It was the dawn of a new era on Thursday in Vermont as Neighbor played its first show with Rob Compa on lead guitar. The new guitarist made himself right at home with the Boston jam band, closing the show with a solo interlude that included “Royce Road” from his longtime band Dopapod, currently on an indefinite hiatus.

Late last month, Neighbor held a ceremonial changing of the guards at The Cabot in Beverly, MA where co-founding guitarist Lyle Brewer turned over the keys to Compa. Thursday marked Neighbor’s first show with Compa fully in place of Brewer, and Rob slid into the new position with an original-heavy setlist starting with the perhaps intentional opener “Point of No Return”. Compa fell in alongside keyboardist Richard James, drummer Dean Johnston, and bassist Dan Kelly, exploring Neighbor classics “Cuba Street”, “Canopy”, and “Stranger Part of Town” in the first set.

During the second set, Neighbor further initiated Compa with a special rendition of “High Five Gauntlet”. The audience participation springboard urges the crowd to create the titular tunnel of hand-touching, though on Friday was amended to become the “Hi Rob” gauntlet as Compa passed through the crowd to greetings from the fans. After Neighbor rounded out the final set with “Ulsa”, “Dux”, “Great Barrier Reef”, and a Pink Floyd-tinged “Terror For Free”, the rest of the band took off and Compa addressed the fans, alone.

“It’s funny ’cause this isn’t a somber affair of anything,” Compa reflected on the evening, “but can we give it up for Lyle Brewer? I really mean this, I tell everybody I think Lyle’s the best guitar player. He really is. And I’m honored to be here with all of you.”

Rob said the band “asked me to play some s–t by myself, so I’m gonna make some stuff up here,” and took the concert home with a solo interlude. It truly felt like Compa was winging it onstage, unsure of what he was going to do next until he settled on “Royce Road” off Dopapod’s 2009 studio debut Radar. The indie film soundtrack-sounding instrumental perfectly summed up the bittersweet mood, and felt like the kind of music that would accompany Harry Dean Stanton walking down some railroad tracks. Breaking the emotional spell, Compa ended on a high note with a rocking solo cover of Nirvana‘s “Heart-Shaped Box”.

Listen to audio of sets one and two from the first Neighbor show with Rob Compa on guitar thanks to soniabegonia on Mixlr by clicking here. Neighbor’s tour continues tonight, March 8th, in Millersville, PA before the band heads west for a run of Colorado shows. Find tickets and tour dates on the band’s website.

Setlist: Neighbor | Pickle Barrel Nightclub | Killington, VT | 3/6/25

Set One: Point of No Return > Cuba Street > Canopy, Broadway [1] > Old Dog, Stranger Part of Town
Set Two: Jam > Lonely Rider -> High Five Gauntlet > Lonely Rider, Ulsa > Dux > Great Barrier Reef, Terror For Free [2], Don’t You Cry, Royce Road [3], Heart-Shaped Box (Nirvana) [4]

[1] Dark Star (Grateful Dead) tease.
[2] Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Pink Floyd) tease.
[3] Rob solo. First time played (Dopapod).
[4] Rob solo.

Show Notes: Lyrics to High Five Gauntlet were changed to “High Rob Gauntlet” as Rob ran through the gauntlet in the crowd.