If you want to spot the people who went to Maggie Rogers’ Auckland show last night, just look for careful walking on sore feet.
The 25 year old American songstress moved her sold-out crowd effortlessly; her natural feel-good vibrations contagious to whoever was in the room. I’m talking the young and old, the bar staff, security, label directors, and even the too-cool back of venue alternatives who were entranced into moving their feet . It was real OG ‘house party vibes’ as Maggie called it from the mic. Auckland’s Powerstation was grooving, swaying, bopping, clapping… and the vibe was a right funk. I also may have spotted New Zealand’s Lorde and Bene at the venue.
Here are the best highlights from an amazing show.
The floating scarf
9.30pm saw a floating hot-pink scarf soaring across the stage before it saw Pharrell Williams-discovered pop star Maggie rogers holding its edges beneath it. The scarf was back-lit by stage lights making it look truly magical, which was perhaps the reason we were hypnotised into dancing for the rest of the show. She wore the scarf the entire performance, choosing when and when she wouldn’t grab its edges and pull it out like a butterfly for some twirls. Accompanied with a simple singlet and jeans, the pink scarf was like an extended piece of herself, and we were all about it’s other-worldly energy.
The energy in the opening… and every song
Opening with ‘Give A Little’ from her 2019 album ‘Heard it in a Past Life’, the psychedelic slice of pop was accompanied by many a hair whip. Maggie performed with incredible energy the entire night and put her long curls to use on stage. I don’t believe she stood still the entire night, and neither did we.
The amazing interaction
Maggie spoke to her crowd in between a few sets. In one break, she told us of her windy day at Piha, and how she climbed the ‘big rock’, and stood at the top just in awe, thinking. Her mind wandered back to when she was a little girl singing in her room, and how now she’s on a rock in New Zealand, about to go to her sold-out headlined show. The crowd applauded before Maggie finished her story. “During my tour I didn’t know what version of me I would see on stage, but I knew that I owed it to that little girl in her room to find out”.
Her mesmerising encore
Maggie played with the crowd here, quietening everyone down from the hype and laying out the rules for the encore. No speaking, yelling, just feeling this moment all together. She then sung ‘Color Song’ in acapella and it was truly beautiful. She left the stage, leaving the crowd in complete silence before we gave her one final applause.
