Wynchester @ Zénith, Paris - February 26th, 2020

Wynchester had the prestigious yet unenviable task of opening for the mighty D in Paris. The country-rock duo has been gravitating around Tenacious D's inner circle for a while: Lead singer Mike Bray is the main pipes in Kyle Gas' band while guitarist John Konesky is Tenacious D's lead guitarist.

Wynchester's music, while tongue in cheek, is real bona fide country rock without a hint of irony. Sure, there's humor in their lyrics and in their presentation. But the music is a hundred percent real. Their vocal harmonies, their guitar skill and mostly their songwriting are nothing to laugh about.

As a Dio fan, the highlight of their set for me was their countrified yet deferent cover of "Rainbow In The Dark" but their own songs like "Two-Man Job" or "High Desert Rambler" didn't pale in comparison with that classic.

They were the perfect opener for the evening as evidenced by the fact that the several thousand D-heads in attendance cheered and applauded their performance almost as much as that of the headliner's. Almost.