Maren Morris
Mesa Amphitheatre, Mesa, Ariz., USA, September 12, 2019
by Mary Andrews
Maren Morris is the most played female singer on country radio over the last two years. That’s a major accomplishment these days when country radio is dominated by ‘bro-country.’ Morris is on a roll as a solo artist with her monster hit songs “My Church,” “Girl,” and “I Could Use a Love Song.” She crossed over to dance-pop music in collaboration with Zedd and Grey with their song, “The Middle.”
Morris has accumulated awards from the Country Music Association, Billboard Music, APRA Music, the Academy of Country Music, iHeart Radio, and the Grammy Awards.
She has embarked on a career project to become a member of the Americana supergroup, The Highwomen, along with Brandi Carlile, Amanda Shires, and Natalie Hemby. The group just released their first album recently, The Highwomen. The album has garnered praise from sources like Rolling Stone Magazine calling the group a “new kind of Outlaw Country.” One knows people are listening when a superstar like Dierks Bentley takes the time to do a ‘tongue-in-cheek’ reading of song lyrics of your first single, “Redesigning Women” on YouTube.
Morris is on her headlining tour “Girl: The World Tour” at the top of her game and she made a stop in Mesa, outside of Phoenix, Ariz. The outdoor Amphitheatre was filled to near capacity with a predominantly young crowd. Backed by a five-piece band set on a stage that featured a large video board and a machine that blew smoke across the stage, Morris delivered a 90-minute performance that was designed to showcase her new album. She started her set with “Girl” to screams and overwhelming applause.
The Texas native’s music pays homage to Johnny Cash, Hank Williams to pop music’s Bruce Springsteen, Coldplay, and Katy Perry as she writes about female empowerment and equality. The women in the crowd were listening to every word said.
Her music seems to be aimed at women’s empowerment. The personable artist spoke to her fans several times during her show about her experiences, good and bad, with her love life. It’s easy to see why she resonates with women so well as she said, “I have gone through a ringer of relationships. I would say that I’m like a weird serial monogamous relationship (person). There are not a ton of people in my life but just enough to write about. I remember thinking, five years ago, I was with a guy who was my first love and I really didn’t know what a relationship was. It was the same time I released my first single. My career was starting to do this and he couldn’t be happy for me. (Boos came from the audience.) Thank you. I think I’ve punished him enough from my music. It’s his own damn fault. It really hurts when you have someone you really care about and you have something you are really excited to share and you feel like you can’t because this person is going to dim your light. I think the most important relationship in this lifetime that you will ever get is the one with ourselves. You must develop that one first before we can love someone else. I had to end things with him and go about my business. I remember mourning that relationship and I felt like I was in a pretty dark tunnel and I had to work through it. Just writing songs pulled me out of it. “
She found her way out of the ‘tunnel when she started a relationship with songwriter, Ryan Hurd, “A year or so later, there was a guy that noticed me and that I was in a very dark place. We would just go and get beers together and have long conversations. We would go home and write songs together sometimes. No matter what, he wasn’t trying to stitch me back together. He was totally okay with me being kind of broken at that point. He liked me anyway. I wrote a song about it. Years later I got married to him. I guess he knows how to not piss me off because you never know. This was a song written out of gratitude when you find that person in life who loves your kind of weird.” The song was “To Hell & Back.”
She introduced “A Song For Everything” as a song about time travel. Most music represents a certain time in the past. “What’s your time machine, is it Coldplay or Springsteen?”
Ten songs in the set were from her album, Girl. “All My Favorite People,” had a very familiar melody to a previous hit song from years gone by Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5.”Morris mentioned that, “Could Use a Love Song,” was her first No. 1 country hit, noting how special it was to her after working without much success as a songwriter for other performers. She paired her song “Second Wind,” with Beyoncé’s “Halo.” Her performance of Grammy-nominated electro-pop collaboration song, “The Middle” garnered the biggest sing-along of the night.
The night would not have been complete without a shout out and a song from The Highwomen’s new self-titled album, “Crowded Table.” It was a stripped-down acoustic version that remained faithful to the album.
Of course, Morris sang her anthem, “My Church,” which wrapped up the set. This was an energetic show with something for everyone. The tour continues through December 5
Setlist:
Girl
The Feels
80s Mercedes
Good Woman
A Song for Everything
All My Favorite People
To Hell & Back
Flavor
I Wish I Was
Second Wind / Halo
The Middle (Zedd, Maren Morris & Grey cover)
I Could Use a Love Song
Crowded Table (The Highwomen song)
RSVP
Once
Rich
The Bones
Encore:
Shade
My Church
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