JADAR

★★★★★

Six years after her last headlining gig in Manchester, Maren Morris returned to the iconic Albert Hall for a wholesome evening of powerful songs and some personal stories. Just over two years ago, she opened for the (Dixie) Chicks at Manchester’s AO Arena, one of the biggest arenas in the world, where her personal country songs were transformed into cathartic anthems. Albert Hall, however, allowed Maren to enhance the intimacy and emotion of the songs – especially as they were performed to, and sung by, almost 2000 devoted fans who were there purely for Maren.

Opening for Maren was Bea and Her Business. One might have expected Maren to opt for a country-pop artist to open for her, but whilst most of the audience seemed to be unfamiliar with Bea, she immediately got us on her side with her catchy songs, bold lyrics, joyful performance and infectious personality. It is daunting being a support act; most people don’t know who you are and are waiting patiently for the artist they paid to see. But Bea was very confident, personable and relatable. She briefly gave the background to some of her songs, allowing the audience to better relate to them, but did not talk too much, which would risk alienating the audience. She even got everybody chanting “good things” to her song of the same name.

She cleverly opened with ‘Safety Net’, one of her better-known songs (her only song I knew) before treating us to a nice mix of her discography. The best number was, without a doubt, ‘Rich’, a feel-good, sexy club anthem. The audience lost themselves in the rhythm, and Bea had everyone clapping along to the ritardando/rallentando. I am now hooked on the song. She closed with her best-known song, ‘Born to Be Alive’.

Whilst Maren is a country (pop) artist, she’s also unashamedly modern. She has donned a few cowboy hats but that’s not really her style, and you’re certainly not going to see her strutting her stuff in sexy chaps. She’s much more glamorous. She wore a sequined and feathered gown, like something Bob Mackie might have designed for Cher in the 1970s, which exposed her legs right up to the top of her thighs. Her band, meanwhile, were dressed much more casually, in an interesting contrast, which perhaps spoke to the two sides to Maren: her (country) music versus her (glamorous) persona. Indeed, going by her music, you wouldn’t expect Marren to dress like that, but she absolutely slays.

The show made great use of colourful lighting. It was ambient and impactful but sometimes made it difficult to see Maren. The show could have benefitted from a bit more white light (which fortunately came for ‘The Middle’). The yellow light for ‘Lemonade’ was a nice touch.

Maren, like Bea, was very open and personal. She offered us context into many of the songs she performed. She admitted to occasionally oversharing, but this is endearing. Even if you have not experienced the things that she sings about, you can relate to them, because she sings them with such proud conviction and raw emotion; you can easily, empathetically, put yourself in her shoes. It’s powerful.

After thanking people for still coming to see her, especially years after she last played a headlining gig in Manchester, she poetically sang ‘people still show up’.

The setlist was a mix of old and new, with her new album, ‘Dreamsicle’, given a lot of love. The album did not win me over when I listened to it ahead of the gig but the live performances drew me in and gave me a newfound appreciation for the beautiful melodies and personal lyrics.

She, of course, did the hits, such as ’80s Mercedes’, ‘My Church’, and ‘The Bones’, which she closed with. She did not perform ‘Chasing After You’, her duet with Ryan Hurd. It would have been sweet to sing this with a member of the band or even an audience member, but alas.

I was very disappointed that she did not sing ‘The Middle’ (her collaboration with Zedd and Grey – and by far her biggest hit) when she opened for The Chicks (which I also reviewed). I cannot lie, my primary reason for seeing (and reviewing) Maren again was to finally see her sing that song! I appreciate she wanted to showcase her other songs (she only got to sing ten), and ones she actually wrote, to bigger audiences, but much of the audience was unfamiliar with her, and ‘The Middle’ is such a universal bop, so it would have got them on her side – and people who knew her were surely gutted that she did not sing her signature song.

14 different female artists recorded demos for ‘The Middle’. Maren was initially reluctant to “audition”; as a Grammy Award winner, she felt a bit insulted, but she put her ego aside because her manager knew that the song could be big. The first iteration of the song (before Zedd and Grey were attached) was intended to be a single for Demi Lovato, but she passed after deciding the song was “too pop” and opted to release ‘Sorry Not Sorry’ instead. Once Zedd and Grey were brought on board, Camila Cabello’s version was selected but she pulled out two weeks prior to the song’s release in order to focus on promoting ‘Havana’. Anne-Marie’s version was then chosen but she had to back out due to conflicts stemming from the release of ‘Friends’. The production team discovered that Morris had recorded a version but that it was never reviewed when initially submitted for consideration. Whilst Maren was less mainstream than the other artists, it did not matter: the song was undeniably good, and her performance was electric – it was destined to be a huge hit.

It was incredible finally hearing the song performed live. Sadly, the audience in the circle were a bit dead; hardly anybody stood at all. I do enjoy staying seated unless the songs command you to stand – but ‘The Middle’ is one of those songs. We instead just danced in our seats, not wanting to annoy the people behind us (especially after I knocked my drink over, giving the woman in front of me a soggy bottom!).

The only cover was, surprisingly, ‘Talking Body’ by Tove Lo. I’m not sure why; perhaps Maren just loves the song. I’d have loved to see her cover, and modernise, a country classic, but I guess that’s not really her style. She does her own thing – and that’s refreshing.

Maren Morris tours the world until May 3.