Neighbor Says Goodbye To Lyle Brewer & Hello To Rob Compa At The Cabot

Neighbor celebrated the band’s past, present and future during their concert on Sunday night at The Cabot in Beverly, Massachusetts. The show was founding guitarist Lyle Brewer's last as a member of Neighbor and the group was joined by his replacement, Rob Compa, for several songs towards the end of the night.

The emotional night saw Brewer, Compa and bandmates keyboardist Ricky James, drummer Dean “The Dux” Johnston and bassist Dan Kelly each address the audience. Lyle Brewer was left on stage to end the night with a powerful solo instrumental version of “We Bid You Goodnight.”

James and Brewer were joined by original Neighbor members bassist Mike Miksis and drummer Zack Burwick for the “Taxman” opener. Ricky noted the band was first known as “Taste Buds” for their first three shows before the name was changed to Neighbor. Kelly and Johnston came aboard after a few months to form the lineup that was in place through last night. The current rhythm section emerged following “Taxman” for a pairing of “Sunday Afternoon” and “Somerville Shuffle.” Next came the tender “Mary and Martha” and well-jammed versions of “Into The Sun” and “Trippin’ In A Van.”

The adventurous “Trippin’ In A Van” saw Ricky tease “The Star-Spangled Banner” and “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” while Lyle worked multiple “Taxman” teases into the mix. Brewer took a moment during the “Trippin’ In A Van” pause to share his appreciation. “Thanks for making this whole experience so great,” Lyle said. “All the wonderful people that I’ve been able to meet and play for and talk to after shows. And all the amazing places that we’ve been able to go as a group. It’s been absolutely amazing. I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart.” A “Planet Silver” was tacked on to close the first set.

Neighbor devoted the full second set to beloved material, most of which dates back to 2019. “Lonely Rider” kicked off the frame ahead of “Magic Marble Crew” and “Cucamonga Carl.” Rob Compa emerged during a pause in the ensuing “Thunder Island” while the band members’ arms were raised. Rob also raised his arms and proceeded to play with the band.

“Hi, I’m Rob. I’m new here, this is my first day,” Compa said after “Thunder Island.” He thanked Neighbor fans for welcoming him and spoke about how much Lyle Brewer means to the guitar community. Rob said he considers Brewer the best guitarist and has been inspired by him. Both guitarists contributed to fan-favorites “Mighty Apple Tree” and “Pine Tree” to end the second set.

Dan Kelly gave a speech following “Mighty Apple Tree” in which he spoke about Brewer’s impact. “Just being around him for the past six years, I seriously feel like I’ve learned so much about music, so much about life and so much about what it means to be a good guy.” The bassist went on to discuss how both he and Brewer are sober and how grateful he is to have had Lyle in the band with him.

Dux took an opportunity to speak with the crowd when he returned for the encore. “When someone leaves a band, there’s always controversy,” the drummer began and noted that in this case, “The reason Lyle’s leaving the band is because Lyle’s doing great. That’s it! He’s just doing great.” Johnston also spoke to Brewer’s character and how when he faces tough decisions, he’ll think “what would Lyle do?”

Ricky James, who first met Lyle Brewer when the guitarist moved next door to him in 1989, was the last to speak. “He took everything so damn seriously and it was inspiring for me to watch,” James said. The keyboardist noted when he started “this thing” in 2019 that Lyle was his first call. He called Brewer “the rock” of the band. James teared up as he discussed how much his “brother” means to him.

The guys broke up the heaviness in the room by noting, “Lyle hasn’t died!” Neighbor and Rob Compa then played the potent “Steel” before leaving Brewer on stage for the aforementioned solo “We Bid You Goodnight.”

Watch Compa come out during “Thunder Island,” both guitarists shine on “Mighty Apple Tree” and the “We Bid You Goodnight” finale via fan-shot video below:

Audio of the first set and second set/encore can be streamed through Sonya Jefferson’s Mixlr channel. Neighbor begins their next chapter with Compa in the band on Thursday, March 6 in Killington, Vermont.

Setlist (via NeighborTunes.net)

Set One: Taxman[1], Sunday Afternoon > Somerville Shuffle, Mary and Martha, Into the Sun[2], Trippin’ in a Van[3], Planet Silver[4]

Set Two: Lonely Rider[5], Magic Marble Crew, Cucamonga Carl[6], Thunder Island[7], Mighty Apple Tree[8], Pine Tree[8]

Encore: Steel[8], We Bid You Goodnight[9]

Footnotes:

• [1] Mike Miksis on bass and Zack Burwick on drums.
• [2] Bathtub Gin (Phish) and Planet Silver teases.
• [3] Taxman (The Beatles), The Star-Spangled Banner (Francis Scott Key), and Jumpin’ Jack Flash (The Rolling Stones) teases.
• [4] Includes Arpeggio intro.
• [5] Tweezer (Phish) and Into the Sun teases.
• [6] Free Bird (Lynyrd Skynyrd) tease.
• [7] Rob Compa on guitar. Magic Marble Crew tease.
• [8] Rob Compa on guitar.
• [9] Lyle solo. Instrumental.

Show Notes: This was Lyle’s final show as the guitar player for the band. The show started with the 2 original members of the band, Mike Miksis (bass) and Zack Burwick (drums), instead of Dan and Dean. Rob Compa joined the band halfway through Thunder Island and played the rest of the set and encore.