MAGGIE ROGERS // O2 ACADEMY, GLASGOW
Maggie Rogers unleashes Feral Joy on Glasgow
★★★★★ (5/5)
November this year begins, as we've come to expect, mild and rainy. It's an otherwise innocuous Tuesday, perfect for doing nothing after a weekend - and Monday - revelling in our first proper Halloween celebrations for three years. Maggie Rogers has other plans though; she wants us to be together, to dance and sing and scream, and who are we to refuse such an invitation?
Our evening commences with a sweet serenading by Samia, whose charm exists somewhere between her lofty vocals, a cute ra-ra skirt and cowboy-boot combo, and the dance school finesse of her stage presence. She's radiant as she introduces her songs, vignettes of youthful innocence and disillusionment, romantic fantasy and the banality of everyday life, each received with generous screams of recognition. With two songs left she asks, "Can you come on the rest of the tour? I feel like we've really...connected." I feel like we have too, in pursuit of escapism.
That's what this night is all about: Feeling connected. Rogers said via social media that her aim for each night of this tour is to deliver a set which "starts with some heat, leaves the middle for an emotional release, and still brings us all together at the end." This is precisely what ensues.
Latest album Surrender is played out in its near-entirety over the course of the night, giving ample opportunities for catharsis both on the stage and within the audience. Want Want is explosive. Alaska and Love You For A Long Time elicit exuberant singalongs. Shatter leaves everyone desperately breathless. Silhouetted like a phantom at the back of the stage, Rogers exorcises some deep frustration on Honey before composing herself within the quiet solace of The Blue Nile's Let's Go Out Tonight. It's a perfect turning point, a place to rebuild from. In the live context Symphony has an air of Fleetwood Mac about it, emphasised towards the end as Rogers dances and spirals in perfect synchronicity with the band's tight ritard.
"I missed this," she declares simply. Like a close friend, a sense of identity, a vital organ? One can only imagine what "missing this" for the last three years has felt like for an artist with so much emotional investment in their live exchange. Back In My Body presents as a kind of reconciliation with that touring life. It's not always glamorous but it has a purpose that Rogers, now even academically, understands. Between the powerful percussion that closes Begging For Rain and the raw vocal and acoustic guitar on Horses, Rogers mines a deep seam of emotion to wrap up the set. Even before the climax, following Anywhere With You, the crowd erupts into such thunderous applause that it delays the big finale of Light On and That's Where I Am. Rogers and her band stand in awe, gratitude glistening all over them. They drive the performance to its incendiary conclusion and return for an encore that feels both extravagant and essential. Surrender's closing track Different Kind of World exists to mollify the end of this night together; a feeling and a memory to carry with us as we walk back out into our dreary reality. A connection.
REVIEW + PHOTOS BY:
KENDALL WILSON
SETLIST:
O2 ACADEMY, GLASGOW
OVERDRIVE
WANT WANT
SAY IT
ALASKA
LOVE YOU FOR A LONG TIME
BE COOL
SHATTER
HONEY
I’VE GOT A FRIEND
DOG YEARS
SYMPHONY
BACK IN MY BODY
BEGGING FOR RAIN
HORSES’
ANYWHERE WITH YOU
LIGHT ON
FALLINGWATER
ENCORE:
THAT’S WHERE I AM
DIFFERENT KIND OF WORLD