Warren Zeiders: The Hype Is Warren-ted
Warren Zeiders rocked the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center last Friday, May 24th, ahead of Memorial Day Weekend. This performance was originally scheduled for February 9th at the Municipal Auditorium, but, due to electrical issues, the venue was temporarily closed for repairs. Thankfully the class of ‘24 graduates at the local high school agreed to have their graduation ceremony moved to a different hall since there would be overlap for the two events. That’s not to say there wasn’t a little small town drama during the process though.
Since the venue changed, there was a little more chaos than usual for a sold out show due to a re-ticketing technicality which forced most people to collect their tickets at Will Call. The long wait times were still in effect well after the opener, Clayton Mullen, so Zeiders’ team actually pushed his set back about 10-15 minutes to allow those last people to get into the venue.
Clayton Mullen, 23-year-old Texas Christian University student who signed with Concord Music Publishing while still in school, opened for Zeiders. The crowd was familiar with the rising star’s music, who, similar to Warren Zeiders, had no connection to music and started performing and releasing music in the last few years. Check him out here: https://www.claytonmullen.com
Then, Warren Zeiders came out. Cool. Full stop. Having seen him now for a second time, I walked away from each show just telling whoever would listen,” God this guy is just so f*#king cool!” It’s the effortlessness that leaves me in a trance. Having only come on the scene in the last few years, Zeiders’ work and popularity has reached insane heights. Similar to the way Morgan Wallen blew up a few years ago, seemingly overnight, Warren Zeiders is on that same track, and I would argue even faster.
Throughout the night the crowd–well, really just the women–chanted, “Take it off, take it off,” to which Zeiders usually responded with that devilish side smile of his. He teased the lusting ladies by caressing his stomach slightly as he lifted his shirt enough to show his collegiate lacrosse abs. I’m not gonna sit here and lie pretending that I did not fall victim to his wiles. If we’re talking looks alone, this kid is Greek god status in my opinion, with his perfect smile, perfectly Little House on the Prairie curls in his luscious brunette locks, perfectly kempt beard and let’s not forget his thighs in those Wranglers. Now let’s move on to his talent. Pure, raw, unadulterated, gritty, supernal, starpower talent.
We’ve all heard it before, “They were born for this.” But that statement was born for Warren Zeiders. His stage presence is as natural as an eagle dancing on the wind waiting to strike. With no instruction or transition, he came onto the scene ready to perform. Coming from an athletic background, having played lacrosse for 12 years including during college and suffering seven concussions, he brings the same drive, dedication, and discipline to the stage as he did to the field.
His boyish smile betrays his humility once he’s out of character while on stage. In an interview with Three Forks Voices, based out of Montana, Zeiders self-identifies as an extrovert, which makes so much sense after seeing him thrive in the spotlight and the way he not only engaged with the audience but played with them…again, mostly talking about me and the hoard of feral females that night. He performed fan favorites like “Weeping Willow,” “Up to No Good,” and mega hit “Pretty Little Poison,” during which he had the lights turned off and instructed the audience to light the arena with their cell phone flashlights as they sang the chorus in unison.
People must’ve assumed with his Rust Belt background that he enjoyed the country boy favorite Zyn pouches because three separate times people threw packs at him on stage, including one that he caught one handed mid-song and another that he narrowly missed being hit in the head with and chuckled while singing. Usually it’s just bras.
In a first in my many years of seeing live music and doing the dance of the “unplanned planned” encore, Zeiders exited the stage to give the fans time to “demand” a couple more songs. But before he or his band came back on stage, the tour photographer came back on stage with a familiar article in his hand that was not his trademark camera. It was Warren’s shirt, yes the same sweaty, seductive one he was scintillatingly shimmying up and down his midriff for his flesh thirsty thirty-somethings.
The photographer was waving and whipping it at crowd like he was a matador revving up his bull to attack. Which is exactly what happened. As he draped it across the mic where Zeiders usually displays his lace trophies of the evening, Zeiders came back on stage sans shirt. As he performed the last couple songs of the night, he straddled the mic stand at the last chorus of “Ride the Lightning” and held in his hand in a, frankly, phallic way as the final note grew and erupted. I have no complaints about the Magic Mike show I attended over the weekend.
Zeiders is certainly riding the lighting and enjoying every minute of it, and his enthusiasm and energy are infectious, and it’s hard not to be swept up in his whirlwind. He’ll be around for a while, but the sooner you check him out the sooner you can start obsessing over him like the rest of us.
Find more info and tour dates here: https://www.warrenzeiders.com