Following the release of her third studio album, “Don’t Forget Me,” Maggie Rogers began her tour of the same name in early May. She made her way to Alpharetta to play at the Ameris Bank Amphitheatre on June 11 with opener The Japanese House.
Rogers played a collection of songs from all of her past projects, including the infamous “Heard It In A Past Life” that kickstarted her rise to fame.
She opened the set with the first four songs on “Don’t Forget Me”: “It Was Coming All Along,” “Drunk,” “So Sick Of Dreaming” (the lead single for the album) and “The Kill.”
“The Kill” tells a story of a toxic relationship. The song’s chorus switches up the possessive pronouns each time, emphasizing the relationship’s back-and-forth nature. Rogers told the audience that a group had signs with “you,” “I” and “we” to indicate the correct pronouns, but they were not in the correct order. The audience laughed, as did Rogers.
This part of her show was filled with a dynamic energy from the crowd and from Rogers herself. Some of her newer songs are folk-inspired, reflecting her roots in suburban Maryland where she was raised. Some of her older music can be heard on her compilation album “Notes from the Archive: Recordings 2011-2016.”
Many parts of her performance were reminiscent of young Taylor Swift. Her blonde hair, black dress, and acoustic guitar looked like Swift during her “Speak Now” tour.
She then went onto play songs from “Surrender,” including “Anywhere With You,” “Shatter” and “That’s Where I Am.”
Rogers’ vocals shined throughout her performance. Many of her songs ended with long riffs or high notes, and she was perfectly on key for each one. Her voice is severely underrated in the indie realm.
She finally played the famed “Alaska,” but an acoustic rendition, which likely disappointed some people. This song jump-started her career with the well-known Pharrell reaction video from her NYU class.
Although she made “Alaska” acoustic, she did bring in some synths and electronic beats to “Fallingwater” and “Light On” (of course the phone lights went on during this song). She closed the set with “That’s Where I Am.”
A significant part of her live shows that has changed over the years is her dancing. During her “Heard It In A Past Life” era, Rogers danced around stage in a unique, flowy way. Although she did dance during this show, it was not similar to her old dancing at all.
Rogers and her band exited the stage, but they soon came back on to perform her encore song “Don’t Forget Me.” It is the last song on her album, so it was fitting.
Lastly, she did a cover of Bonnie Raitt’s “I Can’t Make You Love Me.” It was just her voice and a piano: a beautiful way to close out her set.
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