MUNA can’t actually save the world, despite their sophomore album title, Saves The World. But when bandmates Katie Gavin, Naomi McPherson, and Josette Maskin brought the Gets So Hot Tour to Boston’s Roadrunner on October 1st and 2nd, they managed to suspend the divisive American political climate for a moment, turning the packed venue into a safe space full of hope and joy.
MUNA has always been open about their politics. Across social media, the band posts GoFundMe pages, urging fans to donate to support underrepresented people in need. They display their beliefs unapologetically at live performances when they perform “Big Stick” from their 2026 album Dancing On The Wall, a track about surveillance and corruption. Before playing the song on night one of two sold-out shows, the band prefaced it with: “F*ck the rapists from Cornell, and f*ck imperialism.”
The majority of MUNA’s setlist is upbeat and loud, with crowd-pleasers like “What I Want,” “Home By Now,” and “Stayaway” as standouts. Midway through the set, the band’s supporting musicians exited, leaving the three MUNA members alone for a short acoustic set. The band performed “Taken,” a melancholic track about when yearning turns to self-destruction from Saves The World, and “Aftertaste,” the lead single from Gavin’s debut solo album, What A Relief. On playing sad songs at a show meant to be uplifting and exciting, Gavin admitted, “Sometimes, I feel guilty when a song is really sad.” She added, “My counter to that is having a relationship with these people…” (Smiling at her bandmates), “…Sometimes you have to say that sh*t out loud. The really depressing sh*t.” Gavin explained that she often feels pressured to write “healthy” songs, to which Maskin responded, “That’s not what music is.” While Gavin and the crowd laughed at the blunt reply, McPherson quipped, “That’s what capitalism wants from you!”
Keeping the night’s theme of hope in the face of adversity, “I Know A Place” was especially fitting. The track appears on MUNA’s 2017 debut About U, released during the first Trump presidency. Since its debut, the band has performed an extended version of the bridge on tour that has remained relevant, including the lyrics, “I throw my arms open wide with resistance / He’s not my leader even if he’s my president.”
Between old songs and new, the band’s mascot, Stacy, an inflatable horse, being tossed around the crowd like a beach ball during “Anything But Me,” and hearing McPherson’s version (what fans call “Nocals”) of Phoebe Bridgers’ verse on the closer “Silk Chiffon,” Gavin’s closing words, which she professed earnestly, beaming, summed up the night’s antics: “This is the place I want to come back to when I close my eyes.”
Check out all of Hannah’s photos of MUNA below.
