Friday, December 2nd brought Chadwick Stokes to Tupelo Music Hall in Londonderry, NH, where he was joined by fans, friends, and family in a warm, cozy cabin-like setting that sheltered those in attendance from the crisp winter air. The small, intimate venue welcomed a near sell-out crowd that piled into Tupelo’s, gripping their bottles of wine and six packs of beer – a perk for any type of venue.
More than a decade ago, Dispatch roared through college campuses and more recently State Radio has been cramming venues – and the biggest, most constant similarity? Chadwick Stokes. The one-third of both aforementioned bands, the relentless activist whom many have come to know, has embarked on a tour in support of his debut solo album, Simmerkane II. Yes, he still makes time to do a solo project in between recording a new Dispatch album, touring with State Radio, and powering his 
non-profit organization Calling All Crows (callingallcrows.org) which helps to fight social injustices and provide humanitarian aid around the world.
Stokes continues to prove time and again that music is power and leverages this opportunity to motivate anyone who comes along. This showed through each song, old favorites and new, and seeped through the energy of the audience, creating an enthusiasm both on stage and off. It didn’t take long for him to engage the audience with one of his most influential, politically infused songs that stems from the most recent State Radio album, Let It Go. Opening with "Calling All Crows", the anthem to his non-profit organization, the mood quickly shifted from a bustling mix of light talk and laughter, to a grooving sing-a-long that everyone seemed to participate in.
Stokes’ backing band The Pintos joined him on stage to debut the first song of the night for the New Hampshire crowd off Simmerkane II, "Adelaide" – a catchy chorus driven love song that had everyone’s head bobbing and feet tapping. Immediately following were the fast-folky ridden "Crowbar Hotel", and the first single off the album, "Back to the Races". It is rare these days to have musicians interact with a crowd so much as Stokes does. After nearly each song, he described the inspiration behind it – a connection that is truly missed during many other concerts. His brother Will Urmston (a member of The Pintos) solely accompanied Stokes on the dimly lit stage to play a yet-to-be-released piece, "Josephine", that was inspired by their cross-country train hopping experience a few years back (likely to find its way onto the forthcoming Dispatch album).
The twelve-song set ended with "All My Possessions – Ode to Troy" a song dedicated to friend Troy Davis, who was recently executed by the state of Georgia. Something so recent and fresh had clearly moved the crowd as every chair had become unoccupied midway through the song. The encore fittingly blended songs from three different era’s: State Radio favorite "Right Me Up", the new "Coffee and Wine", and Dispatch’s battle cry, "Elias".
The progressively and much more frequent clank of wine and beer bottles knocked to the floor throughout the night, and it snapped the trances of those in attendance and only reminded them that this show unfortunately would soon come to a close. It was a typical environment for a Chadwick Stokes show – the setting, the company, and the music blended into the epitome of what he has been doing for years.
