Mackenzy Mackay • Savanna Leigh • March 1, 2025 • Soundwell
Reviewed and Photographed by Sam Howard
If a show is happening at Soundwell, you can expect it to be a great time. It was no different for the Mackenzy Mackay concert that took place here on March 1, 2025. With the nearly sold-out venue, there were all kinds of fans packed in the building, ranging from parents bringing their kids to groups having a girls’ night out, but the most noticeable profile of the crowd was that it was filled with young couples out for date night. Soundwell was the perfect venue for everyone there, both for the young lovers and the parents bringing their kids.
Savanna Leigh
To start the night, Savanna Leigh took the stage solo and played a lovely acoustic set with some backing tracks. Born in Florida but based in Nashville, Tennessee, she played through her set and talked about how she had only been to Salt Lake City once before this. Throughout her set, she loved to tell some stories behind writing her songs, as well as talking about how most of the songs she writes are very sad. With a set list mostly full of songs, it took the crowd a little bit to get into her performance, but once they did, the emotion pouring out of the stage was felt by the crowd.
About halfway through the opening set, Savanna gave the crowd a choice between two different songs that she would cover: “Somewhere Only We Know” by Keene or “Alesis” by Mk.gee. The crowd was instructed to vote by shouting for the song they wanted covered. The Mk.gee track was the winning song of the vote, and she definitely gave this song a beautiful acoustic original sound. Though the song that won the crowd vote was played, Savanna ended up playing the Keene cover as well to give the crowd something to sing along with, and the crowd sang very loudly along to this song.
Savanna Leigh gave an absolutely amazing performance, and with an EP released in August of 2024 on top of her playing an unreleased song during her set, I would absolutely love to see her come back to Utah playing a headline tour at places like Kilby Court. Her sound is very soft but her songs are very powerful with emotion that can get anyone in their feelings.
Mackenzy Mackay
Now that the opening performance had come to an end, it was time for the show that everyone in the crowd had come to see: Mackenzy Mackay. The artist was born in Yorkshire and is based in London, and has nearly 2.5 million monthly listeners on Spotify. His music radiates British pop energy with a hint of rapping in the sounds as well.
Mackenzy Mackay took the stage solo, causing the crowd to go crazy. With Salt Lake City being the 8th show on the tour, there was much anticipation for this performance. Singing to backing tracks with the occasional guitar playing, the crowd instantly sang every word of his songs. As he had the whole stage to himself, free to move and dance without limits, Mackenzy’s performance was very fun to watch. His stage presence took up the entirety of the room, and the crowd interaction was amazing.
Engaging with the crowd, Mackenzy talked about how the tour was going to take him to Colorado the very next day, meaning he and his crew would have to leave immediately after the show. Even though he had to leave so soon, he went on to say that he wants to come back and explore more of Utah, saying to the crowd “You guys are fucking fantastic” and showing his love of being in our state. Though the elevation of Utah was visibly getting to him, making him winded and heavily breathing on stage, this didn’t stop him from keeping the energy high and the quality and performance amazing.
Getting back into his set, Mackenzy introduced his song “Postcard,” and the crowd was roped back into his performance. There were many times where he asked the crowd to do a call and response, and the crowd did not disappoint, singing every word back to the stage. As he made his way toward the end of his set, the energy of the crowd made it feel as though the night was just beginning. Ending his set with his most popular song, “The One That You Call.” The crowd sang every word to this song so loudly that it became very hard to hear the music coming from the stage. Taking a picture with the fans after the song ended, Mackenzy left the stage before coming back for a two song encore, ending the night finally with his song “London.”
Soundwell seemed to be the perfect setting for Mackenzy Mackay here in Utah. I would really like to see a full-length album tour in the future. I would also be really interested to see him tour with a full band instead of just backing tracks, as this would really elevate his already phenomenal performance. With a well-mixed sound and a strong fan base, I don’t doubt that Mackenzy Mackay will come back playing bigger and better shows in the future here in Utah.