Texas-born singer-songwriter Koe Wetzel has carved out a unique space in modern music, blending country, rock, hip-hop, and ’90s grunge into a genre-defying sound. His latest album ‘9 Lives' debuted impressively at No. 15 on the Billboard 200 and No. 5 on the Top Country Albums chart, driven by the Platinum-certified single ‘High Road' featuring Jessie Murph, which has climbed the Country, Hot AC, and Top 40 charts.
We interviewed Koe ahead of the tour and you can read that interview right here.
Wetzel first captured fans' attention with his 2016 album ‘Noise Complaint,' featuring Gold-certified tracks like ‘Love' with Parker McCollum and ‘February 28, 2016.' His major label releases, ‘Sellout' (2020) and ‘Hell Paso' (2022), solidified his chart-topping reputation across both country and rock.
With over 3.4 billion streams and a reputation for electrifying live performances, Wetzel has sold more than 750,000 tickets in just the last two years. He’s headlined major festivals, joined Morgan Wallen’s One Night at a Time Stadium Tour, and continues his sold-out Damn Near Normal World Tour, which is now expanding into Europe. Known for his dynamic stage presence and loyal fanbase, Wetzel’s appeal spans genres, offering fans an unfiltered and unforgettable musical experience. We were thrilled to catch Wetzel's show in Birmingham at the O2 Academy.
Exploding onto the stage with ‘Twister' it was instantly apparent that this was going to be a powerful set from a tight, slick band. What an opening song ‘Twister' is as it reaches its ‘belly of the beast' chorus! The O2 Academy stage could barely contain Wetzel's six piece band but the intimate atmosphere and lack of room made for what turned out to be quite an aggressive and punkish performance.
Wetzel's songs range from the Skynyrd southern rock vibes of ‘Fuss and Fight' through to slick, Brantley Gilbert-esque Country on ‘High Road' with a good bit of Nirvana, Papa Roach and Blink 182 thrown in for good measure along the way. Welcome to a whole new generation of genre-blurring, pigeon-hole busting artists, folks, they are here and they are making a name for themselves. Koe Wetzel is an intrinsic part of a new generation, doing things their own way and making the noises that they want to make.
‘I hope you're as fucking messed up as we are?' Wetzel asked, as the introduction to ‘April Showers,' ” I think somebody might have spiked my drink!' he added before the Alien Ant Farm-esque introduction to the song which also culminated in one of a few elongated guitar duels. ‘9 Lives' brought that big Skynyrd Southern rock vibe but if you listen closely you can also hear a through-line back to hair metal bands like Poison on that song's insanely catchy chorus. Listen to it and then listen Posion's ‘Unskinny Bop' and you'll see what I mean.
Throughout the shortened show (‘Sundy or Mundy' and ‘Ragweed' were dropped from the setlist tonight) Wetzel made numerous references to not feeling great but he didn't let his own vocal performance dip. Songs like ‘Good Time' and the particularly popular ‘Good Die Young,' were driven by his strong, clear vocals and underpinned by a band working hard and enjoying what they do best.
‘Casamigos' brought a big singalong but the loudest reception of the night was reserved for ‘Drunk Driving' as the Birmingham choir joined in underneath Wetzel's lead whilst a considerable amount of fists pumped the air. The biggest, and most welcome, surprise of the night came on ‘February 28th, 2016.' This song is a much louder, much more aggressive song live compared to its studio recording. The intensity of the band probably peaked here, as a number of the players adopted quite ‘metal-esque' stances and poses on a song that sounded akin to something like Papa Roach as the crowd were whipped up into a climactic frenzy.
A final triple hit of the Nirvana-esque ‘Creeps,' Country radio hit ‘High Road' and set closer, ‘Something to Talk About' brought this shortened heart of England debut to a close in fine style. “I hope you all go to work tomorrow with a hangover,” Wetzel told the crowd before ‘Something to Talk About,' before adding, “This song is for pussies who like to talk a lot of shit.” The show ended as it had begun: loud, aggressive, raucous and damn good fun.
Koe Wetzel is a unique and original breath of fresh air in the music industry. His brand of intense, bad-boy southern rock is rounded out with a healthy dose of Country soul and Pop/Punk attitude. Despite being under the weather here in Birmingham tonight, Wetzel and his band put on the kind of punkish, intense show that small clubs were designed for. These hot, sweaty, raucous nights don't come along as much these days as they used to in the 80s and 90s and so, in that respect, Wetzel is something of a throwback to the glory days of rock – a larger-than-life character full of piss and shit and bravado. He must give his management and PR teams nightmares in terms of trying to fit him into an industry and a genre in Country music that is largely built around wholesome fellas and steady, reliable married men with young families. Birmingham got a glimpse of the real Koe Wetzel tonight and we all went away from the show with our ears ringing and big smiles on our faces.
Setlist: 1. Twister 2. Fuss and Fight 3. April Showers 4. 9 Lives 5. Forever 6. Good Times 7. Good Die Young 8. Kuntry & Wistern 9. Casamigos 10. Sweet Dreams 11. Drunk Driving 12. February 28th, 2016 13. Damn Near Normal 14. Creeps 15. High Road 16. Something to Talk About Venue: Birmingham O2 Academy Date: October 31st
