Country Popping with Kacey Musgraves at Madison Square Garden

Kacey Musgraves has been carving her own path in soft country pop since the early 2000s, and it is paying off. Coming to New York City, notably not a substantial country music market, the sassy singer-songwriter brought a big-budget production to the city’s biggest sports arenas. She headlined two nights at Madison Square Garden and one night at Barclays Center.

The Middle of Nowhere tour featured Musgraves’ most elaborate staging yet. She began her set from a barn-looking shed at one end of the arena. Singing “Everybody Wants to Be a Cowboy,” she walked through the audience on the arena floor to the theater-in-the-round main stage. The center of the stage was star shaped, with her musicians stationed lower between the points of the star. The perimeter of the stage was circular, which periodically spun like a merry-go-round, bringing Musgraves closer to her public at different parts of the arena. LED screens above the stage projected closeups, occasional lyrics and videos. Additional effects included flames from the foot of the stage, sparks from above, and an illuminated butterfly drone.

Musgraves’ 2026 concert tour promotes Middle of Nowhere, her seventh studio album, released on May 1. The current album is decidedly more country-sounding than her previous album, 2024’s more pop-leaning Deeper Well. Curiously, on her second night at Madison Square Garden, Musgraves performed 11 of the 13 songs from the new album and none from Deeper Well. Instead, she filled out the 22-song repertoire with eight songs from her earlier albums and three covers.

As for carving her own path, Musgraves’ Madison Square Garden performance boldly emphasized her fearless envelope-pushing. For her second song, she performed a new song, “Dry Spell,” where she described a woman’s desire for sexual self-pleasure. The song selection then continued tamely until “Mexico Honey,” which detailed an intimate tryst south of the border and featured a sexually-charged video accompaniment. To top it off, a scrotum-shaped “disco balls” lowered to the stage; Musgraves sat on them as they elevated towards the ceiling and rotated.

On her second night at Madison Square Garden, Musgraves’ song selection gave the audience many reasons to cheer. The most enthusiastic response came when the band surprised the fans by beginning to play “Easy,” a song from Troye Sivan’s 2020 In a Dream EP that featured a Musgraves/Sivan duet. Sivan darted out of the darkness, saying, “What’s up, New York?,” as he stepped onto the main stage. Musgraves and Sivan gazed at each other as they sang the duet together live for the first time ever.

The previous night at Madison Square Garden, Musgraves paid tribute to country music star Dolly Parton, who died last week at age 80. “I think why it feels so dark is just… it’s already hard to navigate these times right now and when we lose a matriarch like that… it’s the closest thing we’ve ever had to royalty,” Musgraves told the audience before singing “Rainbow.” “But damn. What a supernova of a person. I can take a little bit of comfort in knowing that her soul and her bones are literally part of this galaxy, this universe, the fabric of space and time… I definitely would not be able to stand up here and do what I do if it hadn’t been for Dolly Parton.”

Musgraves said she was “never going to be over” Parton’s death. As images of Parton flashed on the screen, Musgraves sang Parton’s 1971 hit “9 to 5.”

Musgraves’ Middle of Nowhere concert at Madison Square Garden was a brilliantly stimulating visual spectacle from beginning to end. Yet, for all the kinetic energy of the moving parts, her music seldom matched that intensity. Musgraves’ catalog primarily consisted of bright, poppy songs, sensitive and intelligent lyrics, and playful and witty tunes. Front to end, Musgraves’ vocals were engaging and the band played well, and each song proved that Musgraves is a talented songwriter and performer. 

Nevertheless, the concert never escalated beyond the mellow, easy-listening mode. Except for one quick interlude where a guitarist shot an electric riff from the shed across the arena, the music never rocked. Twenty-two songs? That is a lot of mellow. Once again, Musgraves was fearless in presenting her music the way she wanted, but the program would have benefited from some muscle.

Setlist

1. Everybody Wants to Be a Cowboy
2. Dry Spell
3. justified
4. High Horse
5. Merry Go 'Round
6. Butterflies
7. Abilene
8. Back on the Wagon
9. I Believe in Ghosts
10. Uncertain, TX
11. Horses and Divorces
12. (Hey Baby) ¿Qué pasó? (Texas Tornados cover)
13. Easy (Kacey Musgraves & Troye Sivan song, with Troye Sivan)
14. Golden Hour
15. Loneliest Girl
16. Rhinestoned
17. Mexico Honey
18. Middle of Nowhere
19. Slow Burn
20. Space Cowboy
21. Follow Your Arrow (followed by band introductions)
22. All My Ex's Live in Texas (George Strait cover)

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The Manhattan Beat covers New York City's live music circuit. All articles are written by Everynight Charley Crespo. All photographs are taken by Everynight Charley Crespo, except when noted otherwise.

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