Maggie Rogers is a literal angel from heaven, that is what I have decided. Maggie Rogers is an up-and-coming indie artist, with her debut album, Heard It In a Past Life, being released January of last year, and I have been obsessed ever since I heard it. She is also a Grammy-nominated artist for Best New Artist - fingers crossed that she can snag that win! This was another impulsive, I really wanted to go, kind of concerts. My friend's roommate was driving on her way to Dallas from Waco, and she called me and said she'd totally go with me/go with her and our friends. I bought my ticket, changed, and immediately left my room to go! The tickets were another thing - I had already gone through security, checked my bag and my ID, and all they needed to do was scan my ticket. When I got there, they scanned it but said it was already scanned... spooky. They tried it again, my ID, and eventually, they let me through. That was a close one. Not sure what happened there, but hey, I got to see Maggie Rogers and that's all that matters to me. Shoutout to the ticket people at the Bomb Factory, you're the real ones! The song I was absolutely blown away by was the somewhat title track, 'Past Life'. The arrangement was different from the studio recording, which really added something to the live aspect of the song. On the recording, it's basically just piano and Maggie's vocals, but live, she added a bit more percussion and other instruments to it, as well as some more vocal improvisation. The part that really got me was near the end of the song, where she takes the verse up an entire octave and really shows off the power in her voice and just belts her butt off. It gave me chills and I still think about it to this day. Here's a video to watch from her show at Radio City Music Hall if you don't believe me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfF6IlaMCE It will blow your mind. Some of my other favorites that she performed was her acoustic version 'Alaska', which she performed just by herself and her guitar, and I loved 'Burning' and 'Falling Water' for the energy that she had during them, and how everyone around us was jumping and dancing and having a good time. She also performed her new single, 'Love You For a Long Time', which was so sweet and it reminds me of all my friends from home, and it gives you that sweet summertime feeling no matter what season you listen to it. What I love about Maggie is how honest she is with her music, as well as just the quality of her music is so good. The way she writes music is the way I want to write songs, and if we are being real, I think I just wish I was Maggie Rogers. She has that special honesty to her songs that make them relatable even if it is her personal experience, and listening to her music makes you feel good and it's kind of an out-of-body experience, which I think she was going for. Listening to her makes you feel like you know her, and she's just so real to me. She's not just the fancy and posh celebrity who's so different from their fans, but she has that real feeling that you're her friend and she wants to be yours. I can't help but feel proud of who she is, even though I don't even know her, but I hope one day I can be as cool as Maggie Rogers, and I hope I can tell her that one day, too.
Leave a Reply