There is a strange duality running through everything Maren Morris does, a constant pull between her pop instincts and her country roots. That tension shapes every corner of her craft. In her writing, she moves from tender confessions to sharp, contempt filled lines. Even in her presence onstage, she seems caught between the easygoing homegrown persona and the reality of her superstar stature. Her songs strive to reconcile all of these contradictions, and they do so with one more contradiction, the desire to speak to something universal while remaining deeply personal.
At times, the scale tipped toward her poppier leanings, the sound a little too polished, her image a little too calculated, her songs a little too focused on the self, like a musical selfie. When the balance settled in the middle, that was when the show truly lifted. Thankfully, there were several moments like that throughout her ninety minute concert at Le Trianon, her first French performance with a full band. "Push Me Over," from her current album DREAMSICLE, was one of those moments. A version of "The Middle," her hit collaboration with Zedd, probably drew the crowd's loudest response. An unexpected curveball came in the form of a dance-soaked take on Tove Lo’s "Talking Body" which briefly turned the Trianon into a discotheque. Then toward the end of the set came what was perhaps the highlight of the evening, a fierce and joyful rendition of her early hit "Church". Despite a less-than-ideal attendance (the balconies were empty and the floor only half full), Morris delivered a generous show largely focused on DREAMSICLE, her proverbial divorce album. Her songs and her voice were naturally the focal point of the evening, but her band also shone. Especially featured were bassist JR Collins and lead guitarist Erica Fox, both monster players in their own right.
When the polished pop veneer cracked and the rawness of Morris’s songwriting came through, the evening transcended the status of simply “a good concert.” That moment of vulnerability opened a direct line between artist and audience. It is another one of the dualities Morris must navigate: the professional performer and the emotional songwriter laid bare.
SETLIST:
Check out these related articles from the Electric Eye archives:
You may also enjoy the following sponsored items:
Scan the QR code below to subscribe to Apple TV:
