Texas southern-rock band Whiskey Myers celebrated the release of their 5th studio album, Tornillo, the best way they knew how. By playing a rock and roll show.
It would feel like a disservice if the band celebrated any other way. A party thrown by the label or their management company doesn’t feel like their scene, doing an Instagram Live or a Q&A on Twitter or Reddit would definitely connect them with fans, but there’s no better way to promote that you just put out a new album than by playing a big amphitheater show in your home state.
The 6-piece East Texas band hit the stage a few minutes past 10 PM and didn’t stop playing for 2 hours straight. I think the only time they really took breaks was to switch guitars. There was also a few minutes where frontman Cody Cannon and his guitar tech had to fix something causing issues on his pedal board but even then, that dead space was filled by lead guitarist John Jeffers playing Johnny Cash songs on his guitar.
The setlist, luckily, was not entirely reliant on new album material. The band only played two Tornillo songs, opening with lead single John Wayne and throwing The Wolf towards the end of the set. My biggest fear going into the show was that the setlist would be focused on the new album which is the easiest way to ensure that an audience is disengaged but it remained pretty close to the same show I saw this March in Lubbock.
I said this the last time I recapped one of the band’s shows but it still remains true. There is nothing better than a no-frills rock and roll show like Whiskey Myers play night after night. Just loud guitars, bright lights, thick smoke, and a great voice piercing through all that, nothing will ever beat it for me. It also helped that the crowd was very much into their performance. Their performance of Gasoline blew the proverbial roof off of the amphitheater. The songs Bitch and Frogman were equally as energetic and well received. Broken Window Serenade and Bury My Bones led huge sing-alongs as did Ballad of a Southern Man where the band let the crowd sing the whole last chorus. However, their performance of that song was met with a quick hiccup after a fan threw a cup of beer on stage. Cannon quickly responded first calling the fan a “douchebag” then saying “you throw like a wuss.”
The show closed with Stone, one of the band’s hallmark songs and recent platinum single, and a cover of Tom Petty’s Refugee which, I can’t remember if I said this last time but I think this song would fit seamlessly into their discography if they ever want to cover it in the studio. As the song ended, lead guitarists John Jeffers and Cody Tate traded solos before the song closed out and the band waved goodbye, even though Jeffers and Tate came back on stage a short time after to throw out guitar picks and setlists.
While the crowd absolutely put the crowd at Lubbock’s show to shame, the show wasn’t very full at all. I knew it was already selling pretty bad when I got two separate emails advertising $10 off standard GA tickets. The band is in a strange spot right now where they’re ready to play bigger venues and have played big venues. This summer they sold out Red Rocks, they’re booked to play Dickies Arena in Fort Worth this October and the show is selling pretty well thus far, they have more big amphitheater shows coming up as well. However, not every big venue is ready for the band, as evidenced by Friday night’s show. I do think that once the new album has some time to sell and resonate, they’ll be able to come back and have it sell better.
The show was opened by Austin Meade and the Read Southall Band. I had seen Meade before at Cotton Fest and he was just as fun to watch this time around as well. He walked on stage, fired off a T-Shirt cannon, and said “Corpus, we only have 30 minutes, let’s rock.” The show was almost a homecoming for Meade, telling the crowd that he spent a little bit of his life growing up in Kingsville and came to shows at Concrete Street pretty often. His set ended by shooting more T-Shirts and he and his band kicking beach balls into the crowd.
Read Southall Band provided direct support and I’ll be honest, I was originally bummed when I found out that they were opening. For reference, Shane Smith & the Saints have been opening a good number of shows and I absolutely love them. I’ve been dying to see Shane again ever since I saw him open for Wade Bowen in January 2020. However, I do think that stylistically, Read was a much better opening act. Both artists have a raw and soulful Southern Rock sound, both have frontmen that are hard to keep your eyes off of, and both have passionate fanbases that make the shows a ton of fun. I had never really listened to Southall outside of a random listen to their latest album, For The Birds, but I was very impressed by their set and how great their light show was for an opening act. They had great energy, Southall had awesome stage presence, and the songs they played all sounded fantastic live, especially Damn which was the highlight of the set for me.
Oh, I guess I need to make this disclaimer here too. Do not try to tell me that Whiskey Myers make country music. Their new album cements them as the leaders of modern Southern Rock and I won’t hear any arguments against it.
Whiskey Myers’ Setlist:
John Wayne
Gasoline
Bury My Bones
Frogman
Broken Window Serenade
Bar, Guitar, and a Honky Tonk Crowd
Deep Down in the South
Die Rockin’
Virginia
Glitter Ain’t Gold
Early Morning Shakes
The Wolf
How Far
Ballad of a Southern Man
Home
Bitch
Stone
Refugee (Tom Petty Cover)
Whiskey Myers’ new album, Tornillo, is available to purchase or stream wherever you buy or listen to music. The band is touring extensively throughout the rest of the year. Ticket and venue info can be found at whiskeymyers.com.
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