By Zach Goins
October 3, 2026
Photo: Charles Reagan
The last time Kacey Musgraves was in Charlotte, she was in her healing and personal-growth era. Following an emotional breakup, The Deeper Well Tour found her reflecting on past relationships that no longer served her, searching for meaning and fulfillment through stripped-back acoustic melodies and introspection.
But on Friday night, Musgraves returned with her playful Texas-country swagger and charm, transforming Spectrum Center into a dance hall buzzing with equal amounts of Tejano-inspired twang and glittery spectacle.
Over the course of 90 minutes, Musgraves’ 23-song setlist spanned the entirety of her career. Thanks to two surprise songs added mid-show (“Late to the Party” and “Deeper Well”), fans were able to hear at least one song from each of her six studio albums, though the set leaned heavily on Musgraves’ latest work, Middle of Nowhere, along with the timeless, Grammy Album of the Year-winning Golden Hour.
Rising cumbia-pop artist Estevie, whose music shares a similar crossover between Texas and Mexican musical traditions, warmed up the crowd with a set featuring her breakout hit, “Un Besito Más,” a duet with mariacheño artist Christian Nodal, an unreleased track, “This Man,” and covers of Foreigner’s “I Want to Know What Love Is” and Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots Are Made for Walkin’.”
Then came the countdown — a long wait of more than an hour between acts — but Musgraves ultimately made the lengthy intermission worthwhile. As “Everybody Wants To Be A Cowboy” began, Musgraves emerged from a weathered livestock barn hovering above the crowd. With hay strewn around the Spectrum Center floor and a layer of rust covering the stage structure, Musgraves welcomed the audience to rural Texas.
Making her way down to the circular stage in the center of the arena for “Dry Spell,” “justified,” and “High Horse,” a kaleidoscope of rainbow-colored lights washed over the stage, making it clear that the desolate barnyard vibe was only a part of the production, with plenty of Musgraves’ signature glitter and glam still to come.
While the setlist and scenery may have centered on Middle of Nowhere, the circular stage itself was a nod to Musgraves’ origins. Designed to give fans a good view from all angles, the setup featured a treadmill-like catwalk that doubled as a carousel as she performed the song that started it all, her first breakthrough hit, “Merry Go ‘Round,” from her major-label debut, Same Trailer Different Park.
The song reflects the cyclical nature of small-town life, and as Musgraves shared with the crowd throughout the night, she repeatedly returned to the idea that her latest album represented a homecoming of sorts. While she never abandoned her country roots, her three-album run from Golden Hour through star-crossed and Deeper Well took her sound in increasingly varied directions, from dreamy cosmic country to pop experimentation to mellow folk-pop.
But with Middle of Nowhere, Musgraves blends her East Texas roots with her new home in Mexico, where she’s lived for the last year and a half. Her signature country sound merges with Tejano and Norteño influences, incorporating pedal steel, accordions, fiddle, and layers of reverb to create something that feels both familiar and distinctly new for Musgraves. On tour, her seven-piece band brings that fusion to life, making massive arenas feel like intimate Texas dance halls vibrating with the sounds of the Texas-Mexico borderlands, particularly on tracks like “Horses and Divorces” and her cover of the Texas Tornadoes’ “(Hey Baby) Que Paso.”
It wouldn’t be a Kacey Musgraves show without a bit of sarcastic, inappropriate humor, and her latest bit has become the defining moment of the Middle of Nowhere Tour each night.
“It takes a lot of balls to get up here and do what I do every night,” Musgraves said, as not one but two disco balls descended from the rafters. Musgraves took a seat on the glittery testicles and took to the sky performing “Rhinestoned,” while joking that this was her grandmother’s favorite part of the show.
Beyond the sparkly genitalia, Musgraves provided plenty of memorable moments throughout the night, including sultry dancing during “Mexico Honey,” a seductive, tequila-soaked ode to her love of the country, and a sentimental, visually radiant rendition of “Slow Burn,” illuminated by cellphone lights and blasts of fire onstage. For “Butterflies,” drone-operated glowing butterflies flew around the arena in a wash of blue light, while sparkling showers rained during “Golden Hour,” with the UFO-shaped LED structure overhead.
While Musgraves’ sound may have shifted slightly over the years, one thing that’s never changed is her effortless stage charisma. Some concerts lean heavily on spectacle, and Musgraves’ certainly has her moments on this tour, but her shows have always revolved around her relatable songwriting and enchanting, airy vocals that have an undeniable Texas lilt. Hardly missing a note with nonchalant confidence, yet with vulnerability ever-present in her voice and lyrics, she strutted around the stage, strumming her guitar, and singing with ease.
For all the talk of coming home, though, Musgraves’ latest era doesn’t feel like a retreat to the past. If anything, the Middle of Nowhere Tour shows just how much ground she’s covered since “Merry Go ‘Round” more than a decade ago. The cosmic glow of Golden Hour, pop experimentation of star-crossed and quiet introspection of Deeper Well are all still there — they’ve just found their way back to the dance hall.
On Friday night in Charlotte, Musgraves showed that looking back doesn’t have to mean standing still. Her latest chapter feels less like a return to where she started than a celebration of everything she’s become along the way.
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Setlist:
“Everybody Wants to Be a Cowboy”
“Dry Spell”
“justified”
“High Horse”
“Merry Go ’Round”
“Butterflies”
“Abilene”
“Back on the Wagon”
“I Believe in Ghosts”
“Uncertain, TX”
“Horses and Divorces”
“(Hey Baby) Que Paso” (Texas Tornados cover)
“Golden Hour”
“Loneliest Girl”
“Rhinestoned”
“Mexico Honey”
“Middle of Nowhere”
“Slow Burn”
“Space Cowboy”
“Late to the Party”
“Deeper Well”
“Follow Your Arrow”
“All My Ex’s Live in Texas” (George Strait cover)
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