By May 31, 2022
As the sun set over the Ritz in Raleigh, fans adorned with cowboy hats and fringed leather jackets lined up to hear music from masked country singer, Orville Peck. Wednesday night marked Peck’s second North Carolina stop on the Bronco tour, having played at the Fillmore in Charlotte the night before. Wednesday’s show was his first in Raleigh since he played Hopscotch Music Fest in 2019.
Nashville country rockers Teddy and the Rough Riders opened the show. Led by Jack Quiggins on guitar and Ryan Jennings on bass, the five-piece band played through hits like “How Dare You” and “Hurricane Teddy.” They also performed their recent single “Livin in the Woods,” the first off their upcoming self-titled album. The room came to life when Will Ellis played a short solo on the pedal steel guitar during the band’s introductions. Teddy and the Rough Riders kept their set short and sweet, playing just over 30 minutes before ending their performance.
As the house lights dimmed and James Taylor’s “Carolina in My Mind” started playing, members of Orville Peck’s band began making their way up to the stage before Peck strutted out wearing a matching floral suit and his iconic embellished mask. The tassels on his mask were neatly braided to the sides, allowing him to sing with ease while also showing off his newly grown beard. After the applause settled, Peck kicked off the show with the first track off Bronco, “Daytona Sand,” and the dynamic riffs were shown off by the movement in Peck’s jacket fringe. He followed with “Turn to Hate” off Pony, which had fans yelling “yee haw” every time the chorus rolled around.
Peck finished playing “Winds Change,” then calmly and quietly strolled to the right side of the stage. He took a seat at his piano and asked if there were any truck drivers in the audience. “This song is about two truck drivers in love,” he said before playing “Drive Me, Crazy” from his EP, Show Pony. Toward the end of the song, guitarist Duncan Hay Jennings jumped on top of the piano and played alongside Peck. As the song ended, he made his way back to center stage, put his guitar back on, then started “No Glory in the West.”
Halfway through the set, Peck stopped the show to hand out roses. He pointed to select members of the audience and praised them for “Most Amazing Vibes” and “Best Beard.” Continuing with self-proclaimed “fast ballad” “Any Turn,” the band’s guitar and keyboard player, Bria Salmena joined Peck for a duet of “All I Can Say.”
Peck ended his set with the title track from Bronco, and then left the stage to a roaring applause. The house lights remained dim and the cheers kept going until he returned to the stage. The audience quickly turned silent as he performed a solo of “Let Me Drown” on the piano. He introduced his final song of the evening by encouraging everyone to whistle, sing and dance along to “Take You Back.” The whistling died down, only to be replaced with an eruption of cheers, lasting a few minutes before the house lights came back on.
While Peck’s performance included select hits from his entire discography, his setlist was heavy with songs from his latest, Bronco, playing all but two tracks from the album. The crowd swayed in unison tunes like “Kalahari Down” and shouted the catchy lyrics for ballads like “Lafayette.” Old or new, the crowd was engaged throughout 19-song set.
Set List
“Daytona Sand”
“Turn to Hate”
“The Curse of the Blackened Eye”
“Lafayette”
“C’mon Baby, Cry”
“Winds Change”
“Drive Me, Crazy”
“No Glory in the West”
“Trample Out the Days”
“Outta Time”
“Any Turn”
“All I Can Say”
“Hexie Mountains”
“Legends Never Die”
“Kalahari Down”
“Dead of Night”
“Bronco”
Encore
“Let Me Drown”
“Take You Back (The Iron Hoof Cattle Call)”
Check out the remaining 2022 tour dates for Orville Peck.
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