3 Reasons You Should See Blake Morgan Live

Always the best dressed man in any room he walks into, on a rain-soaked late September evening Blake Morgan took the stage at Rockwood Music Hall Stage 3. Having had a residency at the venue for a number of years, this particular night featured a guest appearance by Anna Rose, and marked Morgan’s 25th consecutive sell out.

In addition to being a phenomenal singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Morgan is also known for his #IRespectMusic campaign, which is his fight for artists to receive fair pay for radio airplay. The campaign has resulted in the creation of the American Music Fairness Act, which is being brought before Congress.

During his time on stage Morgan read aloud a letter he’ll be presenting before Congress, which inspired an ovation from the crowd, as did every song from his hour-plus long set.

If you see Blake Morgan is heading to your city, or if you’re in NYC and see the next date in his Rockwood residency is coming up, here are three reasons you should pick up a ticket, and see Blake Morgan live.

1. He has one of the most gorgeous voices you’ll ever hear 

I’ve seen about 100 artists/bands per year for the past 20 years (2020 being an obvious exception), and I absolutely love the once in a blue moon moment when a singer opens their mouth and you immediately know you’re hearing something special.

That moment happens at the outset of every Blake Morgan show.

Morgan has obviously spent a lot of time honing his craft, as his vocals are jaw-droppingly beautiful, and remarkably crystal clear.

From the first song in his set, through the show’s finale, the main thought you’ll have going through your mind is “WOW!”

2. He’s truly emotionally invested in his performances 

Sometimes you’ll see an artist who is so used to their music that when they hit the stage it seems like they’re simply going through the motions. This is never the case with Blake Morgan, who fills his performances with raw emotion to the point where he’ll get visibly choked up while telling a story.

On this night, his first back on stage after 20 months of pandemic cancellations, he was clearly touched by having so many people in the house, some of whom were longtime fans, while others were seeing him for the first time.

Whether he was performing a favorite song, telling us about a friend who couldn’t be there due to illness, or reading his impassioned plea to Congress, it was clearly all deeply meaningful to him.

Morgan is an artist who wears his heart on his sleeve, and in his voice, and during his live performances he leaves it all on stage.

3. He’ll only spoil the endings of movies, and plays, that are 80 to 400 years old 

If you never made it to the end of Romeo and Juliet when you were supposed to read it in high school, or if the only thing you know about the original King Kong is that he climbed the Empire State Building, Morgan may present a few spoilers while telling stories in-between songs. He jokes that in the case of Romeo and Juliet we all had 400 years to read it, and in the case of King Kong we had 80 years to see it, so the words “spoiler alert” no longer apply.

How did those two classics come up during his show? He discussed Romeo and Juliet while introducing one of his songs, and King Kong became a topic of conversation when he revealed what he says when people ask him which is his favorite movie about New York City. FYI – you really want to hear his story of why he chose King Kong. It’s hilarious, and pure NYC.

 

To find out when, and where, Blake Morgan will be performing next, check out his Facebook page for show dates.