Saturday night’s alright, but Orville Peck’s Boston performance made Wednesday a fierce contender.
On October 16, Peck’s “Stampede” tour charged through MGM Music Hall at Fenway. Peck shared the stage with special guests Vincent Neil Emerson and Nikki Lane. It was clear from how the “Highway Queen” wrangled the crowd that this wasn’t her first rodeo. In 2023, she got a true Boston welcome as the opener for The Dropkick Murphys.
Dawning a cow print two piece and knee-high boots, Lane and her full band were off running with songs like “Send The Sun” and “First High.” Steeped deep in the country sound, her gritty vocals melded effortlessly with the fiddle and the pedal steel guitar.
Before tipping her cap to those who came out early to throw down, she performed a rendition of her song “Jackpot” in honor of both her and Ben, the pedal steel player’s, birthdays.
Like a masked rhinestone cowboy, Peck took to the stage next in an all green ensemble that sparkled under the bright lights. Peck has always been a bit of a rebel, especially as an openly queer artist in country music, and his performance in Boston was no exception. Instead of getting swept up in the unbridled energy of the night and jumping right into the music like most performers, Peck took a moment to speak to the crowd and to take in the atmosphere.
“I’m very excited to be back in Boston after far too long,” Peck told the crowd who were dressed in their best western wear. In 2023, Peck made the difficult choice to cancel his tour. In a revealing instagram post, Peck wrote, “This was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make, but I’ve come to realize that my current mental and physical health won’t allow me to bring you my best…Being on stage is my favorite thing in the world. But I have to take this time to replenish my mind and body so that I can come back stronger and healthier than before, in order to do what I love for many years to come. I truly hope you can understand.”
Now on the other side and “happier and … healthier than I’ve ever been in my whole life,” Peck thanked his fans for understanding. “First, I want to say a really big thank you to anyone that lost out on a ticket last year when we canceled … thank you for letting me go do that and for being patient because it saved my life…And secondly, please if you need to go take time for yourself, I hope that you can try and go do that because it’s really important.”
Under an “Orville Peck” neon sign straight off the Las Vegas strip, Peck gave the Boston crowd a show that was worth the wait. His smooth baritone voice, reminiscent of Elvis, maneuvered effortlessly through a 19-song setlist, which included “Dead of Night” and “How Far Will We Take It?” off his latest album and the namesake for the tour “Stampede.”
Like fans saw Peck when he needed support, Peck demonstrated that he saw them too. Throughout the show, Peck would gift a single rose to audience members that weren’t afraid to sing and stand out. His last two roses went to a couple with the stipulation that they then had to gift the roses to each other.
Stampede, which is primarily a duets album, holds one of Peck’s most memorable collaborations, “Cowboys Are Frequently Fond of Each Other,” a rendition of Ned Sublette’s 1981 song.
“It was very special. We all cried after….Willie Nelson is a very special man,” he recalled of his recent performance with Nelson at this year’s ACL Festival in Austin. “He’s not here this evening, but he is here in spirit. I’m gonna do this one for him.”
After a quick mask change, the encore brought the masked cowboy back onto the stage once again. His joy with being back in the saddle was evident as his feet kicked and shuffled through “Bronco” and his blue eyes twinkled through his leather and fringe veil.
Grab your tickets here before the sun sets over the “Stampede” tour on October 28 in Los Angeles.
