Patrick Droney w/ Morgxn •March 17, 2022 •The State Room
Reviewed and Photographed by Vanessa Holt
Heading to the show on Thursday night I didn’t have much of an idea what to expect. I had never attended a show at The State Room and I was excited to finally mark it off the list. I’ve also never heard of either Patrick Droney or Morgxn. But listening to their top-streamed songs on the way to the venue, I knew I was in for an amazing night of live music.
Morgxyn
The minute that it hit eight o’clock Morgxn walked out on stage in their shimmery blazer. They just started singing their song “Porcelain” completely just straight acapella style. From that first moment, I don’t think I can even find the words to describe how unbelievable Morgxn’s vocals were. The range that they reached had completely blown me away. They kept the momentum going through their set.
They sat down at the keyboard and asked, “How are y’all doing tonight?” Someone from the crowd responded “Depressed!” This got the entire crowd to laugh. It was like everyone was able to really breathe a sense of fresh air into the room. Morgxn laughed and quickly responded, “Did someone say depressed? Well, you’re in the right place. I am so happy to be on this floating rock, at this moment with all of you. I’m so happy you’re here. Take a step into my living room where I’m going to play you all a set of stripped-down songs.”
From there on that is exactly what Morgxn did. At times It didn’t feel like we were in a sold-out show of three-hundred capacity in a large venue. It felt like we were someplace even more intimate and small like Kilby Court. There was no distance or separation from artist to fans. It was their last night on the, On the State of Heart Tour and they took a moment to express their gratitude. “Being on this tour with my soul brother. It has been a beautiful soul-filled time. It’s been an absolute delight to be together.”
One of the things that I really admired from Morgxn’s set was that all cards were on the table. Their set wasn’t strictly set to certain songs. They just simply did whatever felt right in that moment. “I just want to say I have toured with a band before, but there was something so terrifying and new about showing up to bars with just my piano and playing for people.” They even went all out of bounds and played a cover of Jimmy Eat’s World single, “The Middle”. Starting the song was a little bit rough start because they couldn’t stop laughing.
In the second verse, Morgxn stopped and explained, “This is my favorite part to the whole song because I’ve been bullied so much in the past so it really hits home.” It didn’t phase anyone that Morgxn had completely abruptly stopped the song to explain themselves. It was just another insight into just how much they were stepping out to be vulnerable and completely personable with the crowd.
Patrick Droney
Following closely after was Patrick Droney and his band. Their stage design was a simple setup with a city light backdrop and his bright spotlights. It was so simple but it made such a huge difference. Especially since the lighting from the venue wasn’t giving much in the first place. Three songs into his setlist he ended up breaking a guitar string, “That’s rock and roll town. I love this for us,” he joked. “Sometimes life tangles you up and you just got to take a deep breath and have some patience.”
Despite this little slip up the crowd had stood completely unphased and unbothered. Everyone stood completely patient while he got himself situated. “Welcome Salt Lake City, to the State of the Heart tour,” Droney greeted. “Last year I came out with an album called, State of the Heart and I had two days to finish this album. I had gone out and climbed a mountain to take a moment to myself, I ended up pulling a song, “Little By Little” That was an old demo track. I ended up working on it and slipped it into the album without telling anyone that I was going to. And I’m excited to play it all for you tonight.”
Listening to Patrick Droney sing, he gave just so much soul into his performance. There were tons of moments throughout his set where he and his band just played some stretched-out guitar/drums intros/outros. Rather than making it feel like a concert, it felt like a band just having a jam session. “Every night we try to one-up each other.” Explained Droney.
I felt like was the biggest takeaway from this show was watching these artists step out onto the stage and just open themselves up and be completely vulnerable. There was no doubt they were giving it their all to their fans who were either seeing them for another time or for the first time ever.
