Warren Zeiders has quickly become one of the most exciting voices in modern country rock, blending country, rock, and Christian influences into a sound that is both powerful and deeply personal. Raised in Hershey, Pennsylvania, Zeiders developed a love for music at a young age, after years spent playing lacrosse, before making the move to Tennessee where he honed his craft and found his signature style. With a gritty, soul-stirring voice and a knack for storytelling, he has captured the attention of a new generation of country fans, resonating with those who appreciate raw emotion and anthemic, guitar-driven songs.
In just a few years, Zeiders has taken country music by storm, culminating in his first No. 1 radio hit with ‘Pretty Little Poison.' His rapid rise has solidified him as one of Nashville’s newest headliners, earning him a loyal fanbase and sold-out shows across the country. Now, he’s bringing his music to a global audience, currently touring Europe on his Relapse tour, with UK dates that began in Belfast on February 7th. With his highly anticipated new album, ‘Relapse, Lies and Betrayal,' set for release next month, Zeiders continues to prove that he’s not just a rising star—he’s here to stay.
Shout out must go to support artist Wesko. This North Carolina songwriter took the stage with just an acoustic guitar and a band mate in tow and entertained the Bristol crowd for 40 minutes with a mixture of Country music and Zach Bryan-esque raw Folk. ‘Are you ready for some damn Country music?' he asked and the crowd answered heartily in the affirmative. Songs like ‘Lost Boys' and ‘Dreamer' with delivered with charismatic verve and a strong, gritty vocal that suited their southern charms. He talked about playing his viral hit ‘Helene' at the North Carolina benefit concert organised by Eric Church and Luke Combs last year and a spirited covers of Combs' ‘Beautiful Crazy' and Coldplay's ‘Viva La Vida' had the crowd joyously singing along. Wesko was a authentic and organic presence on stage, engaging in his storytelling and definitely an artist well worth keeping an eye on.
Warren Zeiders took to the stage on a wave of engine noise, flashing lights and balls-to-the-wall energy with ‘Up to No Good.' That energy never dipped throughout what was to follow – which was a bombastic, charismatic and exuberant performance full of heartfelt songs delivered with a Rock-leaning spunk and Country structure. “In case you didn't know,' Zeiders told the crowd during ‘Intoxicated' and then again during the end segment of a furious ‘Ride the Lightning,' “I'm Warren Fucking Zeiders,' and by god, he was!
Songs like ‘Betrayal' and ‘Heartbreaker' found Zeiders stalking the stage, from side to side, like a man possessed. He recently told us in an interview that he learned so much from playing arenas with Jelly Roll last year in terms of engaging with every last person in the crowd, no matter how close or how far away from the stage they are and that was in full evidence in Bristol last night. He looks at people directly in the eyes, points to the ones on the balcony, chuckles to himself after delivering pertinent lines and makes it his job to make everyone in the room feel like they are at their own private show.
With an arsenal of songs from his relatively short recording career to date, Zeiders isn't short of bangers and he picked a set where the intensity never seemed to dip below the red line so even songs like ‘Fight Like Hell,' which on record is a powerful but restrained track seemed like it was a full-blown arena monster, fleshed out, as it was, by Zeiders' five piece band who were all there to rock out as much as he was. ‘Weeping Willow' was dedicated to ‘all the ladies,' of which there were plenty in attendance last night, much to Zeider's obvious delight and he couldn't help a little nip-slip during ‘Intoxicated' which elicited a great deal of enjoyment from many of the women in the room!
It was a pleasure to see Zeiders air so many songs from the ‘717 Tapes' before some of them are put to bed in favour of the more newer tracks coming next month from the ‘Relapse, Lies and Betrayal' album. Zeiders told us in a recent interview that this is a deliberate decision given that he has never played the UK before and that he wanted his fans to get a chance to hear them before it is too late. So songs like ‘Never Look Back,' ‘Burn It Down' and ‘Ride the Lightning' were delivered with raw energy and a kind of arena-rock-esque sensibility that shook the foundations of the O2 Academy!
That Rock sensibility can be heard in tracks like ‘Sin So Sweet' which has its origins set all the way back in the Grunge movement of the 90s. With the stage bathed in red lights, Zeiders aired this monstrous, almost doom-laden track to an appreciative crowd that were there to rock just as much as he was. The crowd sang in all the right places last night and even in some that Zediers wasn't expecting! ‘You For a Reason,' was preceded by Zeiders explaining that this was his most recent release and one of the songs that he's written that means the most to him – but that didn't stop the Bristol crowd from taking the vocals over, just like they did at the end of ‘Pretty Little Poison', with the lights from everyone's phones illuminating the smiles of the players on the stage.
The passion and intensity flowing backwards and forwards from the stage to the crowd was a joy to be a part of at this show and it was also intriguing to see a whole new generation of fans accessing Country music through emerging artists like Zeiders. One of the early foundations of rock band Metallica's career was a song called ‘Ride the Lightning' from the album of the same name and Zeiders brought the main part of the show to a close with a song of the same name that wasn't far away from being Metallica-esque in places. He sang with a raw passion and a ferocity that echoed around the walls of this club: bombastic, full of self-confidence and machismo but always remaining humble and grateful to be able to take his songs to far-flung places around the world without taking anything for granted.
Some concerts that you go to just seem to flash by and before you know it Zeiders was gone, leaving the crowd to make their way home, tired, breathless and basking in the glow of the performance they had just seen. It may only be February but I might well have seen the show of the year in Bristol last night – it's going to take something off the charts to top Warren Zeiders' south-west blitzkrieg bop! It was a privilege to see an artist at the start of their career in such intimate and personal surroundings – this was an arena show squashed into a club that rocked from beginning to end with Warren Zeiders front-and-centre, conducting the madness with a devilish grin and a whole shed-load of charisma. The generation, the genre and the future belongs to him – strap in, buckle up, it's going to be a wild ride!
Setlist: 1. Up to No Good 2. Intoxicated 3. Betrayal 4. Fight Like Hell 5. Weeping Willow 6. Never Look Back 7. Heartbreaker 8. Sin So Sweet 9. You for a Reason 10. Relapse 11. Burn it Down 12. Pretty Little Poison 13. Ride the Lightning 14. Take it to the Grave Venue: Bristol Academy Date: February 12th
