It's been a couple years since I have been to a Koe Wetzel show. I didn't realize how much I missed seeing him live. Here I was at Leaderbank Pavilion. It's also been quite some time since I have had the pleasure of being here. It's a great outdoor covered venue right on Boston's riverfront, nestled nicely in the Seaport District. We are so lucky in Boston to have so many high-class venues within such small distances to each other; New England is a great region for that. Some artists leave you with a feeling of "that was a great show". Possible a one and done. Then there are the Koe Wetzel shows that no matter how many times you see him you still come away with a new experience. This is exactly how I felt.
Starting in front of the pavilion Koe made an appearance taking photographs and selfies with fans and took the time to have actually non-rushed conversations. I have had lots of experience being around musicians in this industry and I can see when an artist is genuine and invested in his fans. That's Koe. His character alone lets you know exactly the type of person he is, and he translates that into his music.
Once Koe took the stage on his "Night Champion Works Tour", everyone in the audience knew immediately that we were in for a wild ride. Koe came out, stage left, fire shooting behind him, immediately setting the tone that this was gonna be some unapologetic Texas country rock. He had a high expectation to meet, and he delivered, somehow. Having seen him before, I had a pretty good idea of what I was walking into, and even still I was blown away. Something about watching him perform feels less polished and what we’re used to with country music, but it makes it feel more genuine. He doesn’t come out and act like he’s playing classical rock or classical music, and needs to put a perfect performance. He’s more of an artist that genuinely enjoys being on stage, walking around showboating with band members and playing songs that he clearly has written and that mean something to him. Not only do his songs portray personal struggles throughout his life but he has the ability to make his fanbase also go through a therapeutic evening along with him. That’s what makes him a good artist; he connects with his fans and together they overcome struggles.
The setlist itself had a great balance. We got some newer type material, and we also got some of the classics that he’s helped mold his fanbase over. Tracks like “High Road” and “Creeps” are always fan favorites and of course, the crowd absolutely goes crazy when those come on. No matter how many concerts I go to, I will never get used to a whole venue singing back to the artist. I can only imagine what that feels like.
But there is something that we have to talk about. The crowd. That was the one disappointment to take from the special night. I just wish we had more people there to show support for Koe and country rock. I don’t care that it was a Wednesday night. I believe Koe has built a big enough following and earned it to where Boston should feel completely packed from the front to the back. There is a great country music scene here so that absolutely rubbed me the wrong way. I also understand the reasoning for a few empty seats out there in the pavilion, it was a Wednesday night. No matter where you are in the country, getting people to show up to a concert in the middle of the work week is definitely a tougher sell.
With that being said, the people that did show up were beyond excited to be there and they made no secret of that. We didn’t have any shortage of singing, dancing, shouting, and I’m sure also some random guy out in the audience that got too intoxicated that he forgot he had to work the next day. And by the time I looked around mid set, I forgot that we had a lot of empty seats. All of our collected energy together made the crowd feel much larger than it actually was.
Seeing Koe in the past and although it was a great show, his stage presence now is much more defined. He seemed pretty comfortable throughout his entire performance. You can definitely see where he’s matured and grown. He made it clear that he stopped drinking and doing drugs on tour. Honestly, you can see how that happened. He looked much better and lost a bunch of weight.
I know with it being on Wednesday, everybody that left there couldn’t help feel like staying up late and being very tired the next day at work was the right choice. I’m sure Thursday morning in many offices across central and eastern Massachusetts had some employees that probably couldn’t keep their eyes open.
I left feeling exactly like I knew I would feel, having seen him before. It just reinforced my beliefs that this musician deserves to be where he is, and he’s going to continue to grow and mold his future and solidify a spot as one of the greatest country rock musicians that we will ever have.
For a Wednesday night, he brought plenty of life to the pavilion on the waterfront. My only wish was that we had more people that had been there to experience it. But hey, that’s their loss. We all walked away leaving a piece of us emotionally behind. All I can do is recommend you to please go see a Koe Wetzel show. It’s a damn good show, you won’t be disappointed, you’ll get your money’s worth, and you’ll never regret you went and saw him. Go BUY.THE.TICKET.
Koe Wetzel
