Live Review: Kacey Musgraves - Roundhouse, London
KACEY MUSGRAVES
ROUNDHOUSE
LONDON
14/05/2024
Musgraves's Deeper Well tour combines her new style of spiritual folk with country-pop classics for an unforgettable experience.
Words + Photos by Philip Giouras
★★★★★
It feels surreal to be seeing Country Pop superstar Kacey Musgraves this close-up. Used to selling out O2 Arenas, tonight she’s starting the first of two nights in the intimate surroundings of Camden’s 3,000-capacity Roundhouse. Demand was unsurprisingly high with tickets flying out the door and there was a palpable excitement in the air from the moment the seven-time Grammy winner set foot on the stage.
Tonight's performance is part of the Deeper Well World Tour, a run of global shows in support of her recently released, excellent sixth studio album ‘Deeper Well’. A spiritual-led acoustic album, it’s designed to thrive in a cosy and snug setting, making the Roundhouse the natural setting for such a show.
However, a heavily folk-focused record and a snug setting do not equate to anything being stripped or scaled back. Accompanied by an eight-piece double-denim bluegrass band, the evening showcases Musgrave’s impressive discography in its most maximalised form. It’s immediately apparent how smart this decision was as luscious sonic layers add a level of delicious depth and texture to her latest material.
Opener ‘Cardinal’ blossoms into life, the additional instrumentation transforming the track into something not too dissimilar to a charging Fleetwood Mac staple such as ‘The Chain’ whilst the inclusion of such a large band amplifies the soft acoustic melodies of sentimental tracks such as ‘Deeper Well’ and ‘Too Good To Be True’.
The album is heavily centered on existential themes of spirituality, nature and personal discovery. It sits comfortably alongside her older material which focuses on the intricacies of her relationships. The intensity of these weighty subjects is offset throughout the evening by Musgrave’s highly personable and self-deprecating sense of humour as she constantly riffs off of spontaneous moments of levity from the audience; “Oh rub it in why don’t you” She teases at a fan keen to show off his northern lights photography that Musgraves announces she was devastated to miss out on.
She’s also keen on a tangent. At one point she puts on a stereotypical Cockney accent when addressing one of the many unintelligible shouts from someone in the audience, with their London twang reminding her of the Spice Girls. She uses this to compare her feeling of ‘shitting herself’ when meeting idol Sporty Spice recently with a recollection of norovirus sweeping through her band at the start of the share. Some would call it a gross overshare, Musgraves however delightfully informs us it’s a perk of the show “You’re all gonna get it, it comes with the ticket” she cackles.
These moments of interplay with her audience are reminiscent of Musgrave’s country roots. They wouldn’t feel out of place in the warm environment of a Nashville cafe where you’d often find these interactions during Country music showcases and writing sessions.
The evening also intertwines selections from across Musgraves’ impressive career. Ever-present in her home state of Texas, she made her major label debut with her progressive and groundbreaking debut record ‘Same Trailer, Different Park’ in 2013. The peppy and progressive breakthrough single ‘Follow Your Arrow’ remains beloved by her fans and critics alike. Tonight it appears in a slowed-down stripped-back form that showcases the evolution of her sound yet the timelessness of her writing. It’s a beautiful reflective moment of her journey.
Musgraves’ sensational fourth record ‘Golden Hour’ flourished into a life of its own, culminating in a Grammy win for Album of the Year and it sits comfortably in the set, impressively accompanying her excellent latest record rather than overshadowing it, proof that Musgraves has carefully curated the flow of the evening. ‘Butterflies’, ‘Happy & Sad’ and the sensational ‘Rainbow’ all taken from the record make for mid-set highlights. Fascinatingly the crowd's loud singalongs are not solely reserved for them, newer tracks such as ‘The Architect’ and ‘Anime Eyes’ are matched in booming volume.
This is due in no small part to the impressive and extensive live set-up Musgraves has. Whilst sprawling tracks from her latest album such as the aforementioned ‘Anime Eyes’ and ‘Jade Green’ felt wistful on record, here on stage they burst into technicolour. Musgraves’ has one of the finest voices in Country with her ability to segue from an almost gentle rhythmic nature into a power ballad and it’s only amplified by the luscious live instrumentation.
On ‘Anime Eyes’ She commands the crowd, transforming them into a loud and joyous accompaniment. Suddenly the softly spoken ballad becomes a stadium-ready spectacle. The hazy ‘Jade Green’ meanwhile becomes a psychedelic prog foot stomper as the accompanying guitar rock riff stampedes into life, engulfing the audience like the coat of accompanying green fog that fills the air (and the sudden overpowering scent of marijuana from patient crowd members waiting for this opportune spiritual experience).
Knowing the end is nigh, Musgraves brings the party to a celebratory climax. Despite its lukewarm reception upon release, her fifth record ‘star-crossed’ is smartly deployed to ratchet up the tempo. A sharp and sublime rendition of ‘justified’ leads into the empowering ‘breadwinner’ as she informs the audience with a joyous ad-lib that the insecure man mentioned in the song wouldn’t know what to do with any of the women in this audience, receiving a rousing cheer.
“Does nobody have any balls anymore!? Where are the balls nowadays” exclaims Musgraves as the track begins to transform, suddenly her question is answered as massive inflatable balls fall from the sky just as the Disco Country twang bassline of ‘High Horse’ ignites. Musgraves’ funkiest and fun track, inspires utter jubilance and euphoria throughout the crowd.
By this point, the party is undeniably in full swing. A fan who had earlier been collecting confetti in his cowboy hat passes it to her, after a quick check to make sure she won’t shower herself in the paper stars unwittingly, she adorns it. There’s even a moment where she cheekily feigns a shocked expression during an impromptu twerk to deafening squeals from the crowd.
Musgraves inches every last second out of her curfew as the sprawling 2-hour set starts to reach its conclusion. An emotional sing-along to ‘Slow Burn’ unwinds the audience before she recruits everyone’s participation for a celebratory sing-along of Bob Marley’s ‘Three Little Birds’.
Early on Musgraves made it clear she wanted to provide an emotional and engrossing evening for everyone, it’s fair to say from the smiles exiting the iconic Camden venue, that she’s achieved that cathartic goal.
Setlist:
‘Cardinal’
‘Moving Out’
‘Deeper Well’
‘Sway’
‘Too Good to Be True’
‘Butterflies’
‘Happy & Sad’
‘Lonely Weekend’
‘Lonely Millionaire’
‘Follow Your Arrow’
‘The Architect’
‘Nothing to Be Scared Of’
‘Heaven Is’
‘Jade Green’
‘Rainbow’
‘Golden Hour’
‘Anime Eyes’
‘Don’t Do Me Good’ (with Madi Diaz)
‘Justified’
‘Breadwinner’
‘High Horse’
‘Slow Burn’
‘Three Little Birds’ (Bob Marley & The Wailers cover)
‘Easier Said’