Kacey Musgraves
17th May 2019
The Town Hall, Auckland, New Zealand.
Review by Sarah Kidd. Photography by Richard Myburgh.
Multi Grammy Award winner Kacey Musgraves performed her first ever New Zealand show last night at the Auckland Town Hall, her fans hanging on every honey drizzled word that fell from her lips.
Musgraves has become somewhat of a cross-over genius, originally discovered in 2008 and quickly making a name for herself as one to watch in the country music scene, fast forward ten years and Kacey Musgraves now has a trunk full of awards, including a coveted Album of the Year Grammy and a fanbase that spans over several genres.
Golden Hour is certainly a rather apt name for her fourth studio album released last year, undoubtedly her finest work to date. New Zealand fans delighted to hear the album in full last night with a couple of nods to her earlier records and a cover thrown in for good measure.
Accompanied by her six-piece band (who Musgraves would later introduce to the audience as ‘The Crispy Boys’) the show began in front of a sumptuous gold velvet curtain, the band dressed in identical lounge suits with sparkly shoes, one member even wearing a white sequinned headband that matched Musgraves glittering microphone stand. Those paying attention would have noticed that even the ivory white electric piano and nearby keyboard had a butterfly on the corner.
This attention to detail has been a noted highlight of Kacey Musgraves ‘Oh, What A World’ tour, the effort appreciated by her generational audiences, the performance less like a concert and more like an actual theatre show.
Arriving on stage to screams usually reserved for a pop diva, Musgraves herself looked as if she had just stepped out of a time machine, her seventies style floral outfit with half up-do absolutely stunning as it walked a faultless line of vintage style without tumbling over into cheesy costume territory.
Beginning with ‘Slow Burn’, Musgraves stayed towards the back of the stage, cocooned between crossed fingers of light that gave her an ethereal glow. Fans who had held their spot at the front of the barrier since the doors had opened needn’t have worried though as Musgraves soon moved downstage to appear a mere few feet in front of them.
As she did so the curtains behind her smoothly peeled back to reveal kaleidoscope visuals of butterflies for her song of the same name, the audience singing along with her, something they would continue to do throughout the evening.
Addressing the audience Kacey Musgraves proved that not only is she a small-town Texan girl with a big heart, but she is one who has a little deviant streak inside her as well. Instructing her fans to turn and give a high five to the stranger standing next to them she then followed it up with a request for everyone to put both middle fingers in the air – yes even the grandmas. Giggles rang out through the Town Hall as Musgraves gave a wry smile before delving back into more material from Golden Hour, the audience riveted to the spot as she delivered ‘Happy & Sad’ with pitch perfect vocals.
‘Merry Go ‘Round’ was the first of only two tracks last night to be performed from her debut 2013 album Same Trailer Different Park, the song speaking of the troubles and heartache that often plagues small towns; Musgraves herself comes from one of the smallest Texan farming communities, the town of Golden boasting a population of just two hundred residents. Hearing the audience sing, Musgraves stepped back from the microphone allowing her fans to perform the entire chorus back to her before commending them on how beautiful they sounded.
Songs from 2015’s Pageant Material came in the form of ‘High Time’ shortly followed by ‘Die Fun’ the two tracks bookending a particularly lush version of ‘Golden Hour’, which demonstrated just how well Musgraves has brought country music into the more mainstream realms without completely casting aside her roots.
The flawlessly executed show included an acoustic section where the entire band gathered in a semi-circle at the front of the stage, many of the players changing instruments; Nathanial Smith – who up until this point at been shifting between guitar and keyboard – impressively bringing out a cello upon which he played a little of the Games of Thrones theme much to the delight of the audience when it came to a round of introductions.
While there is no doubt that Kacey Musgraves can hold a stage on her own, the addition of The Crispy Boys, who introduced such instruments as the banjo and peddle steel guitar to the usual array of musicians implements provided a vibrant and textural layer to the evening, while visually never detracting the focus away from Musgraves herself.
Mixed within often bellowed declarations of love – some of which Musgraves would reply to here and there – were requests for ‘Velvet Elvis’ the opening bars elating the crowd; that elation soon turned to an outright karaoke session as Musgraves delivered a fantastic cover of the Gloria Gaynor classic ‘I Will Survive’, the more upbeat disco infused song setting the crowd alight as they danced along.
What has become somewhat of a LGBTQ anthem, ‘Follow Your Arrow’ was celebrated, Musgraves soon striding across the stage with a rainbow coloured fan as she delivered the song ‘Rainbow’. Not one for encores, Kacey Musgraves and The Crispy Boys brought the show to a close with the rather poppy ‘High Horse’.
With a performance that was nigh on perfect those in attendance last night will be glad of the chance to have seen Kacey Musgraves in a venue such as the Town Hall, for if she returns to New Zealand it will most certainly be for an arena tour as her star is still undoubtedly climbing.
Were you there at the Town Hall for this country pop showcase? Or have you seen Kacey Musgraves perform live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!
Setlist:
- Slow Burn
- Wonder Woman
- Butterflies
- Lonely Weekend
- Happy & Sad
- Merry Go ‘Round
- Western Jam / High Time
- Golden Hour
- Die Fun
- Mother
- Oh, What A World
- Family Is Family
- Love Is A Wild Thing
- Velvet Elvis
- I Will Survive [Gloria Gaynor cover]
- Space Cowboy
- Follow Your Arrow
- Rainbow
- High Horse
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