and “Into The Sun.” Neighbor then returned to work through the Abbey Road medley. While the four-piece previously interspersed the nine songs between their own material on June 19, 2021 at Soundcheck Studios, Neighbor played the medley straight through at Nectar’s with “Her Majesty” performed by just Brewer and Johnston.
The finale on Saturday got underway with a run of “Dark Eyed Junco,” “I Saw You” and “One For The Hoop.” Neighbor then debuted new original “Grandaddy.” Next up was a “Thunder Island” featuring the band’s first cover of Duran Duran’s “Ordinary World.” One more premiere was in store later in the set as “Chickens” bled into an instrumental “Radar Love” (Golden Earring) before the beloved “Planet Silver” capped the set. Neighbor took on Little Feat’s “Skin It Back” to start the last set of the run. “Sail On” and “Shitstorm” were then followed by a cover of the Phish classic “Water In The Sky.” After delivering “Saturday Afternoon,” “The Weeds” and “Mary & Martha” to end the set, James performed a solo “White Flag” that along with “Steel” served as the encore.
Neighbor will perform live from Relix Studios in New York City on February 23 before opening for Karina Rykman at Brooklyn Bowl on February 24. Watch pro-shot video featuring Friday’s second set and Abbey Road medley encore below:
https://www.facebook.com/neighborband/videos/347279327257734/?__cft__[0]=AZVIV8bJ3tOoTy4gNxzQZKoh0Z86FZJBGpHNh5gIhvut-7ZEglcfRsYR7XlW2sIUbvpAD3E2NGtSZa5ma3tx_9fyGISiFk4euqDNciheOvol5wdxBhSRw8QPjztxA4HpsXm8fJmpj4K2K-gzy8iwlybFDypGmRWe-CgU51CPciY08A&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R
Setlists (via Neighor Tunes)
Thursday, February 10
Set One: Love Like Stone, Don’t You Cry, Magna Zero, Wait Another Day, Hot Air Balloon[1], Yo Yo Ma > Ulsa[2] -> Cucamonga Carl, Clyde[3]
Set Two: Magic Marble Crew[4] > Drums -> Lonely Rider[5], Isla, Terror for Free[6], High Five Gauntlet[7] > Why Don’t We Do It In The Road, Point of No Return > Take Me Alive
Encore: Waste[8], Drums > Stranger Part of Town[9]
Footnotes:
- [1] Wait Another Day and Planet Silver teases.
- [2] Cucamonga Carl jam.
- [3] Lonely Rider tease.
- [4] Crashing Down tease.
- [5] Stranger Part of Town quotes.
- [6] May the Force Be With You (John Williams) tease.
- [7] Soul Train style.
- [8] Lyle solo instrumental.
- [9] Tom Papp and Revolution 9 (The Beatles) quotes.
Show Notes: This was the bands 100th show. Between “Hot Air Balloon” and “Yo Yo Ma” there was a “Bach Cello Suite No 1 in G Major” tease.
Friday, February 11
Set One: Clover, Great Barrier Reef, Why I Like You, You Could Be Mine > Silver III > Great Barrier Reef, Drums > What Should Will Never Be[1], Crashing Down, Sleep When You’re Dead
Set Two: Mighty Apple Tree, Move Along Little Jimmy, Pine Tree -> Into the Sun
Encore: You Never Gave Me Your Money > Sun King > Mean Mr. Mustard > Polythene Pam, She Came In Through The Bathroom Window[2] > Golden Slumbers, Carry That Weight[3] > The End, Her Majesty[4]
Footnotes:
- [1] Funky style.
- [2] Pine Tree tease.
- [3] Crosstown Traffic (Jimi Hendrix) tease.
- [4] Lyle and Dean only. Dean on vocals.
Saturday, February 12
Set One: Dark Eyed Junco > I Saw You > One For The Hoop[1], Granddaddy[2], Thunder Island -> Ordinary World[3] -> Thunder Island > Cuba Street, Chickens -> Radar Love[4] -> Planet Silver
Set Two: Skin It Back, Sail On, Shitstorm[5] -> Water in the Sky, Sunday Afternoon[6] > The Weeds -> Mary and Martha
Encore: White Flag[7], Steel[8]
Footnotes:
- [1] Wolfmans Brother (Phish) jam. Planet Silver tease.
- [2] Debut.
- [3] First time played (Duran Duran).
- [4] First time played (Golden Earring). Instrumental.
- [5] You Soft and Tom Papp quotes.
- [6] Planet Silver and Pine Tree teases.
- [7] Ricky solo.
- [8] Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Pink Floyd) teases.
