Concert review: Confident, carefree Maggie Rogers enchants Target Center
Rogers first went viral with “Alaska,” a song she wrote for a class. She played it for Pharrell Williams, who said “I've never heard anything that sounds like that.”
Maggie Rogers knows how to make an entrance and did just that Friday at Minneapolis’ Target Center.
As a video montage played on the big screens, the 2020 best new artist Grammy nominee emerged from a trap door in the stage, surrounded by stage fog, wearing a sparkling silver lamé caftan and belting her infectious 2022 single “That’s Where I Am.”
That was just the start of a terrifically entertaining evening of well-constructed, expertly performed songs that straddle the worlds of pop, rock, folk and dance music. And the 30-year-old Maryland native sings them with a strong, likable voice that only adds to the appeal.
Rogers initially planned to go into music criticism and even interned for author Lizzy Goodman while she was working on her 2017 oral history of New York rock in the ’00s, “Meet Me in the Bathroom.” But she ended up performing, not writing about, music and delved deep into folk while still in college. While studying abroad, a night of clubbing in Berlin inspired a newfound love of dance music.
She first went viral with “Alaska,” a song she wrote for a class. She played it for Pharrell Williams, an artist-in-residence, who said “I’ve never heard anything that sounds like that.” The online buzz led to a licensing deal with Capitol that has allowed her creative control over her three albums, including this year’s “Don’t Forget Me.”
What was most striking about Rogers was her confident, yet carefree, attitude, as if she had been performing in basketball arenas for the past decade, not headlining them for the first time. Unlike many of her peers, who tend toward subtle and introspective songwriting, Rogers revels in big, juicy hooks. And her excellent six-piece band helped them sound larger than life and perfectly at home in an arena. I do realize I wrote the same thing about Sabrina Carpenter on this very stage last week, but Rogers’ music often recalls ’80s Fleetwood Mac, when the ’70s superstars settled into hit-making mode.
“Drunk” gave guitarist Shannon Callihan one of her many chances to impress with a solo, while the rest of her band ably backed her during her cover of Roberta Flack’s “Killing Me Softly With His Song” that picked up some of the vibes from the Fugees memorable take on the classic. During “Love You for a Long Time,” a kiss cam took over the screens and the crowd ate up the sheer goofiness of it.
Midway through the show, she sat alone at the piano, lit some incense and started talking about Minneapolis. She spoke fondly about playing First Avenue in October 2018 and her love of Prince (“Piano and a Microphone 1983” was in her heavy rotation this summer). Then she crooned part of “I Would Die 4 U” that led into her own “I Still Do.” It was a genuine, honest and intimate moment and a highlight of a show full of them.
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