If you don’t already have plans for this upcoming Saturday, February 28, feel free to join in on celebrating Koe Wetzel Day with a little tomfoolery and Taco Bell.
The unofficial (but hopefully soon to be official) holiday is nearing its 10-year anniversary following the fan favorite release of Wetzel’s 2016 song, “February 28, 2016.” The track off his second album, Noise Complaint, dropped in August following his infamous public intoxication arrest which inspired the song.
In honor of this unfortunate but iconic moment in Wetzel’s career, the 33-year-old singer-songwriter took to social media today to post the true origin story of the song. The @koewetzelmusic account posted a clip of the recount where Wetzel tells fans, “I didn’t think whenever I wrote the song that it was going to do what it did. But I was in Stephenville, Texas. I wasn’t going to school, I think I was working at the baseball fields, I don’t know what it was, I was working a sh**** job, and went to my buddy’s house one friday night and we drank all night long.”
If there’s alcohol involved, you know it’s bound to be a good story– especially a liter of vodka. Wetzel continues, “I didn’t have a lot of money, but I had a bottle of white wolf vodka. My buddy, he’s not with us anymore, he passed away, but he told me after I got out of jail, he’s like, ‘Yeah, you left, and then you came back.'” His buddy then continues by noting what has become one of the trademark lines of the song, “‘and then we drank for another 2 or 3 hours, and then you keep talking about Taco Bell and how you wanted some food.’”
On a mission, the “High Road” singer determinedly made his way to every drunk’s dream destination for a crunchwrap (or so I assume, because his ideal Taco Bell order has yet to be confirmed). “‘We tried to stop you from leaving, but you just said F*** us, and you left.’ And then I woke up in jail.”
Sure enough, he was taken to Erath County Jail on that fateful night. “My truck was about five blocks from his house, out of gas. The hood was popped, my front doors were swung open, and I was laying face down in the middle of a soccer field. The cops had thought I was dead when he walked up on me.”
The song has since become not only a staple in Koe Wetzel’s discography but also free promo for the American Mexican fast food chain, and of course, a cautionary tale of drinking and driving. Wetzel added, “In a sense I guess you could say February 28th, 2016, kind of helped me get to where I am today.”
Now with over 123 million streams on Spotify and a running petition to have the date officially recognized in Texas, its infamy is inescapable. The Lone Star State native emphasized, “Here we are ten years later, and it’s crazy that people are still jiving with the song and it has become this holiday in Texas, I guess, unbeknownst to me. I don’t know if I’m ready for the ten-year anniversary.”
Given the momentous occasion of this being the decennial, Wetzel is honoring this track in a big way. This video is just the start of a weeklong countdown of surprises to come, including Thursday and Saturday being two celebratory shows in Houston and Fort Worth, respectively. What better way to spend one of the last days of February than seeing Wetzel return to his roots at his very own intimate Riot Room bar? You can already sign up to RSVP for both events on the website, and of course, for those unable to celebrate with the 2016 jailbird, be sure to cheers a Baja blast in his honor.