It was a hot and steamy Saturday at The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion. The sun was beaming down relentlessly as we made our way inside the venue grounds, you could hear tune’s from Houston’s own Slim Thug over the speakers. Although the rhythmic beat of a rap song echoed through the pavilion, a sea of denim flooded through the gates…accompanied with a side of red, white, & blue. What might seem a bit out of place was right on point with what was to come. What’s the occasion you ask? Koe Wetzel! The Texas born country artist that fuses a mix of genres to create his own unique sound.
As the fun began the sun set just enough to reveal the jam-packed lawn. The seats were full too, but what was once a sea of denim is now a sea of trucker hats. Pecos and The Rooftops started playing, the mood was light and peppy as people cracked open their drink of choice. As I scanned the crowd, not many people knew the words but that didn’t stop them from nodding uncontrollably song after song.
Next to the stage was Kolby Cooper. It was quiet during the intermission- that is until Kolby appeared. The crowd quickly went into a foot tapping, head bobbing frenzy as the long haired guitarist and entourage started to shred. The music only got louder and as it increased, so did the screams.
As the music faded from Cooper, the lights dimmed and the crowd relaxed as the cool breeze came through the pavilion. That is until a guitar rift mixed into Lil Jon’s notorious “to the windows, to the wall…”. The crowd started going wild, jumping to their feet before the lights could even come on. Koe took off playing ‘Fuss and Fight’. The drums and guitar vibrated the crowd around the same time smoke and pyro took over the stage. By the end of the song hats were crooked, beer cans are held high, and half the pavilion seemed to have lost their voice.
This went on until Wetzel took his famous drink of Jack Daniels. The crowd gained their composure just long enough for a few Texas sized “Hell Yeah’s!” before playing more adrenaline pumping songs, only pausing to commend the crowd on looking and sounding so good. He played hits like “Drunk Driving”, “Something to Talk About”, “FDA”, and “Cold and Alone” with only a brief pause to let the crowd catch up. This uptempo cycle continued until he thanked everyone for coming out.
For my first listen of Koe Wetzel’s music, I can quickly tell you it won’t be my last. I honestly first heard about Wetzel through his huge social media presence- the guy is mildly funny. Musically, I still don’t know what genre he really fits in, but the verdict is he can flat out play… and sing. Don’t worry, if the lyrics don’t do it for you his stage presence absolutely will. Highly recommend.
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