Concert Reviews

“Maybe war is a God and we’re just super superstitious; it’s gonna take a lot of blood, ’cause boy, are we religious.”

By Carson Lyle

March 7, 2026 | 1:40 PM

5 minutes to read

Jesse Wells at House of Blues Boston, March 6, 2026

Jesse Welles’ first tour of 2026, the “Under the Powerlines Tour,” arrived at Citizens House of Blues on Friday night, bringing with it a little country twang and a lot of wry political commentary.

The Arkansas native attended the 68th Annual Grammy Awards last month, where he was nominated for four awards. “Honestly, I got four nominations, but I don’t know what they are for,” the singer told CNN on the Grammys’ red carpet. 

Welles was nominated for Best Folk Album, Best Americana Album, Best American Roots Song, and Best Americana Performance. Though he didn’t win at the Grammys, he has won other awards over the years. In 2025 he won the Spirit of Americana/Free Speech in Music Award at the Americana Music Honors and Awards. 

Back in Boston, Welles casually walked across the stage to start the performance — no warning, no introduction, but simply Welles standing there in a sleeveless shirt holding his guitar with his harmonica hanging around his neck. 

He began singing his short songs about recent events that are famous on TikTok, and that have led some to declare him maybe the most trenchant political protest singer working today.

He began his set with his new song, “Sometimes You Bomb Iran,” written in the wake of the recent strikes on Iran. “Well, bomb ’em to hell, every boy and every girl; be the change in the regime you want to see in the world,” he sang, his lyrics dripping with his trademark satirical sarcasm.

Welles’s voice combines a southern twang with just a hint of winking alt rock edge — it brought to mind Les Claypool’s iconic theme to “South Park” by way of a spaghetti western. It’s a rasp that makes you feel as if you just stumbled into a ghost town and were greeted by a dusty cowboy saying, “This town isn’t big enough for the two of us.”

Something interesting about Welles is that he writes songs just hours or even minutes after a current event occurs and completely nails what makes it troubling or ridiculous. He sang “Join Ice” — “If you’re lackin’ control and authority, come with me and hunt down minorities” — which he had performed on Steven Colbert’s Late Night show in November. He then played “The List,” written about Jeffrey Epstein.

“Anybody on the big list knows just how far thе folks in charge will go to keep the status quo,” Welles sang as the crowd paid rapt attention.

Though outside viewers could assume that Welles is trying to perpetuate a certain agenda onto the audience, that’s not really his approach. Even though Welles clearly states his opinion, his lyrics allow the audience to form their own beliefs on whatever he’s singing about. 

After finishing his song “The Poor,” his band snuck out, and with the strum of a guitar, strobe lights appeared, and a massive American flag dropped. The concert felt like it started all over again.

Welles began performing “Domestic Error” — his takedown of the social media “manosphere,” among other things — a raucous take which sounded better live, projecting a 1980s vibe. The crowd surely enjoyed the shift in atmosphere as people — many of whom had clearly moshed before — began swinging their fists and heads in the air with every beat. 

The song was like attending a protest in itself and the House of Blues seemed angry and fired up. Welles clearly knows how to rally a crowd. 

Welles played 13 songs back to back from his 14 albums, and paused the streak to do a cover of “Paranoid” by Black Sabbath. The Welles’ cover was a country rock version straying from the hard rock original, and it sounded stupendous. 

Welles continued his sharp singing streak with his “War is a God,” spitting out the lyrics “Maybe war is a God and we’re just super superstitious; it’s gonna take a lot of blood, ’cause boy, are we religious.”

The song makes the audience realize that Jesse Welles does not hate America; he believes America is worth fighting for, which is why he is singing what he sings. It drives home the idea that war has become a religion itself, and it has consumed everyone and everything.

The background vocals gave Welles’ words more depth in comparison to his solo TikTok takes, and his words lingered in the air. 

Welles then sang “Masks Off,” about how corporate and political figures have stopped even trying to hide their “diabolical” actions, and then moved on to his second cover of the night — “Creep” by Radiohead. The way Welles interpreted the cover gave the song more desperation and heartache than it had already. 

By this time, Welles had just sung over 15 songs with no break. It was almost overwhelming — there was no time to digest the songs. It would have been nice if Welles had spoken to the crowd about the meanings behind his lyrics, his process, or, well, anything, since getting to know the artist can be a big part of a concert.

Welles finished his main set with a Creedence Clearwater Revival cover, “Have You Ever Seen The Rain,” before coming back alone to perform seven more songs, starting off with his most popular song “Bugs.”

“I like bugs and I’ll tell you why, cause they’re alive and so am I,” he sang, in the closest thing he’s got to a children’s song (albeit with a grown-up underlying philosophical message about approaching life.)

Welles then sang another cover, “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” by John Denver. The entire crowd belted the song in unison. 

Welles ended with the haunting, timely “War Isn’t Murder:” “War isn’t murder, it’s the vengeance of God; if you can’t see the bodies, they don’t bloat when they rot. And the flies don’t swarm, and the children don’t cry; if war isn’t murder, good men don’t die,” he sang. Then he walked back across the stage and disappeared, with as little fanfare as when he entered.

Setlist for Jesse Welles at Citizens House of Blues, March 7, 2026:

• Sometimes You Bomb Iran
• The Great Caucasian God
• Join ICE
• The List
• United Health
• Fat
• Walmart
• The Poor
• Domestic Error
• Philanthropist
• Red
• God, Abraham, & Xanax
• Paranoid (Black Sabbath cover)
• War is a God
• Masks Off
• Creep (Radiohead cover)
• It Don’t Come Easy
• Horses
• Wheel
• Have You Ever Seen the Rain? (Creedence Clearwater Revival cover)

Encore:

• Bugs
• Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door (Bob Dylan Cover with S.G Goodman)
• Gilgamesh
• Witness Me Starfarer
• Take Me Home, Country Roads (John Denver cover)
• Fear is the Mind Killer
• War Isn’t Murder

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