Grammy winner Kacey Musgraves basks in spotlight at S.F. show.
Hot country crooner Kacey Musgraves shares her joy in sold-out S.F. concert
Less than a week after she won the album of the year prize at the 61st annual Grammy Awards, Kacey Musgraves was onstage at the Masonic in San Francisco on Saturday, Feb. 16, performing for a sold-out room on the third date of her “Oh, What a World” tour and feeling the brunt of her whirlwind of activity.
“Before the show, I was like, ‘Man, I’m so tired,’ ” the singer confessed to her fans. “And then, when we come out here and there’s a crowd like this ... thanks for turning around my day!”
The feeling was clearly mutual, judging by the gales of applause that greeted every step she took in her powder blue denim jumpsuit.
Despite her sudden lurch into the spotlight, Musgraves has retained her refreshingly down-to-earth charm. She devoted plenty of the time during her 100-minute set Saturday to shooting the breeze, sharing personal affirmations and reveling in the unexpected success of her latest release, 2018’s “Golden Hour.”
“I was in categories with albums that got a s— ton more radio play and sold a lot
more,” said Musgraves, who won the Grammys’ high honor of album of the year over Drake, Post Malone, Cardi B, H.E.R., Janelle Monáe, Brandi Carlile and Kendrick Lamar’s “Black Panther” soundtrack. She took home three additional Grammys (country album, country song and country solo performance), tying with Childish Gambino for the most prizes of the night.
“That just goes to show you that the love behind the record was really strong, and that’s because of you guys.”
For many viewers at home, it must have felt as though she appeared out of nowhere. That’s not entirely inaccurate.
The 30-year-old singer-songwriter, who’s been performing since she was 13, is from the small town of Golden, Texas. Even though she has released three favorably received majorlabel albums and toured arenas Katy Perry, Harry Styles and Kenny Chesney, mainstream success has thus far eluded her.
Maybe it’s because no one quite knows what to do with Musgraves, who leveled country music stereotypes with the simple, heartfelt tunes with 2013’s “Same Trailer, Different Park,” which champions casual sex, getting high and equality for all.
“Country music hasn’t been the most inclusive environment,” she said Saturday night. “Not anymore.”
Sharing the Grammy stage with Perry and Miley Cyrus during a melisma-heavy tribute to Dolly Parton earlier in the week, she looked out of her depth. But as a headliner, Musgraves worked the crowd with ease.
Not a belter but more of a crooner, Musgraves’ sweet voice and barbed sentiments have the capacity of evoking big-haired, sad-eyed country heroines like Tammy Wynette, Donna Fargo and Bobbie Gentry.
She performed “Golden Hour” in its entirety. The album finds her embracing rumbling electronic beats and wah-wah pedals on “Happy and Sad” and “Velvet Elvis,” both of which got the full disco treatment by Musgraves and her six-piece band.
It may not necessarily be era-defining work — at least not this era — but Musgraves has a way of imbuing even the most blithe arrangements with her mournful soul. Even the few cuts from her earlier work, such as “Merry Go ’Round” and “Follow Your Arrow,” benefited from the new production, as did her unironic cover of ’Nsync’s “Tearin’ Up My Heart” with tour opener Soccer Mommy.
Musgraves and her band huddled together at the center of the stage for an interlude of country tunes, reminding her fans she hasn’t completely forgotten her roots. But at this point there’s really no turning back. It might have been the last time anybody sees her in a venue of this size.
“Honestly, that has to do with every single person in this room,” she said. “It wouldn’t even be possible without you guys.”