After a hugely successful first visit to the UK twelve months ago, Morgan Wade made a whistle stop return for a handful of acoustic gigs complete with a stripped back stage and sparse lighting that added to the intimate feel of the show. The Virginia singer – songwriter has just announced the release of her second album (Psychopath, due August 25th) and debuted a couple of new songs to go alongside more familiar material from 2021’s Reckless. Casually dressed in sneakers, jeans and flannel shirt it was easy to see why the UK audience has taken her to heart. What you see is what you get; humble and grateful, sharing stories and cracking jokes with guitarist Clint Wells between songs, and delivering a live performance that was full of emotion and passion.
‘Run’ made for a stark opening number and led into a heartfelt ‘Don’t Cry’ with Morgan’s distinctive voice filling out the historical venue that dates back to the early 20th Century. ‘Psychopath’ was next, an insistent melody to go alongside thoughtful lyrics, and suggested the aforementioned new album will be well worth the wait. ‘The Night’ and ‘Take Me Away’ were received like old friends, the attentive crowd literally hanging on every note and word.
Let off the leash mid-set, Clint plugged in his electric guitar for a few numbers and went into full guitar hero pose for his solo during ‘Mend’. The open and honest ‘The Night (Part 2)’ documents Morgan’s daily battles and worked brilliantly in an acoustic setting, taking on even greater poignancy. It took the audience until the closing ‘Wider Days’ before they rose to their feet, singing and swaying along to the upbeat melody that proved to be her breakout song. And yet despite a determined standing ovation there was to be no encore, not that anyone who had witnessed the previous hour or so would have been left disappointed. You get a sense that venues such as this will all too soon be in her rear view mirror, but whatever the future brings there is no doubting that Morgan Wade is a very special talent.
Setlist:-
Run
Don’t Cry
Psychopath
Matches and Metaphors
The Night
Take Me Away
Fall in Love With Me
Mend
The Night (Part 2)
Crossing State Lines
Met You
I Thought I Walked On Water
Wilder Days
Thoroughly enjoyed the show, saw her last year at Hyde Park so was not disappointed to be treated to such a good show, actually enjoyed this acoustic version better than last year, felt some parts last year were a bit drowned out by the electric guitars and drums , but that’s just my opinion.
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