LIVE REVIEWS
When Lil Nas X independently released ‘Old Town Road’ in December 2018, he had little more than $30 and a dream, having bought a midtempo trap beat online for a paltry fee. The artist, born Montero Lamar Hill, could never have imagined that, in the coming months, the country-rap hit would be re-released by a major label and break records by topping the Billboard Hot 100 for 19 weeks, while simultaneously sparking a debate about racism in country music. When Glastonbury rolled around, Hill joined Miley Cyrus and her father Billy Ray on the Pyramid Stage to perform their blockbuster remix of the track – prior to this, Hill had no live experience beyond a smattering of appearances on talk shows and, er, an Ohio elementary school.
In the four years since, Hill has grown into a well-seasoned live performer; last year’s Long Live Montero Tour packed out theatres on both sides of the Atlantic, and became symbolic of Hill’s personal journey, which involved him coming out as gay on the last day of Pride month in 2019. Taking to the Pyramid Stage two hours before one of his personal heroes, Elton John – who has previously praised Hill as “stoic” and “very intelligent” – the 24-year-old delivers a supercharged sexualised romp: all glitter, sweat and stunning feats of physical strength. As Hill prowls across the stage in a gold-plated chest armour piece, showing off his hair extensions like Ariana Grande flicks her trademark ponytail, he parades a wicked smirk – almost as if he knows that he’s about to send those prone to complaining to Ofcom into paroxysms of rage. It’s delicious.
Before an LED screen of purposefully garish visuals, Hill gives it his all: opener ‘Montero (Call Me By Your Name)’ is marked by hard flexes of muscle and an uber-confident prowess, his vocal delivery and grinding both elevated by sheer joy. Doja Cat team-up ‘Scoop’ sees him make use of his lower register, before a dance interlude – with a soundtrack that swings from Rihanna’s ‘S&M’ to Megan Thee Stallion’s ‘Sex Talk’ – induces an onslaught of merciless ass-shaking from a male dance troupe. Hill joins in on the fun, before running backstage for a costume change, giggling feverishly like a child that’s just pulled a prank on their school teacher.
This roaring party hits a new high during the final ecstatic flourish of ‘Industry Baby’, as trumpet trills pound against a drum section before Hill’s close friend, Kentucky rapper Jack Harlow, makes a surprise appearance. When Hill eventually takes a bow, now more confident and rocket-powered than ever, it’s not hard to read his performance as the making of a thoroughly modern superstar.
‘Montero (Call Me By Your Name)’
‘Scoop’
‘Dead Right Now’
‘Don’t Want It’
‘Old Town Road’
‘Sun Goes Down’
‘Panini’
‘Down Souf Hoes’
‘That’s What I Want’
‘Lost In The Citadel’
‘Industry Baby’
Kacey Musgraves has cast a spell across London’s Roundhouse. Dry ice shrouds the Texan artist and her 8-piece band in a hazy mist, the lighting dramatic – at times it evokes the break of dawn, others a thunderous rainstorm. And at the eye of this hurricane is Musgraves, her luminous vocals shining as brightly as the disco ball that’s illuminated during a rousing rendition of ‘Anime Eyes’. With the audience — who obey requests to be in the moment and not just view the gig through a lens — enraptured, the ethereal magic of the live show threads throughout.
Tonight’s gig is part of the ‘Deeper Well World Tour’, the shows accompanying Musgraves’ sixth studio album released earlier this year. It’s a record that saw her “navigating new beginnings”, as she said about its titular track: “Sometimes you reach a crossroads. Winds change direction. What you once felt drawn to doesn’t hold the same allure. You get blown off course but eventually find your footing and forage for new inspiration, new insight and deeper love somewhere else”. Or, as she more succinctly reflects in its chorus: “And I’ve got to take care of myself/I found a deeper well”.
This live setting, with the lush arrangements delivered by Musgraves’ double-denim clad band, is where the songs shine, the resilience and complex emotions they convey shining through. The power of opener ‘Cardinal’ ricochets through the venue accompanied by fleshed out instrumentals, while the lilting ‘The Architect’’s quietly questioning lyrics resonate in their subtle accompaniment.
Tracks that faded into the background on ‘Deeper Well’ at times work better here, too. ‘Jade Green’ is taken from a subdued slow burn into a thundering storm, Musgraves swathed in lights of the titular colour, strobes evoking lightning and crashes of percussion closing out the song, before the chaos subsides into a musical ‘Rainbow’. ‘Lonely Millionaire’, meanwhile, is elevated in this setting, the slinky track coming with mass sing-a-longs.
Yet for all the mysticism and magic when the music is playing, in-between songs Musgraves charms in a very different way. Her breezy wit juxtaposed with gut-wrenching music reminiscent of fellow on-stage entertainers Adele or Lewis Capaldi. As the band gear up for a quieter point in the set and huddle in closer at the front of the stage, Musgraves delights the audience with her tight-5 about the food poisoning and stomach upset she started the tour with, which soon spread around her touring party like wildfire. How did we get onto this story? An audience heckle that sounded a bit like a Spice Girl prompting Musgraves to reveal “I met Sporty the other day and almost shat myself! Speaking of…”
That’s not to say this humour isn’t also evident in Musgraves music — the excellent couplet “If you save yourself for marriage, you’re a bore/You don’t save yourself for marriage, you’re a hor-rible person” is sung with gusto by the crowd, in a stripped back rendition of ‘Follow Your Arrow’ (a cut from Musgraves’ debut studio record ‘Same Trailer Different Park’). And there’s rousing renditions of the jubilant kiss-off ‘High Horse’, and the eye-roll at an insecure ex on ‘Breadwinner’.
As she closes with a cover of Bob Marley & The Wailers’ ‘Three Little Birds’ and a short snippet of ‘Easier Said’, Musgraves tells the audience: “I hope your well has been deepened”. With the spell-binding communal magic of being in the moment and Musgraves’ powerhouse performance, we don’t doubt they have.
Kacey Musgraves played:
‘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’
‘Justified’
‘Breadwinner’
‘High Horse’
‘Slow Burn’
‘Three Little Birds’ (Bob Marley & The Wailers cover)
‘Easier Said’
