Kacey Musgraves Goes Big For Middle of Nowhere Tour Opening Night in Chicago, Bringing Dazzling Production And Texas-Sized Fun

Kacey Musgraves kicked off her Middle of Nowhere Tour in Chicago with one clear message: go big or go home. And she certainly went big. From an unforgettable entrance to performing on a rotating 360-degree stage, larger-than-life production and plenty of rhinestones, Musgraves pulled out all the stops.

A little after 9 p.m. on Friday, August 21, AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” blared through the speakers of the United Center and a countdown appeared on the screen, letting fans know that Musgraves would be arriving soon. Just minutes later, she emerged atop a rusted, tin structure featuring a large “Middle of Nowhere” sign. Backlit by beams of light shooting from the structure, she launched into “Everybody Wants to Be a Cowboy,” with an American flag and Chicago flag hanging behind her.

The GRAMMY Award-winning singer eventually made her way through the crowd, separated by barricades, before stepping onto the main stage, which featured a giant star at its center. She wasted no time in setting the tone for the energy of the night with fan-favorites, “Dry Spell,” “justified,” and “High Horse.”

She then got even closer to the sold-out crowd, moving onto the lower level of the stage where she paused to address everyone in attendance and acknowledge the fact that her 38th birthday happened to fall on opening night of the tour.

“The very very first show of this entire era is right here in Chicago tonight. And did anyone happen to mention that it’s also my birthday?” she asked. “Yeah, thanks for the signs that’s really cute I love that.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Country Now (@countrynow)

The Chicago crowd helped make the milestone show even more memorable by holding up special birthday signs and singing “Happy Birthday” several times throughout the night, including when a team member brought her a cake with candles to blow out. At one point she even pointed out, “I think this is the biggest birthday party I’ve ever had.”

Musgraves continued, “Hi Chicago. I’ll have you know that there is not room for one more human body in this fu**ing building so good job…the only rule for hanging out in the middle of nowhere…well there aren’t any rules. So maybe just don’t be an a**hole. Other than that, let’s just have a good fu**ing time.”

From there, she transported the audience to 2012, aka “back to the beginning,” she stated before delivering “Merry Go ‘Round.” The performance marked the beginning of one of the night’s many visual spectacles as Musgraves rotated around the 360 degree stage, giving fans in every section of the arena a chance to get a good view.

The set continued with “Honeybee,” “Back On The Wagon” and “I Believe in Ghosts,” the latter of which transformed the stage into an eerie scene as smoke swirled around. She brought the energy back up and showed off her line dancing skills with “Uncertain, TX,” before continuing to sing even more tracks from her newest album, including “Abilene,” “Horses and Divorces,” “Loneliest Girl,” “Rhinestoned,” “Mexico Honey” and the title track, “Middle of Nowhere.”

With every performance in the 21-song set list, the production continued to get bigger and bigger. A few highlights include the illuminated butterfly that flew through the air above the crowd during “Butterflies,” the brightly lit stars hung from the structure above the stage creating a dreamy backdrop for “Loneliest Girl in the World,” the confetti that fell during “Space Cowboy” and “Golden Hour,” which brought an entirely different kind of image as sparks fell from the ceiling, surrounding Musgraves in bright lights.

Musgraves introduced “Rhinestoned” in perhaps the most talked-about moment of the night, taking the stage atop a pair of enormous, rhinestone-covered, anatomically correct disco balls hanging from the ceiling.

“It takes balls to get up here to do what I do every night… two gigantic, anatomically correct sparkly balls, in fact,” she stated.

She then said, “my nana always told me, ‘honey, if you’re gonna do something, do to it big and do it sparkly.’ Nana, is this what you had in mind?” she asked, earning laughter from the crowd.

Musgraves took things one step further when she sat in between the glittering disco balls and was lifted into the air and rotated above the stage, serving as an over-the-top moment that fans never saw coming.

She kept the Texas spirit going with “Horses and Divorces” before getting up-close-and-personal with fans. As she made her way around the floor level, Musgraves brought some Tex Mex flair with her for “(Hey Baby) ¿Qué Pasó?”, the Texas Tornados cover.

Musgraves paused in between songs to briefly reflect on the new era that came with the release of her Middle of Nowhere album and the tour that gives her the chance to celebrate her growing catalog. She said that making the record “felt like coming home,” before thanking fans for receiving the new music with “such open arms.”

With only a few songs left, she acknowledged just how special it was to be celebrating the launch of her brand-new tour with such an amazing group of fans who spent their hard-earned money to see her bring her music to life.

“I really hope you guys have had a wonderful time tonight. It’s really crazy that this moment will never happen again, the opening night of the tour…thank you so much for selling it out that means so much to me.”

The night ended with something old and something new. Fans first joined her in singing “Follow Your Arrow,” a favorite track off her debut album of 2013, Same Trailer Different Park. For the final song of opening night, Musgraves honored her Texas roots with her version of George Strait’s classic, “All My Ex’s Live in Texas.”

The stage transformed into a celebration of Texas pride, with a giant Texas flag hanging from the ceiling while red, white and blue lights lit up the room. The performance ended with a round of mini fireworks erupting around the stage before Musgraves said her goodbyes and made her way out of the arena.

And with that, the first night of the Middle of Nowhere Tour had officially come to an end. If opening night was any indication of how the rest of the run will go, it’s safe to say that fans can expect plenty more shows that are every bit as fun, sparkly and unapologetically Texas as the country star at the center of it all.

The trek continues Monday, August 24 in Toronto, followed by more North American dates, including multiple nights at New York City’s Madison Square Garden, Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, Austin’s Moody Center, Dallas’ American Airlines Center and Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena.

Kacey Musgraves will bring things to a close with two shows at Seattles Climate Pledge Arena in October.