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<\/a>For many decades now I have loved live music and every chance I have to go see a show I try hard to take the opportunity. This is especially the case when those performing are acts that I am unfamiliar with and \/ or first-time events for me.\nDrew Holcomb and Donavan Woods were performers that fit that bill last evening in Downtown Houston at the White Oak Music Hall. I\u2019ll come back later in this review and talk about the venue and its name but first let me share my observations about the talent that was on display starting at eight pm sharp as advertised! (So, refreshing!)<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll start with the opener. No real showmanship on display to speak of and fortunately none was needed in my estimation. The Canadian from Sarnia, very near Detroit, came out and played his acoustic guitar and sang his songs, on time with very little narrative between songs. The words he did share between songs were somewhat dry and perhaps a little sarcastic. I think his mission was to get this opening gig over as rapidly as possible. I\u2019ll come back and give you my take on why that was the case and why I don\u2019t blame him. At nine sharp Drew and his Neighbors were in position and playing. So exciting, so refreshing. Although I wasn\u2019t familiar with Drew\u2019s music before the day started I did Google him and found his opening song, titled \u2018Find Your People\u2019 which I thoroughly enjoyed both on line and live.
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<\/a>If you look at the photos I took of Donavan he is a big guy and in my estimation his voice doesn\u2019t seem to fit his frame, not that it should matter and regardless I loved his voice. For me it was a blend of Jason Mraz and Casey Abrams, both very appealing to my ears, both very entertaining and both, along with Donavan, worthy of a good listen.<\/p>\n
\nNext up was \u2018Tennessee\u2019 and given his roots are in Memphis you can\u2019t be surprised he had a song titled Tennessee. And check out his hat in the Photo Gallery!
\n\u2018All The Money\u2019 came next and it didn\u2019t take long for him to have most all the audience engaged in the chorus (notice I didn\u2019t say all.) \u2018Dragons\u2019 was forth and then he did (acoustically) \u2018American Beauty\u2019. My recollection is a little unclear about when the exact moment was that he stopped singing to politely ask some of the audience to stop talking so that the rest of those in attendance, myself included, could hear what he was singing. Thank goodness they complied (at least for a while) because at that point I had enough, actually way more than enough.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>From the moment I arrived until that moment when Holcomb spoke up on the subject there was a constant absurdly loud chatter on the lower level of the room. And the louder the artist sang or played, the louder these idiots talked\u2026almost screaming! Were you there, did it bother you as much as it bothered me?