Photos and review by ALYSON CAMUS
LOS ANGELES – Women and men were wearing sparkling cowboy hats, fancy boots, denim, and white prairie dresses for Kacey Musgraves’ much anticipated Los Angeles stop on her Deeper Well Tour. With support from Father John Misty and Nickel Creek at the Kia Forum, the Musgraves show looked like a country music event, but I wonder whether Kacey Musgraves can truly be classified as country.
She certainly asserts that she is, and even writes in her bio: “Undeniably, I’m a country singer. I’m a country songwriter. But I feel like I make country music for people who like country music and for people who don’t.”
There’s no doubt about her early albums, which were firmly rooted in country music. However, she took a bit of a genre shift with Golden Hour and Star-Crossed, which lean heavily into pop. While traces of her country sound remain here and there, these albums are much more pop-influenced and lack the obvious country hallmarks of her earlier work.
Musgraves is an artist who has opened for country legends like Willie Nelson, Kenny Chesney, and George Strait but also for pop icons like Katy Perry and Harry Styles… you cannot get much poppier than that. Some say she has returned to her folksy roots with her new album Deeper Well, but, after attending her show at the Kia Forum on Thursday night, I was not completely convinced that was the case.
To my surprise, Father John Misty was one of the openers. He also has a new album, the upcoming Mahashmashana set to release next month, but I have never associated him with Musgraves for obvious reasons. How do you reconcile the often pessimistic, sarcastic, and ironic Misty with the heartfelt and empathic Kacey? I suppose they missed the opportunity for a duet – I was hoping for one – but it didn’t happen. Instead, Kacey invited the first opener, the bluegrass band Nickel Creek, to join her for a country-style cover of SZA’s “Kill Bill.”
Nickel Creek
Nickel Creek, a bluegrass band consisting of Chris Thile, and siblings Sara Watkins and Sean Watkins and a fourth musician on bass, opened the night with their upbeat to melancholic folksy music. With Sara on fiddle and Chris on Banjo, they gave a playful and virtuosic tone to the night, venturing outside the realm of their genre with a brilliant cover of Britney Spears’s “Toxic.” Their Watkins Family Hour shows are a staple at Los Angeles’ beloved and very intimate Largo, but they immediately felt at ease in the large arena playing songs like “Helena,” “Smoothie Song,” and “Destination.”
Father John Misty
Father John Misty was the second opener and, judging by a few shirts around me, I knew some people had come to the show specifically for him. “I love you, Josh!” someone shouted from behind me. He had just played a free (and very convoyed) show at the Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever the day before, but he knew he was not the star this time and didn’t take too many risks. He mostly stuck to his greatest hits, focusing on songs from his most popular albums I Love You Honeybear and Fear Fun, and only tried one song off his upcoming release, Josh Tillman and the Accidental Dose.
Regardless of the occasion, it’s always a pleasure to attend another Father John Misty performance, with his unclassified musical genres, unique and commanding stage presence, and deadpan humor. Surrounded by five or six musicians – the stage lights, unfortunately, became quite dim during his set – he gave a taste of his repertoire. However, true Father John Misty fans may have been a bit disappointed not to get the full experience and another 60 minutes with the Misty phenomena. “A very stupid tale,” he said after “Strange Encounter,” which was followed by the expansively beautiful “Nancy from Now On.”
“Thank you very much,” he said. “I’m Josh, I’m here to warm you up and it’s bound to be a little awkward, hopefully not too much. These songs are all either about eternal love or finding yourself in mind-bending humiliating situations.”
Josh Tillman always knows how to captivate his audience, using a savvy bland of self-loathing, candor, and irony. “Nothing Good Ever Happens at the Goddamn Thirsty Crow” became a frontman number, with him playing with the mic stand like a punk rocker.
“The only man I will ever love” I heard from someone in the crowd. Alas, Josh was a bit far to react as he usually does. His too-short set didn’t give him time for his typical several-minute-long funny rants and sarcastic humor, but we did get a dose of theatrical drama. He returned to the guitar during his most country-tinged song of the night, the foot-tapping “I’m Writing a Novel.” Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings” – a song he likely sang the night before – was followed by the more folksy “Real Love Baby,” and the always crowd-pleasing “I Love You, Honeybear” had him dancing around the mic stand, repeatedly kneeling like the true acrobatic showman he is.
Father John Misty’s setlist
Strange Encounter
Nancy From Now On
Mr. Tillman
Josh Tillman and the Accidental Dose
Nothing Good Ever Happens at the Goddamn Thirsty Crow
I’m Writing a Novel
Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings
Real Love Baby
I Love You, Honeybear
Kacey Musgraves
Kacey Musgraves took the stage with “Cardinal,” the opening track of her new album “Deeper Well.” She was quite a vision, floating onto the stage shoeless, wearing a sparkling silver mini dress, with her long brown hair following her graceful moves.
Just after a small technical difficulty during the first song, which she handled with professionalism, she joked with the audience: ”You guys you don’t know what it feels like to come out on stage, and you can’t hear a damned thing! I felt like Helen Keller! Sorry too soon? Sorry Helen, sorry to all the Helen stans.” She had just made a spectacular stage exit, floating into the air, arms dangling by her side, flying into a starry night.
The background visuals were dreamy and dramatic, matching the themes of each song, with some even displaying lyrics. Behind her band stood an artificial hill that took on all the colors you could imagine and at one point, she waved a large ribbon wand while parading through the audience accompanied by people wearing bear and horse heads to the sound of a Medieval/Renaissance Fair musical theme. Mid-show, she moved to the middle of the arena with some of the band members to perform on a smaller stage beneath a glowing model of the planet Saturn.
Spacey Kacey indeed (as per her Instagram handle). The visuals were truly stunning. This woman has a great sense of spectacle, and she did not disappoint her fans, while frequently cracking jokes. “Hello, I’m so excited to be here, this is my first time!” She said after a few songs. “I really hope that you guys are really ready to go extremely deep! I’m seeing the cowboy hats, the friends, the gays… I love it! Yes, cowboys, cowgirls even straight people are here! Did someone just boo? Hey, everyone’s welcome here, it’s a safe zone, it’s a safe zone. Can you imagine me becoming a straight advocate… that would be weird!”
She sounded just as good as she does in her albums, and her clear, warm vocals carried a confident pitch as she effortlessly moved across the stage. While she seemed to exude glitter and dream, her down-to-earth, reassuring presence captivated the adoring crowd while her live band – featuring keyboard, drums, bass guitar, electric guitar, flute, and banjo – elevated her songs.
Her two sold-out nights at the Forum were a testimony of her star power, though she never acted like a distant star. She remained close to her audience, even picking up a cowboy hat from a young woman in the front row and engaging with the crowd. Everyone sang along during “Butterflies” while virtual butterflies fluttered around Kacey’s guitar.
The setlist was a mix of songs from her most recent albums – 2018’s Golden Hour and 2021’s Star-Crossed – including her most popular tracks which became powerful sing-alongs. Despite the tour being named after Deeper Well, a significant portion of the songs came from Golden Hour, which won Album of the Year at the 61st Grammy Awards.
Just after “Lonely Weekend,” followed by “Lonely Millionaire” – a natural pairing – she moved to the smaller stage beneath the glowing Saturn at the joy of the entire arena. There, she performed a few songs: “Follow Your Arrow,” “Family is Family,” “The Architect,” and an unexpected cover of SZA’s “Kill Bill.” She also shared personal stories, making the night feel more intimate, though those of us in the front row were a bit frustrated to see her from afar for a little while. It was, without a doubt, the most country part of the show.
“I just wanted to be a little closer,” she said before introducing “Follow Your Arrow” at great length. This song, from her 2013 album “Same Trailer Different Park,” has made her incredibly popular within the LGBTQ+ community, a connection that deeply impacted her after moving to Nashville.
“I wrote this song and I wanted it to be on the album and you know it was met with a lot of opposition,” she explained. “Naturally, that just made me want to do it even way more. I’m not trying to do anything for shock value, I’m not trying to make some political stand or make some sort of rebel act. I’m just doing my job as a songwriter, taking things out of our real life that really inspire me and put them into my songs. I love country music! Like I said, I’m from Texas and I grew up on it. Country music is a genre that is founded on real stories, real people, blue-collar struggles, you know the real shit and so I don’t understand why that would not include everyone’s experience. We’re all made of the same things we all want the same things, we’re all made of the same emotions, and though the song may have been banned by country radio, I love that you guys continue to show up for me. That song means so much more than all that shit ever will so, so this is for you, for all of you.”
I hadn’t realized how big Musgraves was within the LGBTQ+ community, but after hearing tirades like this one, she undoubtedly gained even more fans. She also shared that “Family is Family,” was written about some of her “crazy family members,” adding “I’ve got definitely a few felons in the tree branches.” She became even more reflective before performing “The Architect,” a song she wrote “just a couple weeks after the terrible school shooting” in Nashville.
“It just feels so overwhelming sometimes there’s so much suffering out there and it just feels like there’s so much tragedy but there’s also so much beauty at the same time; it’s like it’s a strange duality that we’re faced with on a daily basis and then almost like in a microsecond we have just seen such tragedy and such beauty unfolding all at the same time and it just sparked this big conversation about like if there is a God why the hell did things like that happen. Why did things like the hurricane happen? It just devastated North Carolina, Tennessee, and Georgia and it’s just so confusing. The song is about how much control we really have and if there is someone or something at the helm of all of this, we don’t really know, but I’d like to ask questions.” She then asked the audience for five seconds of silence before singing the song.
Returning to the main stage, Kacey performed a new series of hits including the banjo-driven “Slow Burn,” and the dreamy “Space Cowboy.” Despite being a new song, the lovely “Anime Eyes” received a big reception from the crowd. The very catchy “Justified” turned into another sing-along and, she even surprised the audience with a cover of Chappell Roan’s “Pink Pony Club,” which was immediately recognized by the crowd. Giant white balloons were thrown over the crowd at that moment, followed by a wave of multicolored confetti during the disco-esque “High Horse,” making everyone happy
“We have a couple more songs left, and I don’t know if you’ve heard but I’m not an encore lady!” she warned us near the end of the show. “Can we just collectively decide that everyone’s done with encores? … I’d rather just be present with you guys!” She ended the show with the title track from her new album, and “Rainbow” as she expressed feeling loved in the iconic Forum. Accompanied by rainbow lighting shining above her, she sang her promise of hope with the help of the audience, standing atop the onstage hill as a moonrise/sunrise expanded behind her. It was another magical moment for a show filled with alluring lullabies and dreamy visions.
Setlist
Cardinal
Butterflies
Sway
Too Good to be True
Golden Hour
Happy & Sad
Lonely Weekend
Lonely Millionaire
Small stage
Follow Your Arrow
Family is Family
The Architect
Kill Bill (SZA) with Nickel Creek
Main Stage
Jade Green
Slow Burn
Space Cowboy
Anime Eyes
Justified
Pink Pony Club (Chappell Roan cover)
High Horse
Deeper Well
Rainbow