Kacey Musgraves Plumbs ‘Deeper Well’ at Bridgestone

Distressed flat-brims, rhinestone-studded cattlemans and a sprinkle of bright-red Santa caps brimmed the heads of fans filling the stands and GA pit of Bridgestone Arena Friday night. Nashville’s own sweetheart Kacey Musgraves returned home to close out her Deeper Well World Tour with two sold-out shows at the downtown Enormodome, of which this was the first.

In the aftermath of COVID-19, the three-band bill has become a dying tradition for large-scale tours, but perhaps the practice is seeing a comeback. And with the ultra-talented opening acts stacked up on this tour, I for one rejoice at its return. Kicking the night off promptly at 7:28, bluegrass quartet Nickel Creek hit the stage with a warm and twangy instrumental jam as the house started to fill up. Bright tones from Sara Watkins’ fiddle wafted over the massive space, coalescing with Chris Thile’s mandolin and Sean Watkins’ vintage Gibson guitar, rounded out by bass from Nashvillian Jeff Picker. The band played toe-tapping numbers from records spanning their 25-year career including fan favorite “The Fox,” and threw in an unforgettable bluegrass cover of Brittany Spears’ “Toxic.”

Shifting the mood to something slightly more somber, Lord Huron took over for Act 2 of the evening. Frontman Ben Schneider stated that regardless of whether you came to dance, cry, make out or ponder the mysteries of the universe (which is kinda their sweet spot), they had a song for you. The Los Angeles-based band made good on their word, moving theatrically through titles from their debut Lonesome Dreams to their latest release Long Lost. The screens transmitted the group in grayscale as Schneider sang catalog standout “The World Ender” through a fuzzy-sounding pay-phone receiver, making the entire ordeal feel like a badass scene from a neo-noir film.

When the house lights went down for the third time Friday evening, the curtains drew back to reveal a thousand twinkling stars. The arena felt enchanted like the ceiling of the Great Hall in Hogwarts, and adoring fans whooped and cheered as Musgraves’ band played the opening notes of the heartwarming “Cardinal,” the opener of Musgraves’ latest album Deeper Well. At the end of the opening number, the singer gracefully tiptoed onto a mysterious half-moon-shaped orb nestled at the rear of the main stage and levitated in midair, with her limbs and long brown hair cascading around her.

Although the stage production was minimalistic throughout most of the set, with light design and whimsical backdrops doing most of the heavy lifting, the tone it allowed to take shape in the massive space was one true to the spirit of Deeper Well — meditative and reflective. While I wouldn’t call the crowd anything less than enthusiastic, mystified and wholeheartedly engaged, there was a peculiar kind of sereneness that settled into the arena, making it feel quaint and safe. Musgraves insisted, “None of the bullshit in the world happening outside of these walls matters for the next 90 minutes.”

As familiar chords from the song “Golden Hour” blanketed the arena, the energy in the house heightened dramatically, and suddenly people were singing louder than before. There was choir-like participation in the outro of “Happy & Sad” as Musgraves crooned gentle “la la las” while an enormous model of Saturn descended over a small circular stage in the middle of the pit. Musgraves and a few members of the band made their way to the B stage for the acoustic portion of their set. This featured beautiful, stripped-down renditions of tunes like “Follow Your Arrow” and “Dinner With Friends.” Nickel Creek joined Musgraves onstage for what they teased as a “murderous ballad,” which turned out to be a respectable folky cover of SZA’s “Kill Bill.”

Things got a little sober during this segment of the show when Musgraves explained that she was in Nashville working on Deeper Well when the tragic events of the Covenant School shooting occurred. The country star confessed that it felt wrong to be writing songs during that moment. However, she was reminded that art is exactly where we should turn to help us through dark times. She was inspired to write “The Architect,” in which she questions the meaning of God and His will. While the song offers no real resolution in the matter, her performance provided a brief respite for showgoers to open ourselves up to catharsis and  emboldened us to be inquisitive about the state of our world. 

Returning to the main stage for the final songs of the night, Musgraves livened up the mood with a nod to her album Star-Crossed and the band performed the poppy, self-validating anthem “Justified.” Bouncy beach balls bopped across the audience as confetti rained from the rafters during “Deeper Well.” Last but certainly not least, the lullaby-esque “Rainbow” closed out the night with Musgraves singing the final lyrics in the sweetest soprano: “It’ll all be all right.”

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