BETHLEHEM, Pa. — On Musikfest’s penultimate night, Maren Morris also nearly saved the best for last.
In a stripped-down production that felt custom-made for the Musikfest stage, headliner Morris capped a 17-song set with three songs that put a rush of energy into the crowd.
- Maren Morris headlined Musikfest on Saturday night
- She played a 17-song set that ran about 75 minutes
- The evacuation of the campus before the show left the opener, October Rose, playing to mostly empty seats
First came the pulsating “Rich,” where the crowd loudly sang along to the chorus before Morris warned, “I’m going to count us in one more time before the rain comes.”
By the time she launched into a triumphant “The Bones,” on which the lyrics say, “Let it rain,” the skies opened up, as if on cue, over Bethlehem.
That cut, from Morris’ 2019 album “Girl,” was the first solo song by a female artist to reach the top 10 of the Billboard Radio Songs chart since Taylor Swift’s “You Belong With Me.”
And, after it became a multi-week No. 1, it also made Morris the first solo female artist to accomplish the feat since Carrie Underwood’s “Blown Away” in 2012.
The crowd reacted with a rousing sing-along that only got louder as Morris segued into the Grammy-nominated “My Church” to wrap the show.
“I’ve cussed on a Sunday / I’ve cheated and I’ve lied / I’ve fall down from grace / a few too many times / But I find holy redemption / When I put this car in drive / Roll the windows down and turn up the dial,” the song says, before the chorus asks, “Can I get a hallelujah? Can I get an amen?”
The crowd obliged, and seemed to feel the same reverent relationship to the music, turning the song into a thunderous finale in the pouring rain at the headliner Steel Stage.
County, pop, pacing
Morris’ visit to Bethlehem was no splashy tour production. Instead, she favored a setlist that tucked in a mix of old and new songs.
But if there was one miscue it may have been the pacing, where Morris too often let moments like 2018’s high energy pop hit “The Middle” (with Zedd) lean against the slow jam of songs like “RSVP.”
And “Once” included soaring vocals that were nearly drowned out by Morris’ band.
But other songs found their mark, including “80s Mercedes,” which revved up the crowd after a fairly muted start.
“What day are we at in this festival?” Morris asked after winding down the song, saying she was excited to be Saturday’s entertainment in a jam-packed slate of headliners at this year’s festival, which closes on Sunday.
The one spot where Morris slowed things down — and did so effectively — came during an acoustic performance of “Bummin’ Cigarettes,” a song found only on the deluxe edition of her very first album.
Weather, or not
Opening the show was the husband-and-wife country duo October Rose, featuring the Jersey-born (and very pregnant) Leanne Weiss and the Pittsburgh-raised Derek Allan.
The pair played an hour-long set, but opened their show to a nearly empty venue and played mostly to empty blue seats. It was because severe weather forced the evacuation of the crowd at 6:13 p.m., just as people began filing in.
WEATHER UPDATE, 8/12, 6:13pm: Festival activities are temporarily suspended due to inclement weather in the area. Please seek shelter in your vehicles or a permanent structure. More updates to follow as they become available.
— Musikfest (@Musikfest) August 12, 2023
By the time the all-clear was given about 6:30 p.m., the line to enter had backed up through the SteelStacks campus.
The severe weather threat diminished for the rest of the night, until the rains came down to close Morris’ set.
