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Kacey Musgraves performs at United Center in Chicago on Aug. 12, 2026. Photos: Charles Reagan.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\tKacey Musgraves performs at United Center in Chicago on Aug. 12, 2026. Photos: Charles Reagan.<\/p>\n
OAKLAND \u2014 Usually, it\u2019s the audience that shows up to a concert ready to celebrate. At Kacey Musgraves\u2019 sold-out show Friday night at Oakland Arena, the headliner seemed just in a just as festive mood as her fans.<\/p>\n
The country superstar was nearing the end of her North American Middle of Nowhere Tour, which began in Chicago in August. Oakland was one of the first shows to sell out, she told the crowd.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have been looking forward to this show for a long time,\u201d Musgraves said. \u201cWe always have fun in the Bay Area.\u201d<\/p>\n
Earlier in the day, she\u2019d also released two songs from the follow-up to April\u2019s Middle of Nowhere<\/a>. Vol. 2: Tex Mex Tapes, is coming in January.<\/p>\n As fans found their seats and claimed spots, they were greeted by a circular setup with a slightly raised stage surrounding an elevated bandstand shaped like a five-point star.<\/p>\n A circular video screen hung above it, while floor seating flanked two sides and standing room filled the space in front of half the stage. At the far end of the arena sat a two-story Texas roadhouse set with a corrugated-metal facade.<\/p>\n After a digital clock counted down from five minutes to AC\/DC\u2019s \u201cThunderstruck,\u201d members of Musgraves\u2019 septet emerged from the roadhouse and took their places onstage as she sang from its upper level.<\/p>\n Opening song \u201cEverybody Wants to Be a Cowboy\u201d began, appropriately enough, with \u201cIt\u2019s Friday night on the east side\u201d \u2014 albeit a different east side.<\/p>\n From there, the production kept growing. A broken ring of fire and light fireworks introduced the show\u2019s disciplined use of pyrotechnics. \u201cDry Spell,\u201d the mesmerizing country-noir ode to randiness from Middle of Nowhere, kept the momentum going.<\/p>\n Musgraves wore oversized hoop earrings, a bedazzled denim bustier and matching short shorts, setting the dress standard for plenty of urban and suburban cowfolk in the crowd.<\/p>\n The buoyant beat and catchy chorus of \u201cjustified,\u201d from 2021\u2019s star-crossed<\/a>, drew a singalong. For \u201cHigh Horse,\u201d keyboardist Clif Johnson added accordion to the song\u2019s disco arrangement.<\/p>\n Taking her first break to address the crowd, Musgraves joked, \u201cI do have to say, though: I\u2019m a little disappointed. I was really hoping I\u2019d see some gay people here.\u201d<\/p>\n A roar of protest followed.<\/p>\n \u201cI just want you to feel like you can be yourselves tonight, feel safe to be yourselves,\u201d she said. \u201cI want you to sing as loud as you want to. \u2026 Because we all know the truth is that outside these walls, there\u2019s a lot of bullshit going on out there.\u201d<\/p>\n The crowd did just that for the elegiac \u201cMerry Go \u2019Round,\u201d Musgraves\u2019 first double-platinum single, from 2013\u2019s Same Trailer Different Park.<\/p>\n Playing acoustic guitar on the outer ring of the stage, she rotated clockwise to face each section of the arena.<\/p>\n \u201cButterflies\u201d featured what appeared to be an LED butterfly sculpture flown around the arena by drone.<\/p>\n Musgraves returned to the turntable for Middle of Nowhere character study \u201cAbilene,\u201d this time moving faster and counterclockwise, almost like an airport people mover.<\/p>\n The range and flexibility of Musgraves\u2019 band opened new possibilities in her songbook. Accordion, keyboard bass and banjo joined the arrangements at various points, while Drew Taubenfeld\u2019s pedal steel provided a frequent underpinning.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m a very proud Texan, and I am deeply and forever inspired by the relationship between Mexico and Texas,\u201d Musgraves said after taking a break to adjust her outfit. \u201cIt\u2019s a deep, deep history of shared culture, tradition, music, food, stories and a whole lot of other things. You know, Texas and Mexico have been swapping songs for a really long time.\u201d<\/p>\n She then performed the Tex-Mex version of Middle of Nowhere track \u201cUncertain, Texas,\u201d complete with choreographed dance moves by the band.<\/p>\n Watching an entire arena sway in 3\/4 time to Middle of Nowhere track \u201cHorses and Divorces\u201d was an unexpected highlight.<\/p>\n So was Musgraves explaining the personal significance of the Norte\u00f1o standard \u201cMi Tesoro\u201d before performing it. The song was one of the two tracks she released Friday.<\/p>\n \u201cI love that this is the type of song that\u2019s been the soundtrack to so many people\u2019s lives, their parents\u2019 lives \u2014 maybe weddings,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n A de facto mascot of the Middle of Nowhere Tour is the oversized mirrored scrotum \u2014 or \u201cdisco balls\u201d \u2014 lowered from above for Middle of Nowhere track \u201cRhinestoned.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis is my grandma\u2019s favorite part of the show,\u201d Musgraves admitted.<\/p>\n Seated on its swinging bench before being raised and rotated above the arena, she delivered the song\u2019s breezy melody before returning to the stage for the lusty \u201cMexico Honey,\u201d which played almost like the other side of \u201cDry Spell.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFollow Your Arrow,\u201d with its invitation to \u201ckiss lots of boys\/ Or kiss lots of girls\/ If that\u2019s somethin\u2019\/ You\u2019re into,\u201d closed the main set and felt particularly welcomed by the crowd.<\/p>\n Musgraves returned for an encore with her rewrite of George Strait\u2019s \u201cAll My Ex\u2019s Live in Texas.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI kind of rewrote the verses to tell my side of the story,\u201d she said. Her version, \u201cAll My Exes (Kacey\u2019s Version),\u201d will be one of five covers on Middle of Nowhere Vol. 2.<\/p>\n Singer-songwriter Estevie (Sarah Silva) was an inspired choice to open the night.<\/p>\n The first-generation Mexican American artist from the Inland Empire blends cumbia with contemporary pop, sharing Musgraves\u2019 elastic view of genre and influence.<\/p>\n It\u2019s rare for a support act to fully engage a headliner\u2019s audience, but Estevie managed it.<\/p>\n She began \u201cquiero saber\u201d in Spanish, drawing a burst of recognition when she switched to English for the chorus. Fans who hadn\u2019t yet identified the tune suddenly recognized a reworking of Foreigner\u2019s \u201cI Want to Know What Love Is.\u201d<\/p>\n Transforming the power ballad into a torch song, Estevie set up a guitar solo with enough confidence and bite to stand on its own.<\/p>\n A tease of Nancy Sinatra\u2019s \u201cBang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)\u201d segued into \u201cThese Boots Are Made for Walkin\u2019,\u201d producing the first major singalong of the night.<\/p>\n She also got the crowd to scream for her own \u201cla cumbia del cucuy,\u201d which she dedicated to the late-October spooky season.<\/p>\n \u201cI love how much she loves the Mexican culture and how much she supports the community,\u201d Estevie said of Musgraves between songs. \u201cI feel like that\u2019s so beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\tKacey Musgraves performs at United Center in Chicago on Aug. 12, 2026.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\tKacey Musgraves performs at United Center in Chicago on Aug. 12, 2026.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\tKacey Musgraves performs at United Center in Chicago on Aug. 12, 2026.<\/p>\n About The Author<\/p>\n ![\"Kacey](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Kacey-Musgraves-Middle-of-Nowhere-Chicago-082126-by-Charles-Reagan5703-300x200.jpg\")
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