A crisp October evening painted by a golden sunset welcomed Birmingham audiences as they entered Avondale Brewing Company to listen to up-and-coming artist, Wyatt Flores. The 23-year-old kicked off his “Welcome To The Plains” tour in October, playing hits off his debut album under the same name.
Flores - who has almost 4 million monthly listeners on Spotify - started his musical journey back in 2021 with the release of his single “Travelin’ Kid” and immediately started gaining a fanbase. He has slowly become one of the next prominent voices in the “red dirt” genre - a subgenre of a country with a strong indie rock influence and named after from the red dirt in Stillwater, Oklahoma - Wyatt Flores’ hometown.
As people filled the venue, Flores appeared a decent bit earlier with a young kid playing guitar. Flores welcomed the crowd and gave them an interesting surprise: Earlier that day, a 16-year-old named Brody Jackson approached him by his tour bus after a media interview and asked if he could play Flores some songs. He was instantly blown away at the talent of the young kid.
After talking about Jackson’s first show later in November, Flores wanted to give him some experience, so he asked him to play a few songs before the opening act and see what the kid could do.
Even without having a single show under his belt, he still connected well with his audience. Playing popular covers like “Jersey Giant”, “Wondering Why” and “Diamonds and Gasoline” (Flores asked him specifically to play this one), he slowly got more and more of the crowd’s attention with his smooth guitar and good old southern twang. However, when he started “Something In The Orange”, he got the crowd’s attention, with them singing every word alongside him.
By the time he closed with “Two Dozen Roses” the entire audience was on his side, cheering his name as he left the stage with an incredible story now under his belt.
Flores then came back on stage to introduce the official opening act: Noeline Hofmann. The singer-songwriter gained recent notoriety after Zach Bryan collaborated on her song “Purple Gas” for his newest album, "The Great American Bar Scene." Raised in Alberta, Canada, Flores described her as “putting out the best stuff right now.”
She recently released her debut EP “Purple Gas” earlier in October, containing everything she has put out on streaming and a couple of new tracks.
As she and her band entered the stage, there was a shift in the vibe of the concert. Rather than hyping up the crowd, Hofmann started a little slower, opening up with “One Hell Of A Woman.” The Canadian influence in her voice combined with the country style makes for a very interesting tone of voice that somehow fits really well. After easing in, however, Hofmann then kicked it up to hype up the crowd, playing “Big River” by Johnny Cash and “Lightning In July (Prairie Fire)” - a personal favorite.
As Hofmann went through her set, she chose to perform in a more conservative manner, letting the songs control the energy of the set. While covering “The Bullfighter” by Luke Bell, she announced that she would soon be releasing a cover of it, allowing the slower portion to have some deeper weight to it. She also took time to explore the background of her songs to establish a deeper connection with both the song and the fans. For example, her biggest song “Purple Gas” was inspired by her experience of working on a cattle farm after quitting her job at 18.
Closing out with “Sleepless Nights,” Hofmann very nicely set the tone for how the rest of the concert would play out.
Finally, it was time for the main event. At this point, Avondale was packed out and everyone was ready to see Wyatt Flores. As he took the stage with his band, there was an immediate shift in the vibe. Opening with the title track “Welcome To The Plains,” Flores and the band captivated everyone’s attention right from the get-go.
Especially on the first song, the fiddle player - Kenzie Sue Miracle - quickly made her talent known with an incredible solo that would give anyone a real good stank face.
As he continued through the set, it was evident that everyone on that stage had a real passion and love for each other and performing. It looked like 6 friends just decided to hop on stage and start grooving around, and that atmosphere allowed the audience to feel and engage in that joy as well. Keeping the energy high with hits like “Travelin' Kid” and “Life Lessons” Flores prepped his audience for a very enthusiastic night.
Hyping up his audience after the first few songs, Flores was as equally excited to be there as the audience was, sharing his love for everyone with a passion-filled, “Birmingham, how the f*** are we doing tonight?!”
This was his second appearance in Birmingham within a year, having performed right across the street at The Saturn only 10 months earlier, right before he started gaining popularity.
As he started to cool the energy down for the middle of his set, Flores talked about the types of songs he enjoys creating, specifically saying that he likes “writing songs about life and death," so it was perfectly fitting that he continued with songs such as “When I Die” and ”Half Life.”
Specifically in “Half-Life,” he talked about enjoying touring while still missing all of his close friends back home and how eerie it was that songs he writes somehow come true - for better or worse. In the song, he sings about missing his grandfather, and a few months later, he unfortunately passed away. You could feel the emotion as he performed the song, and the audience latched on to him and shared his mood.
Trying to kick the energy back up, Flores asked how many people were seeing him for the first time, and the crowd's reaction absolutely blew him away. When he played The Saturn last year, there was a 500-seat maximum capacity. Now, just 10 months later, he almost sold out Avondale - with about 2,750 people showing up for the show. This electrified Flores, who then pulled out the next wave of high-energy hits with “Oh Susannah” and his biggest hit “Please Don’t Go.”
During that, he brought Brody Jackson back on stage to sing a chorus, much to the audience’s delight - as they chanted his name while Johnson walked off.
Riding the high all the way to the end, Flores closed with “West Of Tulsa” - perfectly settling the wave and walking off on a high - but the audience wasn’t ready to leave. Shouts of “encore!” came from all around, and to everyone's delight, the band walked back on and played two more songs: “Stillwater” and “Don’t Wanna Say Goodnight” - giving the crowd one last high before officially calling it for the night, remarking “Birmingham, I’ve missed y’all, and I can’t wait to come back.”
All in all, this was an incredible night of live music. Seeing Jackson’s first show paired with Hofmann’s first-ever visit to Alabama was the best way the mood could have been set. Flores’ live performance translated itself into more of a rock style of music, and it only benefitted from that. Knowing the perfect way to guide the energy of the concert made this night incredible, and gained all of the performers some new fans.
Brody Jackson’s Setlist:
- Jersey Giant
- Diamonds and Gasoline
- Something In The Orange
- Shake The Frost
- Wondering Why
- Two Dozen Roses
