Kacey Musgraves Weathered the Storm, Literally, During Dallas Show

“When it rains, it pours”  — the common expression referring to life’s trials — is also a lyric from “Rainbow,” the closing track of Kacey Musgraves’ third studio album, Golden Hour. It was ultimately a message that resonated with the audience Thursday night at the first of two Dallas stops on Musgraves’ Oh What a World: Tour II. Yup, last night consisted of some of the worst thunderstorms Dallas has seen in months, but that didn’t stop fans of the Grammy Award-winning country star from showing up for America’s sweetheart.

Over the course of the last seven years, Musgraves has established herself as a country music diva. Her debut album, Same Trailer, Different Park, spawned fan favorites like “Follow Your Arrow,” a song about defying expectations in favor of living a more enjoyable life. On her sophomore album, Pageant Material, the lead single “Biscuits” contained the lyric “mind your biscuits and life will be gravy,” which has since become a favorite line among Instagrammers. While her latest effort consists of deeper, emotional lyrics, as opposed to clever one-liners, fans continue to support Musgraves through every chapter of her musical journey.
The show opened with a set by Lucius, a four-piece indie pop band with two lead female vocalists. Rather than dueting, both leads — Jess and Holly  — sing simultaneously, with one singing a melody and one harmonizing. while one plays bass synth and the other keyboard. Although there are two male instrumentalists in Lucius, the band's female-power mystique made for a fantastically fitting opener for Musgraves, who is outspoken about women’s equality and LGBTQ+ rights.

The storm began during Lucius’ set, which was appropriate, as they have a song called “Almost Makes Me Wish For Rain.” The intermission following the opener's set was supposed to last for only 30 minutes, but ultimately lasted almost two hours. Those sitting on the Verizon lawn were forced to relocate inside, where many congregated in the lobby. While some disappointed fans ended up leaving, most of the audience remained inside, ready to see their ray of sunshine.

Musgraves eventually took to the stage, opening with “Slow Burn,” the first of 13 tracks on Golden Hour.

Her vocals remained soft, sweet and smooth throughout her set, nearly matching the studio quality of her tracks. While her show didn’t contain much elaborate choreography, the visual elements were still charming. During “Butterflies,” the digital marquee showed a high-definition clip of butterflies flying and frolicking.

Most of Musgraves' performance focused on songs from her new album, though she did throw some of her older material in her set, as well as a cover of Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody.”

It’s hard for Musgraves to choose which song would be a closer. While Musgraves doesn’t have a vast catalog of radio hits to make an obvious closing choice, nearly all of her songs are fan favorites. During the encore, Musgraves closed with “High Horse" and "Rainbow,” an accidentally metaphorical choice following an evening of thunderstorms.

While the conditions of the evening may not have been ideal, Musgraves proved that girl power and dedicated fans can weather any storm.