Evan Honer Takes on Brooklyn Bowl
His first true headline show in Nashville in over a year, Evan Honer makes his Brooklyn Bowl debut to a packed-out room. Now, Honer is no stranger to Nashville, having opened for Wyatt Flores’ sold-out Ryman debut, played The Grand Ole Opry, made a special guest appearance at his label’s anniversary party, and threw an album release pop-up show at The Basement all during his absence. That album, Fighting For, came out last June and has rapidly accelerated Honer’s growth.
Bolting from stage left into an unexpected and unaided backflip, Evan Honer came out swinging to a rambunctious crowd. Putting together good use of his gymnastics and diving background, Honer is no stranger to acrobatics mid-performance, something he leans into heavily has he seeks to break away from the conformity of country music. A gifted songwriter and eager performer, Honer strings together a chaotically intimate show, effortlessly bouncing from high-energy full band performances (“Nowhere Fast,” “Wake Up, Come Down”) to stripped back, acoustic driven ballads (“Brother,” “A Thousand Times”) with ease. The latter were featured in a dedicated solo/acoustic portion of Evan’s set where he sent his band back and really leaned into his songwriting prowess. While it would be easy to lump Evan into one genre, even one as niche as Red Dirt, it would be a disservice. Honer tends to bounce around musically (and literally), taking the grit of Red Dirt, the catchiness of pop, and the storytelling of Americana, alongside many others sounds, and mixes it all together for quite a unique experience.
For an artist so early on into their career, Honer had no issues filling up his setlist. His sophomore album made up about a third of the night, followed closely be his debut and finished off by a spattering of one-off singles and a pair of covers. Notably, in true Nashville fashion, Evan brough out a couple of special guests; Michal Leah joined him for their song “Waiting Ain’t Easy and Cameron Whitcomb for “My Expense.” A personal highlight was “Take Me As I Come,” a rag-tag feeling, red dirt-tinged anthem that sees Honer tiptoe the line between self-pity and the reinforcement of bad habits. Its smooth verses contrast heavily with the singalong ready chorus, giving the song an almost arena ready feel while maintaining its lyrical depth. Evan’s full setlist is below.
Setlist:
1. Everything I Wanted
2. Nowhere Fast
3. I Figured We’d Go Dancin’
4. Place I Hate
5. You’d Never Know
6. Scared To Love Again
7. Comfort the Fall
8. Wake Up, Come Down
9. Brother (acoustic)
10. A Thousand Times (acoustic)
11. me, without you (acoustic)
12. annabelle (acoustic)
13. Waiting Ain’t Easy (ft. Michal Leah)
14. Take Me As I Come
15. Linger (The Cranberries cover)
16. How Could I Ever
17. My Expense (ft. Cameron Whitcomb)
18. Jersey Giant (Tyler Childers cover)
19. Foolin’ Ourselves
20. Too Far Gone
21. Maybe For Once
22. Idk Shit About Cars
Ultimately, I’d wager this is the floor for Evan Honer, at least for the foreseeable future. While Fighting For is technically his sophomore album, it feels more akin to a debut. Seeing Honer’s growth over the past year, more than doubling his crowds at live shows, also feels reminiscent of that early growth we see in an artist’s career. Thought truthfully, this may be best showcased at his live shows; Evan is full of energy, headstrong, and ready to please. I saw his fans scream back every line in every song, I saw Evan feed off of their reactions, and I saw a truly intimate bond form despite the venue’s size. Even for an average music fan, one who may not even enjoy country/country-adjacent music, I think Evan’s shows are something really special to see live.
It also helps that he bowled a perfect strike mid-song. I haven’t seen that one before.