The Wilder Blue at Antone's
- Samuel Hamilton
- Jun 16
- 2 min read
Few places in Austin offer the intimacy between performer and audience than where I found myself walking into that night. I entered 5 minutes after the doors opened, and all of the bar stools were still empty. Several chairs and tables sat patiently. The standing room was still a walkway. After receiving my pass, I traveled to the side stage where I believed the tour manager was standing. I was correct. He couldn’t have been nicer, and he couldn’t have been more than 28. Yet, he was running the show.
I was there to photograph The Wilder Blue, a band that has become a Texas Country Music household name after only forming in 2020. I’ve heard many accounts of people saying the Wilder Blue put on the best performance of any band they've seen. This was my first live show of theirs.
The crowd began filing into Antone’s Night Club just as Bottomland, the evening’s opener, took the stage. Bottomland consisted of five guys in their twenties on the unexpected run of a lifetime. The band is led by the duo Cannon Brand and Justin Lane Gates, who went viral online late last year and have been riding the momentum around the country ever since. This was one of their many stops supporting The Wilder Blue. Many in the audience had also come to see Bottomland and were not disappointed. The set was strong, filled with their new releases and a couple of crowd pleasers.
The Wilder Blue then arrived. The lights stayed low, but the volume surged as the first notes rang out and cheers answered. A few measures in, the lights came up, and all members of The Wilder Blue were already showcasing why they have become so popular so quickly. They excel on their instruments (Andy Rogers, in particular, seems to have mastered several) while providing harmonies as tight as any I’ve heard on a Texas stage. I fired away the rest of the evening trying to capture it all.
The set had a truckload of dobro solos, telecaster riffs, and smooth Eagles-esque
harmonies. Apparently, my camera had not covered my ear-to-ear smile, as at one point frontman Zane Williams looked over and gave me a proud wink. As they closed out the night to a roaring crowd, it became clear: The Wilder Blue isn’t just a supergroup of long-time Texas musicians and songwriters. They’re a force.
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