Morgan Karr at Room 5
First off, let me just get the two cons out of the way because then I'll just be free to cry about how phenomenal everything else was:
I didn't get a photo with Morgan. I had the opportunity before the show, but I didn't want to keep him from setting up and all. Afterwards, he was mingling with family and friends and I wasn't comfortable interrupting. I ended up hanging awkwardly around him, as I do, because I was waiting for my broski to call and Morgan probably noticed. UGH who let me out on the street.
He did a set of roughly ten songs, so the show only lasted an hour. When Morgan Karr sings you don't ever want him to stop, okay?
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Anywho, yesterday was my last day at my internship, which was conveniently located in West LA, so not too far from the venue. I left work at 5 pm (they gave me a handsome compensation as a thank you despite it being an unpaid position, which I didn't expect and it was just such a nice thing) and hopped on the bus to head up Pico until I hit La Brea. I took the local instead of the rapid line, so instead of five stops there were like... twenty, but I had the time so whatever. Got off at La Brea and made a transfer.
Room 5 is located inside an Italian restaurant -- just a cozy lounge space up a flight of stairs. I arrived at around 6 pm and the place was empty except for the wait staff. They said I could just hang around the restaurant since I said I was absurdly early for my 9 pm show, which was nice of them, so I parked myself at a counter against the stairs, read some Good Omens, and probably ruined my eyes some more because the lighting was atmospheric Restaurant Dim. I popped upstairs after a time to get my ticket verified and a hand stamp. The lady managing the door said there would be three performances: 7, 8, and 9, so it would be up to me as to when I wanted to sit down. I still had over an hour to spare, so I returned to my original post in the restaurant to wait it out. I kept a not-so-subtle eye on the front door, waiting for Morgan & Co. to walk in because that's the only entrance and he'd walk RIGHT BY ME.
I was already getting premature heart palpitations at the thought.
People had been gradually heading upstairs for the 7 and 8 pm concerts and I was getting antsy because more people were heading up than were heading down. Would the room fill up? Would my getting there three hours early be for naught? For whatever reason, I sat a little longer. The dinner crowd was slowly coming in and the sidewalk patio was filling up.
During one of my random, hopeful glances at the front door, who do I see out on the sidewalk but Morgan, who'd just arrived with a stool tucked under his arm and was chatting with some of the diners on the patio ;A; My breath caught because I react dramatically to situations like this and am generally embarrassing, but I'm okay with it. And if you'll stop clapping your palm against your forehead and allow me to be embarrassing a little longer: on a purely aesthetic level, he looked great. Really, really, just great. Black leather jacket, red checkered scarf (don't be obvious~), slightly stubbly, and radiating all that is good in the world. Fine, that last bit isn't a physical thing, but it is no less a fact of his being.
I closed Good Omens and tried my hand at looking nonchalant, which isn't my forte in the slightest, so I studied the colour tones of the wall. Morgan walked in and was halfway up the stairs when I looked up and gave him what I hoped was a casual smile of acknowledgement as opposed to a "DO YOU KNOW YOU ARE THE MOONLIGHT OF MY LIFE; I OWE YOU SO MUCH" lunatic grin. He stopped on the stairs and beamed: 'Hey, you made it! I'll be right back.'
Segue: I have yet to find anyone as accessible (speaking as a fan) as Morgan. He's always there if you have questions/comments, so we had a little back and forth prior to last night about my not being sure if I could make it and then my excitement about being able to attend :') The amount of inane comments he receives from me, goodness.
It was around 8:15 then and I was too anxious about not securing a spot, so I grabbed my things and popped upstairs. There was quite the crowd present for Frances Cone's 8 pm show, so I lingered by a table on the landing around the corner from the main room waiting for whenever "doors" for Morgan's performance were slated to open, though there didn't seem to be much of a system in place since people came and went as they pleased.
I was being a champion wall-starer when Morgan came around the corner, walked over, said a sincere 'I'm so glad you could make it', and just hugged me.
It was a long hug. And tight. None of that side-hugging business; no half-baked wrap and release. A genuine, caring hug and I felt a lump in my throat and then my brain started screaming If this goes on any longer I'm going to start tearing up on his shoulder and that is the last thing I wanted to happen because oh my god I would never recover from that.
I mumbled, "Morgan, I'm going to have an emotion."
An. emotion.
Does my brain not filter itself? I mean, come on, WHO SAYS THAT IN REAL LIFE??
I did. And the shame of that recollection is crushing.
There was finally a mutual hug release and he was all, 'Have all the emotions! You know this is my passion project so tell me about everything after.' I nodded and furthered my awkward self by responding with "Oh yeah, I'll have plenty in about half an hour." I picked up my phone then to check the clock, realised in a panic that I have JGJ as my wallpaper and wouldn't that be ridiculous if he noticed his friend plastered on my phone, so I angled my cell towards my face and didn't actually see the time at all. Great save, Self.
We talked briefly about Rated RSO back in 2009, which was the first and up until last night, only, time I've seen Morgan in person. He asked me what numbers he did and neither of us could remember whether or not he sang "Mrs. Sharp".
Then. Then I had my moment to try to poorly articulate how much he means to me -- cumbersome words that I'd replayed over and over in my head, each time sounding more generic than the last. It didn't help that I was about this close to tears, but I managed 'Thank you so much for everything you do. You've had such an impact on me; you've changed my life.' There were probably some more thank you's in there.
The thing about Morgan, beyond his maddening talent, is that he's genuineness and warmth incarnate. He looked at me, clasped my arms when I was having my little spiel, and concluded with Hug #2.
I don't know how I handled all that. I mean, how am I still functioning? No, Morgan, stop, I need to maintain my skeptical worldview. You can't come striding in and converting my every atom to pure joy.
Morgan thanked me and went downstairs to do whatever needed to be done, so I managed to weave through the crowd to the front of the room and found a spot to stand by the bar. Frances Cone is fab, by the by, and I really enjoyed the rest of her set.
I got to talking with the woman I was standing by, who turned out to be a good friend of Morgan's. I went on a contained ramble about how wonderful I think he is and she affirmed it all. Newsflash: Morgan Karr is truly one of the greatest people. Morgan came and went and shot us excited little grins.
The room was packed, but so long as no one stood in front of me, I was about five feet from the stage ;A; During sound check, Morgan was tinkering with his piano and singing snippets to check for balance while I looked ahead at nothing in particular. I was listening in particular though, because the videos are one thing, but absolutely nothing prepares you for being in the same room with him. It was only four odd measures of a song, but it just hit me square in the soul. It's nothing short of incredible, the way he commands the room. His charisma and his heart just draws everyone in, as if the venue wasn't cozy and intimate enough already.
Oh right, so I was just watching the stage getting set up when I made eye contact with Morgan at the piano and he winked. I very nearly buried my face in my hands, but I remembered myself.
I'm pretty sure the universe conspired to ruin me last night because GUESS WHO SHOWS UP AT THE BAR NEXT TO ME WITH A FRAKKING PINOT NOIR??
Shi-Shi. Shingledecks. Matt Shingledecker.
Why.
It had slipped my mind that he was in LA. I'm terrible at initiating conversations, so I just cut to the chase: "Hey Matt! I saw you in Spring Awakening. Here. A while ago... okay, it wasn't that long ago, more like four years. Yeah." We shook hands and he asked if I was a fan of Morgan's ("That would be putting it mildly"). I mentioned seeing their adventures on Twitter and that was that. Aww yes, Shingledecks.
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Set list in no particular order -- I'm certain that I'm missing one or two. The three videos I took are linked below and I apologise for my shoddy camerawork (no zoom required though, that's how close I was ;A;)
If You'll Have Me (show opener)
Call Me Maybe
Fall Blind (new)
When My Heart Is Gone
Let Go
In Yellow Skies (new)
Keep On (new)
By Heart
Destiny
Table for Two (Encore, new)
I relocated to stand in front of the piano for the show and the entire hour was just phenomenal -- I don't think I took a full breath, the way I was hanging on every note. I was speechless; I'm still speechless. Morgan pointed out his mum in the crowd at one point and it was the sweetest thing. And halfway through his set he took off his scarf (to raucous cheers of Take it off!) and asked for either a shot or water. The bartender brought both, ehehehe.
Show notes:
So many new songs ♥ And he was so proud to be debuting them.
"Keep On" sticks in my mind because it had the whole call-and-response thing happening during the chorus. Morgan would sing "Keep on" and we'd echo.
"When My Heart Is Gone" featured an amazing sax accompaniment and solo.
Towards the end of the show, Morgan pulled out his phone and took a picture of the crowd for "history" :')
At the end of "Call Me Maybe", he muttered 'I would have called me'. UGH YOU.
I'm a little disappointed that I didn't get a video of "By Heart" because the instrumentation live is breathtaking, but Morgan was on piano and I didn't want my camera in his face because I was so close. By then I'd stopped taking video anyhow because I'd much rather be ~in the moment~.
The adoration and thunderous applause he got from the crowd was perfect. He deserves nothing less. There was a monstrous queue to speak to him afterward, but by virtue of where I was standing, it didn't take long for me to be gushing at him again with "You are, sincerely, one of the most lovely people on this planet. Thank you for being you."
And we hugged it out. Again.
The broski arrived shortly and my mum had tagged along. Yes, it was late and I didn't want her out because she had to get up for work, but no, I wasn't going to apologise because last night meant the world to me.
Morgan, just... goodness. I'm still trying to collect my thoughts, but I think you can infer how much he means to me from the spaces in between my emotional spillage. We care so much about him and he cares so much about us and there's this down duvet of mutual caring embracing us all. There are few things like it.
ETA: At the beginning of the show, Morgan thanked us all for attending since Tuesday isn't an easy night to come out in LA. He mentioned how the Olympics are on, which led to him asking 'Who was that with the grill... what was that all about?' and we all chimed in with "Ryan Lochte!" and Morgan, with a little chuckle, responded: 'Guess he's been on my mind.'
