“It’s crazy hearing so many people singing along to these songs. It never gets old,” said Kelly Zutrau, lead singer of Wet, the Brooklyn-based, minimal pop and modern alternative R&B group. Kelly, along with electronic producer and instrumentalist Joe Valle, guitarist Marty Sulkow, and the band’s new drummer Gabe Smith, performed at the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC on November 19th for their “last real night of tour” before heading back to their home base of New York. With Kelly’s moving, refined vocals and the band’s unassuming presence, Wet gave the crowd exactly what they wanted – a simple, no-frills performance. They commanded the stage with grace while shedding light on their ability to stay true to their core musical tenets of emotion and honesty.
The concert was mainly a presentation of Wet’s debut album, Don’t You, released this past January by Columbia Records. The album defined their signature, “direct, minimal, and emotional” sound, as described by Kelly. The band also performed “The Middle” and “Turn Away,” songs that they released while on tour. Through plainspoken and unguarded lyrics, Wet’s theme is consistent throughout: vulnerability presented in a powerful way.
After teasing the crowd with airy guitar chords, the band opened with “It’s All in Vain,” a track rooted in the regret of heartbreak. While the subject of most of their songs is romance and particularly breakups, Kelly’s voice remains strong, calm, and crisp, which makes Wet’s music feel liberating, and, ironically, empowering. The band’s relaxed yet sophisticated guitar riffs, in addition to sparse electronic beats, added texture to Kelly’s vocals and created a spacious, sensuous aura.
While Wet performed mostly slow-tempo songs, with the exception of “All The Ways,” their performance did not wallow in any kind of sadness. Their most popular track “Don’t Wanna Be Your Girl,” which has over 26 million streams on Spotify, was met with relentless cheering from the crowd. Before the song started, Kelly humbly admitted: “I just spilled a bunch of water into these light jacks. I think it's okay.” The crowd, who wouldn’t dare to criticize any aspect of their performance, comforted her with applause. The audience sang along as if it were life’s anthem, even overpowering Kelly vocals.
Like the music itself, Wet’s visuals and attire were tastefully minimalistic. During “Don’t Wanna Be Your Girl,” four spotlights shot up from the ground and surrounded Kelly, who sang without using a microphone stand. White and gold lights casted misty shadows on Kelly, Joe, and Marty, creating a soft dreamscape. With smoke spreading slowly across the stage, Gabe’s drum kit was barely visible even from the front of the crowd. Their clothing – Joe’s red beanie, Marty’s white tee, and Kelly’s plain red sweatshirt and Levi’s jeans – was also modest. It was clear that the focus was the music rather than the band members themselves.
At the end of “Island,” Kelly gave the crowd a humble, “Thank you DC,” and walked quietly off the stage. As she left, the band continued, transitioning into a prolonged outro – a glorious jam session between Joe, Marty, and Gabe – decorated with neon blue spotlights that beamed across the crowd. When the electronic synths stopped, the jam session came to a dramatic halt, along with the lights.
In this short interlude, the band quickly set up Kelly’s autoharp in the dark, and she came back onto the stage. Once a single spotlight turned back on, Kelly said, “I’m going to try something different. I’m a little nervous,” she confessed, and, as expected, the crowd responded with an ovation. After singing an unknown cover, she asked the audience to sing along as she gently played the chords of “All the Ways.”
With “Weak,” Kelly sang another ballad-like plea of love, and the band ended the night with warm guitar chords and reverbing electronic synths. Slow jams may feel almost too unvaried for an hour-long concert, but it made an ideal soundtrack to a crowd that yearned to feel emotion. Refreshingly, Wet doesn’t try to be something they’re not. Their appeal stems from their ability to be real, and to be human.
