{"id":872000,"date":"2026-08-26T10:34:17","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T10:34:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/872000\/"},"modified":"2026-08-26T10:34:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T10:34:17","slug":"kacey-musgravess-middle-of-nowhere-tour-brings-hits-and-humour-to-torontos-scotiabank-arena","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/872000\/","title":{"rendered":"Kacey Musgraves\u2019s Middle of Nowhere tour brings hits and humour to Toronto\u2019s Scotiabank Arena"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Kacey Musgrave performs Dry Spell during the Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas on May 17.Chris Pizzello\/The Associated Press<\/p>\n

There are two rules for attending her Middle of Nowhere tour<\/a>, country-pop singer Kacey Musgraves told the crowd last night at Toronto\u2019s Scotiabank Arena: Be a good person (which the 38-year-old expressed more profanely) and have a good time. \u201cI think Canadians have a spicy side, and I\u2019d like to see that tonight,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

Easy enough. Musgraves had everyone on their feet as she tore through a 21-song set spanning four of her seven albums. Featured heavily were tunes from the tour\u2019s namesake, Middle of Nowhere, released in May to generally positive reception. A few early numbers from 2013\u2019s Same Trailer Different Park, as well as a host of songs off the Grammy-sweeping Golden Hour (the album won every category it was nominated for in 2019, including album of the year<\/a>) garnered the loudest applause. <\/p>\n

The Texas native\u2019s setup \u2013 and getup \u2013 was decidedly country. The circular stage featured a star-shaped platform and a spinning outer rim that Musgraves trotted along throughout the show (fittingly to her song Merry Go \u2018Round). Behind it was an elevated trailer-like structure that she emerged from during her opener, Everybody Wants to be a Cowboy. Musgraves wore a simple denim outfit of barely-there shorts with a Texas-sized belt buckle, a button-up shirt and a tan-coloured cowboy hat with red-bottomed Christian Louboutin boots to match. A bedazzled star on her cheek and glitter in her hair sparkled under the spotlights.<\/p>\n

Review: The sadness of superstar Noah Kahan uplifts his Toronto concert<\/a><\/p>\n

Musgraves kept the audience engaged with her signature pitch-perfect falsetto, crystal-clear tone and strong vibrato. Her vocals never faltered during the nearly two-hour-long set, staying measured and smooth (like Mexico Honey) and cutting through the echoey arena.<\/p>\n

Her seven-piece band featured a drummer, a pianist, a bassist, an accordionist and other members who played all manner of instruments, among them a twangy nylon-string guitar, a keytar and a steel guitar. The ensemble sounded tight and composed, never seeming to put a note wrong.<\/p>\n

Ever the entertainer \u2013 Musgraves started her career as a child performing at Western pageants, fairs and festivals \u2013 the singer surprised and delighted the crowd with a few tricks up her denim sleeve. Several moments were punctuated by pyrotechnics, including the fireworks that preceded Musgraves\u2019s entrance and the shimmering cascade of sparkler-like illuminations that surrounded her during Golden Hour. <\/p>\n

But the biggest (literally) surprise of all came when a massive pair of mirrored testicles descended from the ceiling<\/a> during the upbeat Rhinestoned. \u201cThis is what it looks like when nobody tells me no,\u201d Musgraves said, eventually taking a seat on them and finishing the song suspended above the crowd. \u201cAren\u2019t they nice disco balls?\u201d<\/p>\n

In another context, with another artist, a prop like that might feel gimmicky, but Musgraves owned it. The same goes for the short line dance she did alongside her accordion player during Uncertain Texas and the ad-libbed lines calling out buzz-killing dudes and loser boyfriends she peppered through High Horse and Back on the Wagon. <\/p>\n

It helps that Musgraves is a bona fide musician. Before she became a chart-topping sensation, she was a songwriter penning tunes for Nashville stars including Martina McBride (When You Love a Sinner) and Miranda Lambert (Mama\u2019s Broken Heart<\/a>). As a nod to her roots, Musgraves played acoustic guitar for about half of the set, reminding the audience that behind the rodeo and rhinestones, she\u2019s a singer and songwriter at heart. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Kacey Musgrave performs Dry Spell during the Academy of Country Music Awards in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":872001,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[49,48,75,2922],"class_list":["post-872000","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-entertainment","tag-noastack"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/872000","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=872000"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/872000\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/872001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=872000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=872000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=872000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}