Margo Price at Koko

Margo Price

Kelsey Waldon 

Koko, 30 January 2024

Last year I saw Margo Price absolutely blow the roof off Lafayette, so when she announced another show at the always beautiful Koko with another of my favourites, Kelsey Waldon, supporting, I couldn't get tickets fast enough. Good thing too, as not surprisingly, the show was completely sold out.

Once again pretty much the entire front row was made up of older, grey hair dudes, which I think always seems a shame given how inspiring the two ladies on the bill tonight are, especially to other women. Thankfully though I found myself next to the only women at the front but it would be nice in the future if the front row at Americana gigs was a little more diverse. That said there were a lot of women in attendance and it was lovely to see so many people excited to see Margo Price.

Obviously I was excited to see her too, but I must say I was equally excited to see the support act, Kelsey Waldon. She's been touring with Margo over in the States, and apparently the two are neighbours in Nashville, but I couldn't believe my luck when she was announced for this tour. I've seen Kelsey once before at The Slaughtered Lamb a few years back and it was a magical show where after I even got her to sign her album for me, and she was absolutely lovely, so to see her walk onstage beaming to the crowd and begin to sing Kentucky, 1988, also put a huge smile on my face.

Kelsey was as ever, charming and full of stories, mainly singing songs from her last wonderful record No Regular Dog (Sweet Little Girl, Tall And Mighty, Backwater Blues and Season's Ending) as well as a preview of a new song she had written called Falling Down, although she did say her next record coming out soon was a covers album.

Singing alone on stage with just her guitar and that sweet, strong voice of hers, she managed to fill the room with her songs and charm. It was an absolutely lovely set and far too short. On the final song she brought out Margo (dressed in a fantastic Dolly Parton t-shirt) to sing a duet with her on the old country tune Travelling The Highway Home. Not only did they sound great together but it was clear the two friends also have great chemistry. We can only hope they collaborate on some music very soon!

Like last time, Margo Price has a five-piece band (that includes her husband and collaborator Jeremy Ivey), but it's interesting that how they naturally fill the much bigger stage. I said last time that it felt like she should be playing a much bigger venue and seeing her and her band fit so well in this environment proves to me that she is only going to get bigger and better.

When Price takes to the stage wearing a long, blue, flowy dress, she looks every bit the rock goddess I remembered (the look reminds me of one Joni Mitchell had back in the early 70s and that is certainly no bad thing). She grabs the microphone and shimmers and sways across the stage, constantly going to the edge of the stage to sing and connect with the audience. She often makes eye contact with audience members and beams with happiness that she is making such a positive connection with them. She's that way on social media too, thanking people and liking and commenting on people's posts. Having read her excellent memoir, I know it took years and years of hard work and a lot of heartache to get where she is now and it's absolutely clear, Price appreciates it whole-hardheartedly and is reveling in the moment.

After beginning the show with attitude-filled Been To The Mountain, she takes up her guitar and gives us a set that takes in tracks from all five of her albums (I'm counting Strays II as it is definitely a fully formed album in its own right). 

A lot of songs, like Letting Me Down and Four Years Of Chances, have the audience singing and bouncing along. Looking around the energy and enthusiasm from the stage is clearly being reflected back to the audience, which is actually rather unusual for an Americana show which often can be a bunch of dudes tapping their feet while nursing their beers. There's definitely something about Price that inspires a bigger reaction: she's got that old time rock star showmanship like Neil Young, Stevie Nicks or Tom Petty (fittingly she does a Petty cover tonight: Have Love Will Travel) and her band, with it's ability to jam and turn each song into something bigger live, is probably akin to a group like The Band, yet completely unique in their own right. 

Once again, Price takes to the drums in a couple of songs, and it brings a brilliant energy to the show each time while showcasing just what a badass she is. Near the end of the show, while the band is jamming away on Hurtin On The Bottle, she leaves the stage and comes back in her glittery showgirl outfit and looks completely awesome as ever.

Before the encore, someone comes on from the Americana UK Awards and gives Margo an award for Record Of The Year, for the song Radio, which is a nice moment, and not surprisingly the band then gives us a fantastically spirited version of that song. 

She tells us they had planned another song but were out of time, so instead jumps into the audience and sings a version of Mercedes Benz, the old Janis Joplin classic, alone without her band, proving just what an incredible vocalist she is.

This show wasn't hugely different to the one I saw last year but it was still incredible to witness Margo Price's power as a live artist and see her fully command the audience at a much bigger venue. It's clear she is going to be around for a long time and I can't wait to see what she does next.