Kacey Musgraves, Riviera Theatre, Chicago, Illinois

Country star Kacey Musgraves took the stage on a Saturday night at the Riviera Theatre to Ennio Morricone’s theme from The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. She was off to a great start as far as I was concerned. Taking the stage with her was a backing band of five guys wearing illuminated mariachi suits, including acoustic and electric guitars, drums, bass, and keyboard to compliment her acoustic guitar. She also switched over to banjo for a few songs. The stage itself was decorated with neon cacti.

Though she has released a total of four studio albums, the first of which when she was just 14 years old, I was only really familiar with her most recent, Same Trailer, Different Park (2013). Fortunately for me, most her set consisted of songs from this most recent album, ten in all. Another four songs came from other albums and a variety of covers, ranging from other country songs (Dolly Parton and Miranda Lambert) to R&B (TLC) and reggae (Bob Marley).

She performed well, without much additional fanfare besides creating some intimate moments with the audience – sitting on the edge of the stage and playful banter with the audience. To close the show, her band crowded around her for an a capella rendition of the Roy Rogers song “Happy Trails.”

Setlist:
Silver Lining
Stupid
Blowin' Smoke
I Miss You
High Time
Here You Come Again [Dolly Parton cover]
The Trailer Song
Keep It to Yourself
Back on the Map
Mama's Broken Heart [Miranda Lambert cover]
No Scrubs [TLC cover]
It Is What It Is
Step Off / 3 Lil' Birds [Bob Marley & the Wailers cover]
Merry Go 'Round
My House
Encore:
Biscuits
Cup of Tea
These Boots Are Made for Walkin' [Nancy Sinatra cover]
Follow Your Arrow
Happy Trails [Roy Rogers cover]