Concert Review: Niall Horan and Maren Morris

Posted August 13, 2018 by shooting in Cincinnati, Music / 23 Comments

Niall Horan and Maren Morris

Niall Horan’s Flicker World Tour, featuring Maren Morris

Wednesday, July 25 at Riverbend Music Center in Cincinnati, Ohio

As soon as I heard that Niall Horan was coming to Cincinnati, I knew I had to get tickets. Not only do I love Niall, but he was bringing Maren Morris on tour with him, and she’s another favorite artist of mine. By the time the concert rolled around, I had had my tickets for about a year, so I was ready to rock! Unfortunately, the friend I bought the other ticket for couldn’t go so I ended up taking my mom, but she loves both Niall Horan and Maren Morris too, so we had a great time!
Concert Review: Niall Horan + Maren Morris #ontheblog #niallhoran #flickerworldtour #marenmorris Share on X

Maren Morris

  • Maren was Niall’s opening act, but I’m a huge fan of hers and I’d never seen her in concert, so it was amazing getting to hear her play live.
  • Maren is a country artist, but honestly, if you aren’t a big country fan, I still recommend Maren because she’s a pretty modern “country” if you will.
  • She mentioned that it was nice to be back in Cincinnati – as she’d been there last year when touring with Sam Hunt -and the week of the Cincy show is the week she got engaged (she’s married now!)

  • I love Maren’s whole album, so honestly, I didn’t have any complaints about the songs she sang. Some I especially love though are “Second Wind” and “Once.” The only song I really wish she’d sung was “Drunk Girls Don’t Cry” because it’s a fun one.
  • She did sing “My Church” which was her first single and the song a lot of people might know from her!
  • She ended with “The Middle” which is a song she did with Zedd. She mentioned that this song really changed her life in the last year. If you don’t think you know Maren Morris, you might actually recognize this song.

Niall Horan

  • Niall is a former member of the boy band One Direction, who I have seen live before. This was my first time seeing one of the members solo though and he was such an amazing live performer.
  • Niall plays guitar on every single song, and he even played piano on one song.

  • One of the songs on Niall’s album is “Seeing Blind”, which features Maren Morris, so she came out to sing that song with him.
  • He opened the show with “On the Loose” which is a song I really love (though I love his entire album), and it’s his current single – so you might have heard it on the radio.
  • He sang every song on the deluxe album (which has three extra songs) so a total of 13 songs – as well as some others!
  • To go along with the point above, he also sang a Bruce Springsteen song called “Dancing in the Dark”, a new song called “Finally Free”, a song that didn’t make it on the album but he still loved (and this is the song he played the piano on) called “So Long”, and during his encore, he sang a One Direction song called “Drag Me Down.”

  • He constantly thanked everyone for coming to the tour – you could tell he was a bit amazed by the size (I think that comes from this being the first non-One Direction tour; everyone came specifically for him). He thanked people for buying the tickets and taking the time to come; it was really sweet.
  • He mentioned that this was one of the best shows on the tour. Most artists say this, but he did say at one point, “I know you think I always say this, but I really don’t” so who knows? Maybe he meant it! It was a really great show.
  • Two of my favorite songs from the album are “Too Much to Ask” and “On My Own” which were just amazing to hear live. “On My Own” is such a good crowd sing-along song!
  • He talked a lot about the song “Flicker.” He said it was one of those songs that he wrote really quickly (I think it was about 20 minutes), and that it’s his favorite song on the album, which is why he titled the actual album Flicker.

  • I believe it was “Paper Houses” that he said took him about two months to write.
  • Honestly, he’s just phenomenal live. He does a great job with balancing singing and talking to the audience, and you could tell he was having a wonderful time the whole night. I would definitely see him live again, so I hope he comes back to Cincinnati!!

On my 30X30 bucket list, I have “See someone in concert that I’ve never seen before”and since I’ve technically seen Niall Horan as part of One Direction, only Maren Morris counts for this – but it still means another checked off!

Also, if you want to see videos I took of both Maren and Niall, check out my Instagram. I’d love a follow!

23 responses to “Concert Review: Niall Horan and Maren Morris

  1. I was just telling my fiancé how much I love the girl’s voice in The Middle, but I didn’t know who it was! I LOVE that song! I’ll have to check out more of Maren’s work!! And Niall… LOVE him!!

    Thanks for sharing!

  2. RO

    Isn’t is a blast to visit a concert with someone you adore? Glad you guys had such a great time! Hugs and Happy Monday! RO

  3. If I had a favorite member of 1D, it would probably be Niall. I was tempted to go see him when he comes to my town, but alas, my concert budget for 2018 was small due to my trips this summer, and then buying a ticket to see Ed Sheeran in October. Glad the concert was a good one. Maybe next time he comes I’ll try to go!

  4. Sounds like such a great show! I didn’t think I knew who Marren was but I do know that song “The Middle.” And I know of a couple songs by Niall. Sounds like he’s a great live performer – and very humble and appreciative, which is always nice to see.

  5. I’m so glad that you had a great time. That was so kind that he constantly thanked everyone for coming. I love “Drag Me Down”. It’s such a catchy song.

  6. Jaclyn Musselman

    As soon as you said My Church I knew what group you were taking about! How fun!! I love goobgr o concerts too.

  7. That’s so fun that you were able to go with your mom. I would love to go to a concert with my mom! And you were very prepared for that concert! haha. A year in advance! That’s awesome!

  8. Oh I would have loved to have heard his rendition of Dancing in the Dark, one of my favourite songs actually. It seems so much for the focus was on Harry after the group slit, so it’s great to hear from the other former group members also doing well. Sounds like you both had such a wonderful night ♡♡♡

    Kelly recently posted: Muse of Nightmares
  9. So much fun! It’s crazy tickets are bough so much in advance. We have tickets for Nov we bought last Sept I think it was. lol Glad your mom was able to go with you 🙂

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