Star Crossed on a Frozen Wednesday - Kacey Musgraves concert review and photo gallery

When Kacey Musgraves decided to kicking off her “Star-Crossed” tour in St. Paul the wires must have gotten “crossed”. Surely the six-time Grammy winner and Texas native meant St. Paul, TX just outside of Corpus Christi and not the frozen capital of Minnesota in the middle of January. Maybe she was looking for a way to physically express the coldness of her 2020 divorce which is featured in her album both lyrically and musically. Whatever the reason, the packed Xcel Energy Center crowd was thankful she chose them on a freezing Wednesday night.

Musgraves set the tone for the night by playing three straight songs off of her “Star-Crossed” album.  It was clear right away this album is different.  Different from anything she had done before and it’s because she’s never been down this road before.  Call it creative therapy.  At one point Kacey apologized to the crowd for making a “really depressing” album.

With the first part of the night focused on “Star-Crossed” the later portion was reserved for a trip back in time to her Grammy award winning debut album, “Same Trailer Different Park” and “Golden Hour” which netted her four more Grammys.  Musgraves performed a beautiful acoustic version of “Merry Go Round” but surprisingly left off “Follow Your Arrow”.

Toward the end of her set it appeared Kacey borrowed a little game from “Late Night” host Jimmy Fallon where she used a digital wheel and the help of an audience member to select a cover song for her to perform.  The song selected was “No Scrubs” by TLC.  It was the perfect cover to get the crowd set-up for the encore and to showcase another side of her musical talents.

For Kacey’s finale, she went to her bread and butter hits, “Slow Burn” and “Rainbow” from the album that served as a transition from the country spotlight to mainstream American pop.  The songs couldn’t had been better chosen and acted as a bridge or a liaison of where she started to where she is today.

There had been some speculation on whether or not Kacey was ready for the larger arenas with her transition away from country music.  With 9,000 + in attendance on a Wednesday night in temps well below freezing the answer from Minnesota is a resounding YES!!

- Kendal Schmidt