Ruel has Nashville Kicking Their Feet
Nashville, Tennessee - February 13th, 2026
It’s Friday night in Nashville, and Marathon Music Works has found its own heartbeat: the chatter of hundreds of excited people steadily growing louder and more energetic, reaching a crescendo as the lights go down. It’s only the fourth stop on his North American tour, a very long way from his hometown of Sydney, Australia, and the stage is Ruel’s to take. As the opening notes dance from the speakers towards eager ears, there is no question about it; at least for the night, the stage is his.
Despite his penchant for pop, Ruel has a voice that carries a depth and texture that sets him apart from the typical pop performance. Clear at the bottom of his register and soft at the top, his dynamic range is hypnotic, keeping the crowd under his spell.
Over the course of the night, Ruel reveals that he wrote much of his most recent album, Kicking My Feet, right here in Nashville. He makes sure to mention that he wrote one of the album’s lead singles, “I Can Die Now” on his birthday while staying in Music City, recalling the day as a fond memory. Ruel is rewarded with the audience finding even more energy, yelling back the lyrics to the upbeat song.
The energy stays high, even when Ruel sets aside the middle portion of the set for his slower, more emotional songs, taking time to sit down at his keyboard and lament time, distance, and love.
The songs don’t stay sorrowful for long. Soon enough, Ruel sources a sparkling cowboy hat from the crowd. Things get unexpectedly chaotic from there. For the next couple of songs, the crowd goes nuts, and so does he until the stage plunges into darkness. It feels intentional until Ruel reveals that it definitely is not. Cool under pressure, he picks up his guitar and offers to keep playing acoustic. The crowd dissolves into cheers at the intimate suggestion. For a few sweet minutes, it feels like Ruel is playing a small pub in Australia rather than a major Nashville venue. The rest of the night continues without a hitch.
Ruel may have carved a new name for himself with this album, but there remains one universal truth: “Painkiller” must be played before a Ruel concert is complete. The audience waits until the last song before the opening notes of that familiar tune saturate the room, beginning the final stretch of the show. Nostalgia breeds a bittersweet moment. 2019 feels light years away, and the distance between the Ruel of Painkiller and the Ruel of Kicking My Feet is palpable; pain, growth, and joy, all made evident through change and documented in song. It’s a perfect night coming to a perfect close.
After tonight, one thing is incredibly clear: nearly 10 years in, Ruel is just getting started. Find tickets to the rest of his North American tour dates here.
