Review: Orville Peck at Thomas Wolfe Auditorium
On April 11, Thomas Wolfe Auditorium was a room full of Stetsons, broken stereotypes, and good spirits. The main attraction for the evening was Orville Peck, the gay South African/Canadian country music star who’s helping to reshape the genre by providing a different perspective and approach.
From the moment the mysterious masked singer and his backing band arrived on stage, the joyful audience fully embraced the performance. Even the guy in the “Let’s Go Brandon” shirt, seated nearby, was singing along to every word. It’s a testament to Peck’s magnetic stage presence: dressed in a fabulous green western shirt decorated with golden ponies, matching pants, a cowboy hat, and his trademark tasseled mask, the deep-voiced crooner sounded even better than on record.
Displaying a strong grasp of the importance of building a connection with concertgoers, Peck passed out red roses throughout the set to various members of the crowd that he wanted to acknowledge. The first was the cutest, a toddler who Peck noted was already seeing him live for the fourth time. Earlier on I had noticed her dancing excitedly in an aisle near the front of the stage.
Although Peck’s debut, Pony, made me an instant fan, the followup, Bronco, left me a little underwhelmed. But hearing songs such as “Hexie Mountains,” “Lafayette,” and “The Curse of the Blackened Eye” in a live setting with his band totally in the zone gave me a new appreciation for those tunes — and Bronco as a whole. Pony cuts “Turn to Hate” and show closer “Take You Back (The Iron Hoof Cattle Call)” also proved to be highlights.
As magnificent as the entire set was, two moments were particularly special. The first was the cover of Ned Sublette’s "Cowboys Are Frequently, Secretly Fond of Each Other," which has most famously been performed by the one and only Willie Nelson. When the Red Headed Stranger released his version in 2006, the rendition was an important milestone in country music. In the time that’s passed since it became the first major LGBTQ-themed country hit, the genre has undergone a bit of a revolution with Lil Nas X and Peck leading the way. So, when the band busted out Sublette’s 1981 tune about gay cowboys, it was a perfect homage to past groundbreakers of the genre.
A few songs later, the group played its dreamy 2019 ballad, “Queen of the Rodeo,” and abruptly exited the stage. It seemed sudden, as it was still a little early to be the end of the set. Seconds later, dance music came over the speakers, and Nashville-based drag performer Alexia Noelle Paris stepped out from behind the curtain. Her sassy dance moves and impressive breakdancing instantly won over the delighted crowd, drawing as joyful a response as anything all evening. It was an unexpected and refreshing intermission, brilliantly breaking up the two halves of Peck’s set.
Once a skeptic, I now consider myself a full convert to Orville Peck’s ever-expanding legion of followers. Don’t be surprised if you catch me in an elaborately stitched sleeveless western shirt and Stetson next time he’s in town.
(Photos by Justin Bowman)
