MUNA at Royale 9/18/22

On the first show of this tour leg, MUNA played to a sold-out audience with an unadulterated joy only possible between three musicians who clearly love playing with each other and clearly love being here. Here being Boston, the first of a two-night run, in a city that lead singer Katie Gavin describes as where she has a “really bad ex”. “But that’s the thing about time,” Gavin hypothesized, “now when I come to the city I don’t even think about him.” 

An enthusiastic audience wholeheartedly agreed, more than happy to reclaim their city for Gavin. If you were to replace the word “time” in Gavin’s monologue with “MUNA shows,” it would be a [shockingly] accurate statement –  if there is one place to get over an ex it is at a MUNA show, where the whole ethos of the pop trio screams for listeners to let their hair down and dance, perfectly and imperfectly as they are in the present. 

MUNA—which is composed of Gavin, multi-instrumentalist Naomi McPherson, and guitarist Josette Maskin— has been making indie-pop anthems of this kind for three records now, the most recent being their self-titled release of 2022. Their underdog story—signed and dropped by RCA records during the pandemic, saved and signed by Phoebe Bridgers under her label Saddest Factory records—catapulted them to critical acclaim and positioned them as indie music’s queer darlings. The title is well deserved, and although MUNA is celebrating their newfound success on a mostly sold-out tour, they never forget their origin story: three friends who met at USC and decided to start making music together. “Last time we played a venue this big we were opening for other people!” McPherson remarked. 

This down-to-earth, real quality wrapped in shiny, dance rhythms is what makes MUNA’s music so special. They tackle the big emotions with big songs: desire on “No Idea”, which Gavin introduced as the “horny song of the new album” before the lights dimmed to red, rejection on “If You Love Me Now”, the “saddest song in their discography”, or acceptance on “I Know a Place”, which Maskin says encompasses the whole idea of MUNA: creating a safe space where people can feel free to be themselves. This is why people come to their shows, for the feeling of letting a breath out and arriving home. At the core of each track is a sense that these three immensely talented musicians just get it, despite their global popularity and celebrity status.

Their music, which explodes with feeling in every synth and every belting vocal, is only further enhanced by their live performance, in which not one member is ever standing still. MUNA’s chemistry as a group is palpable onstage, whether it’s through playful jokes during song breaks or cheeky grinding during a performance of “Solid”. When the band look like they are having that much fun, it is impossible for an audience not to hair-flip along. 

There were just as many tender moments, as the middle part of their set consisted of more downbeat numbers such as “Loose Garment” and “Taken” which verge into country ballads—a feature of MUNA’s discography that sets them apart from other pop groups. Gavin took the time to set up the songs and put them in context, describing “Kind of Girl” as an effort to be “really careful about the story she tells herself about herself”. 

This naked vulnerability, literally echoed in the fact that there were no background visuals, just the three members of MUNA plus a drummer and a guitarist under neon lights, is always coupled with a yearning and an eagerness to improve. Songs like “Kind of Girl” give the sense that MUNA is a work-in-progress, but that everyone is invited along for the journey. Within each track and even between, powered by Gavin’s sharp storytelling, are jewels of life lessons.

Closing out the show with a cover of “Mr.Brightside” and “Silk Chiffon”, their Phoebe-Bridgers featuring biggest hit, MUNA set themselves up for a second night in Boston and a rollicking tour to come, which will no doubt see many of the same faces that are part of the pop cult that is MUNA. After a night at the Royale, count me in, and call me their “Number One Fan.”