Maren Morris, a breakout country star of the last few years, took the stage at the Bridgestone Arena on Dec. 2 to close out her “Humble Quest” tour. Though her tour started in her home state of Texas in March, Music City is where her music and image gained traction and took off.
Both Brittney Spencer and Ruston Kelly opened for Morris on this stop of her tour—marking the only show with two openers. This surprise set the theme for the night, which featured previously unheard versions of songs, extra guests and the contemporary country music her fans adore from Morris.
Morris opened her show with a stand-out song from her latest album, “The Furthest Thing,” quickly followed by “Circles Around this Town,” her biggest hit from the album. After these back-to-back hits, Morris brought her husband and musical collaborator, Ryan Hurd, on stage so they could sing the duet version of “I Can’t Love You Anymore.” He came back out, later on, to sing “Chasing After You,” which has been my personal favorite song since I saw the two of them sing the same song live at his concert in the spring. Hurd’s final appearance of the night was in the encore where the two sang “What Would This World Do Without You” about the loss of a close friend and co-producer, Mike Busbee.
However, the special guests throughout the night did not stop with Hurd. The Highwomen, a group of female country music stars of which Morris is a part, sang two songs alongside Brittney Spencer and Sheryl Crowe. The group of women on stage clearly held a lot of love for both the music they sang and for the community they are creating together in the industry.
Further through the show, Morris took a break from her normal style to ask if anyone in the crowd was a “musical theater nerd.”Although it didn’t seem a lot of the crowd fathomed her love for Broadway, every phone in the arena lit up to record when she invited Kristin Chenoweth on stage to sing “For Good” from “Wicked.” Morris commented that she barely made it through the song during sound check without crying. Chenoweth exited to much applause and a huge embrace from Morris after the song.
One final surprise for the crowd came when Morris introduced her biggest release to date. “I always wanted to play this song in here to y’all,” Morris told the crowd. The crowd went wild when she brought her songwriting partner out on the stage, Hozier, to perform “Bones.”
Throughout the night filled with new songs and a never-ending list of guests, Morris owned the stage. Her powerful voice and mix of country and pop kept the audience engaged every minute. She called Bridgestone “her church” and finished her set with “My Church”—an ode to music, Nashville and her quest to be the artist she is now.
