"Spinning and grooving her way through the set we all wished wouldn’t end, there was no doubt just how special a performer [Rogers] is"
For the first time in a long time, I found myself at the Anthem last Monday night. Bringing out a sold-out crowd, hometown superstar Maggie Rogers lit up the DC Wharf perhaps better than I've ever seen in her first night back home; no doubt a sentimental leg of her ongoing national trek. No less than half hour after doors open, the line for admission wrapped around the pier, a sight Id surely never seen before. Joined by rising star Del Water Gap, these two musicians, and they're incredible bands, carved their names into the nightglow.
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Like a whole lot of other people, Del Water Gap's "Ode to a Conversation Stuck in Your Throat" has been a staple in my Spotify listening for the better part of a year. Though that was my introduction to the impressive young singer, he showed me on this night that there is so much more to come; and that he is far from a flash in the pan. If there's any one thing that connects these two acts (aside from there decade-plus frienship), it's energy; Coming out the gates, [Gap] and the entire place were pumpin'; as Maggie’s time came near, the atmosphere only continued to swell.
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If there's one thing I'm certain of after this show, it's that Maggie Rogers has soul, and gobs of it. Clad in a glistening black leather coat and sky blue dress with a fringed boa, Rogers ripped the stage as if it was her very own; and after that performance it damn well may be. Spinning and grooving her way through the set we all wished wouldn’t end, there was no doubt just how special a performer [Rogers] is. Unsurprisingly, all the hits smashed the house, "Want Want", "Light On", "Alaska", but let it be known, there wasn't a single stand still moment for this crowd; start to finish, every song reached someone.
As I get back into the swing of things, I’m grateful to have shows like this; to remind me why I do this, and why I just can’t get enough of the noise and lights and moments too big for normal waking life. Here’s to the next one around the corner, and all that lies beyond.
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