Revving their engines
Local favorite Neighbor cruises into Tupelo Music Hall Drive-In
In 2018, keyboardist Richard James received a lifechanging gift from his wife: a lesson with New Orleans-based piano wizard Jon Cleary. James traveled from Boston to Nola for what he thought would be an hourlong tutorial.
“We ended up hanging for most of the day,” James said. “He invited me to his show that night and I saw that he was still playing residencies at the legendary places like Tipitina’s, the Maple Leaf, and he was using those residences for New Orleans covers and a lot of originals.
“I thought, ‘If Jon Cleary, a guy who won a Grammy award, can still make time for a residency, then so can I.’”
James, who often tours 150 days a year with his tribute band Pink Talking Fish, founded Neighbor last year to play his original music. Named Neighbor because he and Boston guitar hero Lyle Brewer grew up next door to each other in Andover, the full lineup features James, Brewer, bassist Dan Kelly (of the New Motif) and drummer Dean Johnston (of Club D’Elf and various Duke Levine projects).
Over just a few months, Neighbor became a sensation at its Tuesday Thunder Road shows.
In front of a throng of sweaty fans, the band would move between psychedelic jams, tight rock tunes and jazzy nuggets. Thunder Road’s prospects looked bleak before the pandemic so, while the band hopes to return to the Somerville club, it traveled north this week for one of the first gigs at the Tupelo Music Hall Drive-In Experience.
“Nothing beats a room packed full of people (but) personally I am not in a rush to play an indoor venue again until a vaccine is developed,” Brewer said of the sold-out show in Derry, N.H. “For now, the drive-in seems like the best option.”
Set up like a drive-in movie, Tupelo has pioneered a system for socially distant concerts. James and Brewer admit it’s not ideal, but their fans’ enthusiastic reaction to the gig has excited them.
“This is really the only way to get music to fans, to make them have that real live music experience,”
James said.
“Our fans have been great and this whole thing has grown so fast because of them. People have been sharing our music, the shows have gone so well, we have like 40 or 50 songs already.”
Few local bands have seen rapid success like Neighbor. Built on live shows with loads of experimentation, the band’s momentum could slow without safe concert outlets like the Tupelo drivein. The four haven’t even been able to rehearse over the last three months. Not that they rehearsed much before — typically, the guys arrive a few hours before each gig and work on stuff.
“Playing every week is what strengthened our band, consistency is key for developing an improvised band,” Brewer said.
“The more you play, the more comfortable you are at taking risks. That being said, I think it’ll feel really fresh and excited to be playing again.”
And fans will be thrilled to shake and shout, at a safe distance.