Five Highlights From Megan Moroney’s Sold-Out Greek Theater Show

Only a few years into her career, Moroney was able to craft a 26-song setlist of all her own songs, no filler (the only cover was a brief chorus of Brooks & Dunn’s “Ain’t Nothing ‘Bout You,” which Moroney duetted with them on for Reboot 2). For sure she’s had hits — though is still waiting for her first No. 1 on Country Airplay — but it’s more a testament to how ingrained her fans are with her whole catalog. They sang just as loudly to album cuts like the wistful “Noah” and the heartbreaking “Hell of a Show” as much as the hits like “6 Months Later” or show closer “Am I Okay.” 

It’s also a testament to Moroney and her savvy when putting together albums with virtually no filler and her strength as a songwriter, especially for someone so young. Songs like “Hair Salon” are clever and funny, but she never sacrifices the feels.

Moroney’s stage presence is part sexy pageant girl, and part big sister and someone who is full time in your corner. As she introduced “Girl in the Mirror,” from her debut album Lucky, she gave one of her many heartfelt pep talks, paraphrasing the song’s lyrics and the reason she wrote the song, “I needed to be reminded to never love the boy more than I love myself. I was shrinking myself to fit in his world…I hope it will encourage you to find someone better. Hashtag: growth.”  

The whole evening had a feeling of girl power and solidarity as audience members would wrap their arms around each other’s waists to sing along on songs — usually clad in Moroney merch.

Her song “Beautiful Things” was not a cover of the Benson Boone tune; it was a lovely unreleased song she wrote for her niece and had only debuted live two nights earlier. She prefaced it by lovingly talking about feeling “immediately protective” the minute her niece was born and wanting to write a song about what it feels like to go through bullying and sitting home alone on a Saturday night and other inevitable hardships girls go through growing up “that will make her never feel sadness,” Moroney said. “I wish I’d had a song like this for me.” Although the lyrics include “the world is hard on beautiful things,” it was mainly a sweet love letter to her niece and girls everywhere.

The comparisons to Taylor Swift, one of Moroney’s biggest influences, are nothing new, but it is uncanny how similarly her and Swift’s fan base react with utter adulation and how much Moroney works at cultivating an intimacy with the audience. “We’re only a couple songs in and it’s like I know you,” she said after her second song, which was a very Swiftian comment. She later asking, “Are you ready for the best night of your life?” — no half measures here.  

Like Swift, she also has a knack for writing deeply confessional songs that are instantly relatable. More importantly, if your daughter is a Moroney stan (she even dedicated a song to all the moms and her mom), there are a lot worse artists they could want to emulate. She is very aware of her power over young girls and, like Swift, doesn’t curse on stage or act lewd in any way, while still coming across as sexy. Make no mistake, she’s singing about adult themes, but she is very respectful and aware that she has many young fans.

One of the most endearing moments during the show was after performing “Miss Universe,” Moroney announced that at each tour stop, her crew combs the audience to find someone who best exemplifies the unspoken but understood attributes the titular character possesses as she steals Moroney’s man. A crew member brought out a little girl, perhaps no more than 5, as this show’s “pageant winner.”

Dressed in a red dress with red glitter across her face (she obviously didn’t get the blue memo), Ariel was too little to really answer Moroney’s questions, including what she wanted to be when she grew up (unless she wants to be her namesake and be Ariel from The Little Mermaid). The tot also seemed flummoxed when Moroney tried to hand her the blue flowers (natch) she’d been cradling as she performed “Miss Universe.”  

Yet Moroney remained completely unflustered, staying friendly and sweet with the child who seemed to not have any idea who Moroney was and even refused to lean in for a photo. Having seen only this performance, I don’t know if kids that age have responded more clearly or if her crew usually pulls up a more age-appropriate child, but Moroney was sweet and self-deprecating during a moment gone adorably awry. She turned it into a plus. But maybe from here, she adopts W.C. Fields’ dictum to never perform with kids or animals.