AOTY contender’s Til The Wheels Fall Off tour rolls into Toronto
Though the Western Illinois native experienced her fair share of snowdumped winters, Nashville-based Margo Price likely only experiences such cold as Toronto has recently experienced while on tour. As her Til The Wheels Fall Off tour commenced last December and continues until a week or so into March, its last leg proper winds through the north before a hometown show ends it. Toronto fans were treated to a stop on February 24 at the Phoenix Concert Theatre.
Touring in support of her latest, Strays, a firm 2023 top ten holder, unless Father John Misty puts out 10 albums this year, it blends country, rock, and folk with wisping fingers of psychedelia and some, gulp, electronic beats. Attracting conspirators like Mike Campbell, Lucius and Sharon Van Etten, the album delivers clear narratives and hallucinatory flashes that channel Stevie Nicks more than Loretta Lynn. Buttressing it all is the clear and sweet voice of Price that despite its shine holds grit and patina of a life lived full.
Opening the show was supposed to be Tré Burt, however an issue with his flight to Toronto instead offered Price’s FOH tech, Evan P. Donahue the opportunity to perform. His charm was infectious from the start describing how he got onstage. To paraphrase, he said he was asked if he wanted to open the show to which he replied ‘fuck, no’. The laughs kept coming as the moment was shared between crowd and performer as reluctance morphed into a good time.
Shortly after her shit-hot six-piece band took to the stage, Price followed to bust into Been To The Mountain from her latest album. While sticking mostly to new songs, including unreleased Shelter Me from an unmentioned film, the set touched on all of Price’s releases. She jumped behind a second drum kit to outro Change of Heart. Price and her band, which includes husband Jeremy Ivey, played a pair of covers in White Rabbit and Pump It Up. Proclaiming that Toronto was the best crowd on the tour, she closed the night with a medley of her song Hurtin’ (on the Bottle), Merle Haggard’s I Think I’ll Just Stay Here and Drink and her buddy, Willie Nelson’s Whiskey River.
The Til The Wheels Fall Off tour ends with the leg’s final shows in Washington, DC and Philadelphia on March 2 and 3 before heading back home to Nashville on .