MAREN MORRIS IS “IMPERVIOUS, UNBREAKABLE AND RADIANTLY HUMAN” IN LONDON
LIVE REVIEW | MAREN MORRIS | THE ROUNDHOUSE, LONDON | 10th November 2025 by Kevin O’Sullivan
On The Dreamsicle Tour, Maren Morris turns the Roundhouse into a cathedral of self-belief, heartbreak, and renewal — and reaffirms why she remains one of the most fearless voices in modern music.
There’s a defiant kind of joy that radiates from Maren Morris — the kind that comes from falling hard, standing back up, and deciding to dance anyway. The American superstar brought that energy to London’s Roundhouse as part of The Dreamsicle Tour, the London leg in support of her luminous new album, Dreamsicle.
Over nearly two hours, Morris turned the historic Camden venue into a glittering, full-throated celebration of strength, heartbreak, and hard-won self-possession. From the first pulse of “Cry in the Car”, the tone was clear: this was an artist embracing both her bruises and her brilliance.
Achievements That Speak Louder Than Awards
Before diving into the set itself, it’s worth pausing to remember just how much ground Morris has covered. Over the last decade, she has evolved from a Nashville prodigy into a global, genre-defying powerhouse. Her crossover anthem “The Middle” (with Zedd and Grey) has now surpassed 1.7 billion streams on Spotify, a staggering milestone that underscores her reach far beyond country radio. She’s collected Grammys, CMAs, and Billboard honours, but what defines her most is her refusal to colour inside anyone else’s lines.
With Dreamsicle, Morris has once again stepped into new creative territory — an album that feels hazy, tender, and deeply introspective. Written between heartbreak and healing, it sees her swapping bombast for vulnerability, country grit for dream-pop shimmer. Live, those songs bloom into something even more human.
Backed by a razor-tight band — Erica Fox (guitar), Jeff Lawson and Eric Montgomery (keys), Christian Paschall (drums), and JR Collins (bass) — Morris tore through “80s Mercedes” and “People Still Show Up” with swagger and soul. Her sparkly silver outfit caught the stage lights, a visual extension of her energy: bright, resilient, a little bit dangerous.
Then came “GIRL”, still one of her defining statements, sung with renewed power. Between songs, she was unfiltered and warm, sharing stories of her first UK gigs — the Borderline Club (unfortunately closed down in 2019) and an early C2C Festival satellite stage. She recalled her first record label meeting: “I told them I needed to tour, and I wanted to play London. I wanted to build a UK Fanbase.” The crowd roared its approval.
The first emotional pivot of the night arrived with “bed and no breakfast”, one of the standout tracks from Dreamsicle. Before performing it, she told the story behind it: how, after too many heartbreaks, she learned to love her own company and now wakes up alone in her own bed. She has learned now not to take bad dates seriously, and wrote the song originally as a joke, but it’s ended up on the album. And how, in today’s climate, it has become extremely relatable with modern romance.
From there, the set’s emotional momentum only grew. “i hope i never fall in love” was wistful and cinematic, while “be a bitch” exploded into unapologetic catharsis. “When someone’s exhausted your kindness,” she said, grinning, “it’s perfectly okay to be a bitch.” The crowd cheered every word, turning defiance into communion.
If Dreamsicle is an album about longing and distance, then “dreamsicle” itself was its purest embodiment. Morris introduced it quietly, explaining she wrote it alone while homesick in Nashville, thinking of all the weddings, funerals and family events she’d missed back in Arlington, Texas. The song felt like a slow-burning nostalgia and ache — a love letter to everything left behind in pursuit of art.
“Rich” and “grand bouquet” followed, the former a crowd-pleaser swaggering with country-pop confidence, the latter a moment of poetic stillness. Then came “Running” and “Holy Smoke,” which re-ignited the energy just in time for that colossal eruption: “The Middle.” Even years after its release, it remains unstoppable — a genre-busting juggernaut that turned the Roundhouse into a single, unified voice.
The final act of the night was a masterclass in emotional pacing. “Lemonade,” “Push Me Over,” and a playful Tove Lo cover of “Talking Body” showed her flair for reinvention, while the closing stretch — “This Is How a Woman Leaves,” “My Church,” “Carry Me Through,” “Because, Of Course,” and the indomitable “The Bones” — brought the house down.
“My Church” turned the venue into exactly that — a sanctuary of raised hands and shared release. And with “The Bones,” she brought it all home, her voice cracking as she sang, “The house don’t fall when the bones are good.” It wasn’t just a lyric anymore. It was a statement of survival — the heartbeat of the Dreamsicle era.
Thirteen years in Nashville have sharpened her songwriting, but nights like this prove Morris now exists in her own orbit. Dreamsicle may be her most introspective record yet, but live, it’s anything but small. It’s vast, radiant, and brimming with life — much like the woman at its centre.
As the last note faded and she waved goodbye, the crowd lingered, unwilling to let go. On this stage, in this city she’s grown to love, Maren Morris didn’
