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Koe Wetzel Tells Theo Von He Quit Drinking Whiskey & Switched To Tequila: “I’d Get To The Point Where I Couldn’t Talk”
Swapping whiskey for tequila.
Koe Wetzel is the guest on Theo Von's This Past Weekend podcast today, where he joined the comedian to talk about his new album 9 Lives, as well as his journey thus far and of course, some of his wild stories from the road.
Of course, Koe is known almost as much for his offstage antics as his incredibly fun, rowdy live shows, and is never one to shy away from showing fans the good, bad and ugly of his life on the road. But he told Theo that he slowed down quite a bit on his extensive Damn Near Normal World Tour this year, saying his team didn't leave him much time to party after shows or do anything too crazy, which is a sign of him growing up and evolving as a person and artist (a theme in the new album too).
Theo asked Koe if he'd ever had to cancel a show, and Koe told him that this year, they canceled two, one was because Koe got sick, and the other was when Hurricane Helene came through the area he was supposed to play in.
But he was pretty honest when he told Theo that he's given up the whiskey this year, because last year during his Hell Paso tour, he did cancel shows because he was drinking too much whiskey and couldn't form a full sentence:
"I don't like to do it, man. We haven't done it a lot. I think, we didn't have to cancel any on this tour... festival I got sick for, and then the hurricane came through and we had to cancel a show, we had to reschedule.
Last year during the 'Hell Paso' tour, man, like I said, it was crazy. I would just get, you know, the whiskey and everything. I gave up whiskey, by the way, this year I stopped drinking whiskey. Switched to tequila.
But last year with 'Hell Paso,' I'd get to the point where I couldn't talk and I would just be giving it everything just to say a sentence or whatever and we had to cancel a couple and that sucked. So after that, dude, I was like, no more, to be honest with you."
He added that, as much as he loves it, he couldn't keep drinking whiskey on tour the way he was and sustain the level of performance he needs to in order to put on a show the fans deserve:
"As much as I love it, it's rough on me, and like, I can drink tequila and not feel half as bad as I do on whiskey. You get that 5 gallon head, start swinging back and forth. I'll be like a cat, I'll hit hit the ground and bounce up really quick and think that nobody noticed, but I'm so big it just shakes sh *t off the wall."
Of course, he's not saying he's totally sober now or anything, but it seems like a step in the right direction and a positive thing for him to acknowledge that and be able to make a change and stick with it.
I might be a little bit biased though, because there's nothing worse than a whiskey hangover and I've always been a tequila girl anyways.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnOrhJ4kgMg
Koe just released a new holiday project called Wetzel’s Wonderland Chapter 2, which includes three covers of Christmas staples including “Run Run Rudolph,” “Merry Christmas Baby,” and “Silver Bells.” He has two more shows on the calendar for 2024, both in Texas to celebrate the Christmas EP and holiday season.
"Run Run Rudolph"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOSzrdzspqA
"Merry Christmas Baby"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iULRXzu-74s
"Silver Bells"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsp3wqk_hDU