Orville Peck turned a sold-out Salt Shed into a honky tonk confessional, mixing new songs and old favorites with heartfelt stories.
Since arriving with Pony in 2019, Orville Peck has built a sound that is equal parts classic country, dark Americana, and indie glam pop – with a loyal following to go with it. The Chicago stop on his Man Turned Mule Tour was completely sold out, with fans packed wall-to-wall across the main floor.
The stage was set up as a divey western honky-tonk, with the band gathered around the bar when Peck walked out, masked as always. “Hello, I’m Orville Peck,” he said in a baritone, almost Johnny Cash-style drawl before opening with two songs from his September 2026 release Mule: “Big Ol’ House,” followed by “Already Gone.”
From there, the night took fans on a trip through his whole catalog, with the stories between songs often giving them a look into his emotional state when he wrote them. After “Rehab Blues,” Peck explained the song is about his time in a rehab clinic and how the stay wasn’t for him, explaining that he drank the day he left. Then, about the period after rehab, he joked by saying, “I thought it was really fun.”
At one point, about halfway through the set, Peck asked the crowd if there were any truckers in the room. After a brief pause, someone raised their hand, and Orville dedicated “Drive Me, Crazy” to him while explaining it’s about truckers in love.
The crowd stayed engaged and sang along all night, but the loudest moment might have been when Peck coyly told them that “something had happened on Tuesday,” which brought huge cheers before he could even finish. He said he was excited because Texas had turned blue, referring to the election. He reminded the room he is gay, and that he had a song about gay cowboys from Texas. What followed was an incredible solo take on “Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly Fond of Each Other,” a 2024 song he recorded with the legendary Willie Nelson.
He kept the surprises coming by switching away from his own material and covering “Maybe This Time” from the hit musical Cabaret. Dedicated Peck fans knew he had performed the role of Emcee, only then without his trademark mask, just last year on Broadway, and went wild.
The night’s most serious moment came on “Run Out of Road,” another Mule track. Orville called it one of his favorites, then said to loud cheers that he got sober three years ago, and the song is about what came after.
In a fitting end to the night, Peck took fans back to the beginning with “Dead of Night” from his 2019 debut album, Pony. The crowd swayed along in unison to the song, which showcases the signature baritone voice and western gothic style that first drew many of them to the mysterious masked singer.
The Man Turned Mule Tour continues through December 17.
