It’s a horrible Halloween evening in Leeds and not the sort of place you would expect to find an international pop star kicking off their World Tour. However, this is exactly where we find Maryland singer-songwriter Maggie Rogers who is in town to do precisely that.
For Nashville-based singer Samia, the chance to open for Maggie Rogers is “like a dream come true” as she explains to a room still filling due to Samia’s unhelpful start time of a quarter to seven. That being said, when the singer and her band take to the stage, there is more than a healthy ripple of noise echoing around the room. It must be a welcome sight for Samia, who gyrates around the stage with a massive smile plastered across her face.
With new album “Honey” only set to see release in January 2023, fans are treated to just one track from the album in the form of “Mad At Me”. The rest of the set is plucked for her two albums to date with “Pool” and “Fit N Full” kicking off the set from Samia’s 2020 acclaimed album “The Baby”. Upbeat, slightly edgy and a lot of fun, there is plenty for the singer to be smiling about. Wrapping up her set with a cover of Keane’s “Somewhere Only We Know”, this tour may have been a dream for Samia but, on this evidence, next year should be equally as special.
During a break in the set, Maggie Rogers informs the crowd that “it was October 2019 when I played my last gig on a proper tour”. Well, a lot has happened since then so, in spite of the weather trying to put a dampener on this long-awaited tour kick-off, Rogers is going to soak up every minute of this return to life on the road.
Kicking off with “Overdrive” and “Want Want” from her hit 2022 album “Surrender, it may have been two long years since Rogers was last on tour but there is no sign of stage rust as she playfully dances around the www. Delving back to her 2020 debut “Heard It In A Past Life”, Rogers glides through “Say It” and breakthrough single “Alaska”.
Breaking out an acoustic guitar for “Love You For A Long Time”, Rogers dedicates the track to those in the audience who are in love before joking “for those who aren’t, I’ll tell you a secret. I broke up with the guy I wrote this song about…” The set continues as the singer treats this very appreciative Leeds crowd to the likes of “Back in my Body” from her debut and “Anywhere With You” from “Surrender.”
Earlier in the day Rogers had asked the crowd to come dressed in costume for Halloween and while you could only spot a smattering of costumes around the room (Roger herself was dressed in some kind of sailor outfit), Rogers went on to explain the importance of Halloween back in the States. Encouraging the crowd to dance along with her, this crowd may have been light on the costume front but needed little encouragement to join Rogers as she made her return in style on a wet Monday evening in Yorkshire.
Get your tickets for the rest of the tour here.
Photo Copyright © Graham Finney
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