Tucker Wetmore Signs Fan Shoe With Eyeliner in Vegas
Tucker Wetmore turned a fan request into the night's sharpest live moment at ACM Next Wave: Country's Beach Bash in Las Vegas on May 16. He signed Mario Vitale's shoe with eyeliner during his set at Mandalay Bay, where the interaction played out inches from a wave pool and above a crowd packed for a 13-act bill.
Vitale had been shouting, “Will you sign my shoe?” while standing ankle-deep in the water and holding up red-and-white striped HeyDudes. Wetmore answered, “Do you have a pen?” then, “Wait, why do you have shoes on in the pool?” before snatching the shoe mid-air with one arm as the crowd erupted.
May 16 at Mandalay Bay
The stage sat about 10 feet above the water, which gave the exchange a little more risk than the usual autograph handoff. Wetmore later said, “Could you imagine if I fell in right now?” and kept the set moving while the five-hour concert rolled on around him.
That setup is part of why the moment traveled beyond one fan’s keepsake. ACM Next Wave: Country's Beach Bash was built around rising country acts in the 2026 Opry NextStage class, with Dasha and Ashley Cooke hosting and Keith Urban closing the night as headliner.
Mario Vitale's second shoe
Vitale said after the set that this was the second time he had gotten a country star to sign a shoe. “I had Chase Matthews to do it eight months ago, so I said let’s put him on the wall of my house too. So I had [Wetmore] do it also. He's one of my favorites,” he said.
MacKenzie Jones, Vitale's fiancée, added, “I was so scared that the eyeliner was going to get wet,” which sums up the odd little pressure of the whole exchange: a fan trying to preserve a souvenir while the performer reached across a pool crowd in real time.
13 acts, one poolside set
The bill featured Emily Ann Roberts, Graham Barham, Willow Avalon, Tyler Braden, Ashley Cooke, Vincent Mason, Alexandra Kay, Hudson Westbrook, Dasha, Braxton Keith, Flatland Cavalry, Tucker Wetmore, and Keith Urban. For anyone watching the country circuit, the takeaway is simple: a mid-set autograph can do as much to define a live clip as the closing number, especially when it happens at one of the night’s most crowded, most visible moments.
