Donovan Woods at 7th Street Entry (13 Oct 2024)

 

Tour Dates

• Oct 15, 2024 Schubas Tavern Chicago, IL
• Oct 16, 2024 The Ark Ann Arbor, MI
• Oct 24, 2024 Algonquin Theatre Huntsville, ON
• Oct 25, 2024 Market Hall Performing Arts Centre Peterborough, ON
• Oct 26, 2024 National Arts Centre Ottawa, ON
• Oct 29, 2024 Bar Le Ritz PDB Montreal, QC
• Nov 1, 2024 Brighton Music Hall Boston, MA
• Nov 2, 2024 (Le) Poisson Rouge New York, NY
• Nov 3, 2024 Johnny Brenda’s Philadelphia, PA
• Nov 4, 2024 The Atlantis Washington, DC
• Nov 7, 2024 The Basement East Nashville, TN
• Nov 9, 2024 Vinyl Atlanta, GA
• Dec 4, 2024 Centre In The Square Kitchener, ON
• Dec 5, 2024 Massey Hall Toronto, ON

Canadian folk singer Donovan Woods will headlined the 7th St Entry, in Minneapolis, on a chilly Sunday, Oct 13, 2024.

Opening the show was Los Angeles’ Katelyn Tarver, operating on four hours of sleep (she had a show the night before). She only landed in the city just hours before the show, but she was incredibly happy to be playing on the first show with Woods.

 

She was at 7th Street about one year ago: “Katelyn Tarver is on her first headlining “Compliments Only” tour. She had a lot of fun digging through her EP and old songs, and her forthcoming sophomore 2024 album, to put together her setlist. Even though it’s her first major tour, she seemed like an old pro at this. And even if things aren’t exactly going according to plan, Tarver is having fun. In the middle of her set, she decided to do a mini-solo set (meaning her drummer and guitarist would take a nice 20-min break backstage). Starting with her quiet piano-driven song “Sh** Happens”, followed by “Love Alone”, and a cover of Paramore’s “The Only Exception”, and ending with “Love Me Again”. ”

The big difference between last year and this current show is that she didn’t have a full backing band… instead having to rely everything on her guitar and maybe more storytelling to better explain her songs.

For example, one of the lines in “Parallel Universe” reminded her of a terrible time when she was distracted when driving. “I wasn’t texting while driving, I was… looking at my phone…” she defended herself. She got into a car accident (no one was hurt) and learned a valuable lesson. “I don’t do ever again,” she said embarrassed.

 

She actually had a pretty funny story about her time playing in Japan, at a maid café, which she turned into a song. I will let Tarver sum it up in her own words: “When I was a teenager, I had an album I was promoting, and it ended up taking me overseas to Japan to promote it. I performed at a bunch of gigs, but one in particular was at a maid cafe where they requested I wear a French maid outfit for the performance. The audience watched while sitting in school desks, and the sound system was a boombox with a microphone held up to the speaker. It’s become one of those stories I tell at parties about my weird life as a teenage wannabe popstar, and now it’s the inspiration behind my newest song Japanese Café… I used to be embarrassed about this time in my life, but writing this song helped me find a new appreciation for the girl in this picture.”

Katelyn Tarver ended her set with the title track from her new album Quitter, available now on Nettwerk Records.

We previously mentioned that Juno Award winning Canadian artist Donovan Woods opened up for Drew Holcomb and The Neighbors in Apr 2024, so he has that kind of built-in audience and fans.

Drew Holcomb even asked Woods to sing on his song, “For Some Reason,” adding, “Donovan and I were talking about all the things in the world that don’t make sense, the human idiosyncrasies and fears that drive our unique stories. And how having someone is one of the only things that help it make sense, but even in that, at some point we are separated from that too…there’s a sadness in that reality, but a gratitude to have it in the first place.”

Woods was quite funny, commenting about the world’s longest album title, Things Were Never Good If They’re Not Good Now, to “Living Well” (which is, to say, not living well). Fans laughed at everything he had to say, he certainly had a captive audience.

His fans knew all the songs, singing along to the popular ones… and highlight was asking a fan in the audience to sing out to “I Ain’t Ever Loved No One” for the encore.