Morgan Evans Review: A Homecoming at Enmore Theatre, Sydney

There’s something very different about seeing an Australian country artist perform in Australia after spending the last few months watching a long list of American country stars take over Sydney.

The cowboy hats are fewer, the accents are more familiar, and the whole thing feels a little less Nashville honky tonk, but in a good way.

Seeing Morgan Evans at the Enmore Theatre on Wednesday 27th May felt less like a huge arena country spectacle and more like a wholesome hometown celebration from someone genuinely happy to be back where it all started.

He surprised me a lot, since I mostly know him from having had quite the public (and somewhat messy) divorce from fellow country star, Kelsea Ballerini.

But we’re not here to get into country music politics, we’re here to talk about Morgan Evans and the show he put on in Newtown last night.

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A Last-Minute Wednesday Night Concert

This was actually one of the most spontaneous concerts I’ve attended in quite a while.

I’d only gotten my ticket around five hours before the show started, so there hadn’t been weeks of anticipation building beforehand like there had been for artists such as Riley Green or Jordan Davis.

I went solo too, which I actually didn’t mind at all. My boyfriend was busy watching the State of Origin game between New South Wales and Queensland, so I jumped on a train into Newtown and made a little Wednesday night concert outing for myself instead.

The atmosphere outside the Enmore Theatre was fairly chilled. Newtown is always lively anyway thanks to all of the bars, restaurants and pubs spilling out onto the streets, but there wasn’t a huge buzz outside the venue itself.

Walking up to the theatre, you wouldn’t necessarily have known there was a country concert happening inside.

The crowd, though, definitely had that uniquely Australian-country feel. There were trucker hats, plaid flannel shirts, Ringers Western gear and the occasional mullet floating through the lobby.

Unlike some of the American country concerts I’ve been attending recently, there weren’t many cowboy hats at all. Morgan Evans’ crowd felt a little more relaxed and understated, which matched his style perfectly.

The show wasn’t completely sold out, but it was very close. The standing area had sold out while only a small number of seated tickets remained available.

It created that perfect balance where the room still felt packed and energetic without becoming overwhelming.

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The Enmore Theatre As A Country Venue

The Enmore Theatre is one of my favourite venues in Sydney aesthetically. It has so much character compared to some of the larger arenas around the city.

The old-school theatre styling, balcony seating and intimate atmosphere always make concerts here feel special.

For this show, I was seated in the stalls section on the ground floor, which was actually a completely new area of the venue for me.

I usually prefer standing at concerts, but since I was attending solo and had a seated ticket, I didn’t mind sitting back and taking the show in from a different perspective.

That said, I still don’t think the Enmore is my ideal venue for country music specifically. For mid-sized country shows, I think the Hordern Pavilion works better, while larger productions naturally suit the scale of Qudos Bank Arena more.

The acoustics were still very good and the sound throughout the night was loud and clear, but the Enmore’s heavy carpeting absorbs some of the natural echo and crowd acoustics that I personally love at live concerts.

For me, the acoustics inside a venue are one of the biggest markers of a great live music experience, and while the Enmore is visually beautiful, it isn’t always my favourite purely from a sound perspective.

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Laci Kaye Booth: The Perfect Opener

Before Morgan Evans took the stage, his girlfriend Laci Kaye Booth opened the night with a beautifully stripped-back set that completely held the room’s attention.

I actually recognised several of her songs immediately, despite never really connecting them to her name before, which was such a pleasant surprise because a few of them were already sitting quietly in my Spotify playlists without me even realising they were hers.

Her sound leans far more Americana than mainstream country. There’s a smoky, dreamy quality to her music that almost reminded me of Lana Del Rey at times, although their voices are completely different. Laci’s voice is softer, breathier and incredibly easy to listen to live.

The stage setup for her was simple: just Laci sitting down with a guitar alongside two accompanying guitarists. It suited the intimate tone of her music perfectly.

More than anything though, she was genuinely funny. Between songs, she shared stories about songwriting, life on tour, and getting kicked out of the Qantas airport lounge for wearing UGG boots, which feels like deeply unaustralian behaviour from Qantas.

I mean, Crocs I’d get. But UGGs? Really?!

One of the standout moments of her set came when she introduced a new unreleased song called “Ethereal Redneck Shit,” comparing “Redneck” to how Morgan Evans sometimes calls her a “bogan,” a word she apparently didn’t understand for almost an entire year.

As expected, the crowd ate that up.

She also closed her set with a cover of The Cranberries’ “Linger,” which suited her voice beautifully. It was soft, haunting and a lovely cover of the Irish band, which as an Irish person in the crowd, I very much appreciated.

The crowd response to her throughout the set was great and she fit perfectly as Morgan Evans’ support act, especially considering the chemistry between them that would continue later in the night.

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A Morgan Evans Homecoming

Morgan Evans walked on stage casually just after 9pm and launched straight into “Beer Back Home,” which felt like the perfect opening song considering he’s originally from Newcastle, only a couple of hours north of Sydney.

My first thought when he walked out was: wow, those are some serious biceps.

Between the tank top and the confidence, he might quietly be entering the same arena as Riley Green in the unofficial country music biggest arms competition. A competition I’d be happy to judge if it ever became a thing.

Anyhow, he immediately came across as warm, cheerful and genuinely thrilled to be home in Australia after living in the United States for the past eleven years.

His stage setup was relatively simple but effective. There were no giant screens or flashy visuals, just excellent lighting and a large band positioned across different raised platforms.

One of the pianos had “BAR” spelled out in glowing lightbulbs which added a really nice honky-tonk touch to the stage design.

What impressed me most about Morgan Evans live though was just how talented he is musically.

Not only did he sound exactly like his recordings vocally, but throughout the night he seamlessly switched between guitar, harmonica and piano. I wasn’t expecting him to be such a strong live musician, so kudos to him.

A Crowd of Friends, More than Fans

One thing Morgan Evans did incredibly well was interact with the audience.

The entire show felt personal in a way that many bigger country concerts don’t. He spoke openly about returning home, about the public ups and downs he’s experienced over the past few years, and about how his newer music reflects some of those experiences.

There was one particularly funny moment during “Letting You Go” where he asked the audience if anyone wanted to share something they personally needed to let go of. He then invited a fan on stage who dramatically announced she wanted to let go of “narcissistic ex-boyfriends,” which sent the entire room into laughter.

The ongoing State of Origin match also became a recurring side plot throughout the concert.

Morgan’s fiddle player was from Queensland, so when fans near the front informed the band that New South Wales had won, the entire stage suddenly lit up blue while the crowd erupted into cheering.

And yes, naturally, there was a shoey involved in the night’s proceedings.

This is Australia after all.

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“Over For You” the Highlight of the Night

Although songs like “Day Drunk,” “Kiss Somebody,” “Steel Town” and “She Loves Me Back” created some of the biggest singalong moments of the night, the standout performance for me was easily “Over For You.”

It’s always been my favourite Morgan Evans song, but hearing it live with him seated at the piano completely elevated it.

The vulnerability of the song came through so much stronger live than it does on Spotify, and his vocals during this moment were excellent.

Plus, when you know exactly who and what the song is about, it grips the attention a little bit more, so I was on the edge of my seat listening to every word throughout the entire song.

And you could tell he meant every word.

There were also some beautiful stripped-back moments involving Laci Kaye Booth returning to the stage later in the show. Together they performed “Two Broken Hearts,” “She Talks About Texas,” and a gorgeous cover of “Lord, I Hope This Day Is Good” by Don Williams.

Their harmonies together were stunning and the chemistry between them was undeniable. They even shared a kiss on stage afterwards, which earned a very positive reaction from the crowd.

Another fun surprise came during a honky-tonk medley where Morgan blended songs like “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” and “Chicken Fried” into one giant country singalong.

We’ll Always Have Live Music

One comment Morgan Evans made during the night actually stayed with me long after the concert ended.

At one point he mentioned AI and how technology may continue changing the world, but that it can never replace live music and concerts.

And I couldn’t agree more.

No matter how advanced everything becomes, there’s still something irreplaceable about thousands of strangers gathering together to sing the same songs at the top of their lungs for two hours.

It’s my favourite feeling in the whole world.

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Ending the Night on An Aussie Note

After briefly leaving the stage, Morgan Evans returned for a one-song encore with “Land I Love,” a fittingly Australian ending to a very Australian-feeling country concert.

The crowd left the Enmore Theatre buzzing afterwards, with everyone spilling back out onto the streets of Newtown in high spirits.

While Morgan Evans probably wouldn’t crack my personal top three live country performers just yet, I came away from the concert with far more appreciation for him as both a vocalist and performer.

He may not have the giant arena production of some American country stars, but what he does have is authenticity, personality and genuinely strong musicianship.

Morgan Evans feels like modern country music designed for windows-down road trips, warm nights and good company.

After finally seeing him live for the first time, I completely understand why his fanbase connects with him so strongly, and I look forward to seeing him again.