This past Wednesday, August 13, the Bearsville Theater in Woodstock hosted artist Evan Honer and opener harf.
The sold out show was long anticipated after the original show date, scheduled for this past May, was postponed. Before doors were opened, a line extending far into the parking lot foreshadowed a packed house.
The Bearsville Theater is arguably a perfect venue for the alternative folk singer. Nestled in the Catskill Mountains, surrounded by dense forests, and encircled with dangling Edison lights, the venue possesses a sort of ambiance that the majority of concert venues don’t have. Although the Hudson Valley is very different from Arizona, where Honer originates from, the venue fits in perfectly with the cozy and outdoorsy aesthetic associated with the folk genre.
Opening artist harf. took the stage just after 8pm, delivering an impressive solo acoustic set. He performed some songs from his upcoming album Carve, which is set to be released later this year. One particular hit with the audience was the upcoming “My Friend Jordy,” a comical song about being friends with an older person who, although nice, is not quite familiar with being politically correct. Harf. ended his set with his most popular song, “For You I’ll Wait.”
The anticipation continued to build as Evan Honer’s band entered the stage to check their instruments before the set began. Finally, they began playing, and Honer himself launched onto the stage with a backflip, kicking off his set with “Everything I Wanted.” Honer’s previous experience as a collegiate diver seems to contribute greatly to his stage acrobatics. The high-energy introduction continued, with the audience singing along loudly to the next song, “Nowhere Fast.”
The surprises kept coming, with the inclusion of special guests. A few songs in, harf. was invited back onto the stage to perform a cover of “Rings” by Pinegrove, a band both artists love. After the song, someone from the crowd requested more Pinegrove, to which Honer responded jokingly that the entire rest of the set will only be Pinegrove covers. Later, before playing his song “Take Me As I Am,” a member of the audience was invited onto the stage to perform the song alongside Honer. After this, Honer temporarily put away his guitar to dance along to a fun cover of “You Make Me Feel Like Dancing” by Leo Sayer.
Toward the second half of the set, Honer shared that just a couple weeks ago, he met one of his biggest musical inspirations—fellow alternative folk singer Tyler Childers. During the interaction, which was posted online, Childers jokingly told Honer, “I cover your song all the time,” the song in question being “Jersey Giant.” (“Jersey Giant,” which is actually Childers’ own original song, is over 10 years old, but was only played live and never officially released by Childers himself. It was launched into popularity after Honer released a cover of the song with Julia DeGrazia in 2022.) Honer and his band then performed the song, which was long awaited by the audience.
At the end of the night, Honer thanked Woodstock for a great show, and formally introduced his band members before playing one more song. They performed “Better off Lonely,” a song recently released this past spring. With that, Honer and the band left the stage. However, any avid concertgoer would know that it doesn’t end there, and the audience immediately started shouting for more.
No more than 5 minutes later, Honer returned alone for an encore, first playing “Mr. Meyers,” a devastating acoustic ballad about grief. After that, the band returned to the stage to end the show on an energetic note. After thanking the audience once more, Honer reminded the audience of one more thing: that he “[doesn’t] know shit about cars.” This, of course, prompted the band to play Honer’s appropriately named song “idk shit about cars.” Honer did one more backflip, the band played out as the crowd emptied the venue, and the night closed out with an all-around fantastic show by harf., Honer, and the band. The tour continues, with UK/Europe shows beginning this weekend.
Evan Honer – Bearsville Theatre, Woodstock – Wednesday, August 13, 2025
Setlist: Everything I Wanted, Nowhere Fast, I Figured We’d Go Dancin’, Place I Hate, Waiting Room, Rings (Pinegrove cover featuring harf.), Scared to Love Again, Comfort the Fall, Wake Up, Come Down, A Thousand Times, Brother, Me, Without You, Take Me As I Come (featuring audience member), You Make Me Feel Like Dancing (Leo Sayer cover), Long Road, Jersey Giant (Tyler Childers cover), Foolin’ Ourselves, Too Far Gone, Maybe for Once, Better Off Lonely, Mr. Meyers, idk shit about cars
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