If there is one thing to know about me, it is that I am a sucker for a well-made pop album. Give me any example of what I call “the Taylor Swift effect” and I will absolutely eat it up. I almost wish I could be a music snob and traffic in indie bands with less than 500k monthly listeners, but alas, I love both the indie underground and the pop girlies. Can’t a girl do both in peace?
My personal favorite example of the Taylor Swift effect? Maisie Peters. I first listened to her music in 2020 after hearing a snippet of her song “Psycho” on Tiktok (I know, I’m sorry), and promptly fell in love with her debut album, You Signed Up for This. On the very first song of that album, the title track, Maisie sings “don’t go out much because there’s too many bugs/and I’m way too obsessed with death to do any drugs,” and from that moment on I knew I was going to be a fan because she’s just so real for that.
After years of being a perfectly normal level of obsessed, thank you very much, I finally saw my opportunity to fully own that obsession on March 27, when I happened upon Maisie’s Instagram post announcing the tour for her then-upcoming album. An opportunity to see one of my favorite artists at the Fillmore, a venue that I love? Sign me up, thanks. One text to my co-host Makena and I was proudly purchasing two tickets to see Miss Maisie Peters on October 10. The countdown to that night began thusly.
Maisie’s album, The Good Witch, came out in May, and it is absolutely one of my favorite albums of this year (according to my AOTY ratings, it’s second only to Caroline Polachek’s flawless sophore record Desire, I Want to Turn Into You). The album moves rapidly from hot girl anthems to devastating heartbreaking ballads, tracing the course of a breakup as Maisie and the listeners come to terms with the end of a relationship that meant a lot. I love a good relationship concept album, as evidenced by my love of Waterparks’ FANDOM, so I was in from the first single, “Body Better.” The album did not disappoint. It all slaps. I accidentally hit a pole while driving once because I can’t back up but also because I was so focused on the perfection that is “Run.”
Suffice it to say, I was very excited for this concert.
Makena and I left for the Fillmore, a general admission venue, at around 4:15. The concert technically started at 7, and we wanted to be near the front. Being barricade at a concert had been on my bucket list for a long time, and I figured there was no better person to do it with than Makena, who has camped out for shows a few times before and knows the ropes at this point. Maisie is also still a decently small artist with a lot of casual fans and a smaller, close-knit community of superfans, so when we got to the line, it wasn’t too long (according to Makena, significantly shorter than the line she waited in to get a good place at a Conan Gray concert last year). We happily made our way to the back of the line, content with the odds of being within the first 10 rows at least.
Then, we heard the magic phrase: fast pass.
What is this, Disney World?
A few women were walking through the line with iPads, notifying us that if we wanted, we could pay $20 a person to essentially be guaranteed a spot on the barricade. We deliberated excitedly and eventually, thanks to girl math, decided to go through with it. After all, the tickets had been roughly $20 each. $40 is a perfectly normal price for a concert ticket, and in this case, that $40 ticket is guaranteed to be at the front. So totally worth it.
After a lot of waiting in line and being the proud recipients of friendship bracelets (mine says “I am unhinged” in reference to Maisie’s song “BSC” and I am obsessed with it), the moment finally came. It was 6 pm. Into the Fillmore we speed-walked, dedicated to our mission. When we arrived at the stage, the barricade was filling up quickly, but we managed to snag a spot in the second row towards stage right. We could reach out and touch the barricade. Personally, I was content to add a green check emoji to my bucket list.
The pre-show playlist was a lot of fun. “About You” by The 1975 played, to which I screeched “HERE?” I am extremely emotionally susceptible to The 1975 songs and was not emotionally prepared for that jump scare. However, “Shut Up and Drive” by Rihanna played right afterwards and Makena started showing me a lip sync from RuPaul’s Drag Race, so all was well that ended well.
There were also three Taylor Swift songs on the pre-show playlist (“Mr. Perfectly Fine,” “Anti-Hero,” and “Holy Ground”), all of which were screamed. I love girls.
The opening act, Grace Enger, came out promptly at 7, just her and her acoustic guitar. She sang for about 45 minutes, and my expert conclusion is that she is incredibly talented. Oftentimes I find myself sort of tuning out the openers, but Grace commanded attention with the simple power of her voice. During her final song, “The Neighborhood,” I found myself getting chills. Definitely check out her stuff, she seems like a super sweet person with a whole lot of talent to be shared with the world.
Finally, 9 pm rolled around. The lights went dark. The crowd screamed. The band entered. After some suspense from the extremely talented band, Maisie’s voice rang out from the speakers, loud and clear. “Still me here/do you think I forgot about you?” The first line of the album’s opener, “The Good Witch.” The crowd went absolutely wild. This was essentially reminiscent of the whole concert from that point on. Philadelphia loves Maisie Peters, and her entrance onto the stage was met with cheers that damn near shook the ground.
Makena and I found ourselves absolutely thrilled at how close to the stage we were. After the second song, “Coming of Age,” an upbeat number that involved lots of jumping and yelling, Makena turned to me and simply said “$20. SO WORTH IT.” I would have to agree. We were so close that we could read the words on Maisie’s shirt, which read “if he makes you smile, he’s blocked.” This is a lyric from “Run,” fitting with the trend of her tour outfits consisting of baby tees bearing lyrics from the album. Some past lines include “the best thing that almost happened to you,” “women’s hearts are lethal weapons,” and my personal favorite, “little miss unstable.” Did I mention she’s a great lyricist? Because she’s a great lyricist.
Maisie puts on a really great show, constantly moving back and forth to different ends of the stage for more upbeat songs and strumming her guitar at center stage for the sad ones. At one point, she played what she described as “a medley of my most heartbreaking songs” that included a segment of “Night Changes” by One Direction. Her mic stand was almost fully covered in fan-made friendship bracelets. During “John Hughes Movie,” she wore a lesbian pride flag that someone threw onstage as a cape. Before playing “Run,” she asked the audience to tell stories of the most unhinged and ridiculous things men have said to them. A girl told a story of her ex-boyfriend messaging her on Pinterest asking her not to get a restraining order against him, which, side note, is truly wild. Maisie knows how to engage a crowd and interact with her fans, creating an environment that feels safe and reminiscent of the ever-sacred girl talk. We can all talk about how crazy that one girl’s ex-boyfriend was together because we’re all just one of the girls, and we’re all friends here. It’s a very cool environment to be in.
As a result of this one-of-the-girls mentality, the fans were really invested, which was really fun to be a part of. There was no difficulty getting audience participation at any point in the set. For example, one song off the album, “Watch,” features a call-and-response throughout the song, and us fans were more than happy to scream “what the fuck?!” in response to Maisie’s “you look better.” However, the loudest audience line of that song was by far the bridge, completing the line “I’m still here/in my loafers” with a rousing “WITH A SMOOTHIE” that echoed throughout the venue. Yet, just when you thought the audience could not possibly be louder, it came time for “The Band and I.”
This song is a special one no matter where you are. Even just listening to it on the album, it pulls on your heartstrings. Personally, I’ve always been a sucker for a song about how awesome bandmates are (think “Guys” by The 1975 and “Best Friends” by 5 Seconds of Summer). This song is that sentiment, with Maisie singing about memories with the band that stands behind her on stage. You could see them reacting to the lyrics about them as they were sung, and I’m sure that it’s a sweet moment no matter what tour stop it’s played at, but it was particularly special at our show because of the bridge.
The end of the bridge, right before the final chorus contains the line, “in Philadelphia, it was crystal clear/we are the best damn band that’s ever played right here.”
It was the loudest moment of the entire show by far.
There are certain moments during concerts that you know you’ll remember forever, or at least, I have quite a few. I’ll always remember Taylor Swift performing “This Love” at the 1989 World Tour, my first concert. I’ll always remember being 11 years old, crying to “Amnesia” at 5 Seconds of Summer’s first headline tour. And I will absolutely always remember “The Band and I,” live in Philadelphia. It was just so clearly special.
Speaking of special moments, the encore. The main show ends with an upbeat single, “Cate’s Brother.” It’s a lot of fun, a lot of jumping, and a great end to a concert. However, after a few minutes of chanting, Maisie re-emerged from the wings, Grace Enger in tow (remember her?). I knew what was coming. A song that made me cry the first time I heard it. A song that still means so much to me. Makena turned to me and said “have your moment.” And all of a sudden, it was happening, the song I’d been waiting for that would solve all of my problems: “History of Man.”
The closing track of The Good Witch is a devastating song about how men have been breaking women’s hearts since the beginning of time. “I’ve tried to rewrite it, but I can’t/it’s the history, the history of man.” It’s a constant in life, unfortunately. And I genuinely think that screaming this song fixed a lot of my problems.
If I want to make one thing clear in this article, it’s that Maisie can write a bridge. She originally went viral on Tiktok for the bridge of “Not Friends (I’m Trying),” another moment during the concert where I was genuinely light-headed by the final chorus. She is the Taylor Swift effect to a t in that if the verses are sad, the bridge is a truly gut-wrenching experience, and “History of Man” is Maisie at her most visceral. Each line just builds so well until it just gets to a truly ridiculous level of catharsis and heartbreak and hope and sadness and every other emotion that the human heart is capable of feeling.
“He stole her youth and promised heaven/the men start wars, yet Troy hates Helen/women’s hearts are lethal weapons/did you hold mine and feel threatened?/hear my lyrics, taste my venom/you are still my great obsession.”
Even reading it gives me chills. I was a mess by the end of this song.
Maisie brings it home with “Lost The Breakup,” a loud, exciting single. The live version features a keytar solo and an extended ending, both of which are so much fun. Experiencing this with tears still drying on my cheeks was odd, but also exhilarating. There’s really no other way the show could’ve ended.
The merch line was super long, but I got a very cute poster and a t-shirt that says “Maisie Peters is my witchy girlfriend,” so I think it was worth it.
Long, long article short, I cannot recommend going to see Maisie Peters in concert enough. It was an awesome night. There was a lot of buildup for a person like me who has been a fan for so long now, but I think anyone would have had an awesome time. The singing, the dancing, the crying, and the laughing all culminated in a very fun, cathartic night, and I think anyone seeking a good time deserves a spot in that room. Not on the barricade, though- you can leave that one to me.
Our road to Greta Van Fleet on Tuesday night was not an easy one. This concert took place at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, a venue that seats 21,000 people, which GVF sold out. For those familiar with Philadelphia geography, you’ll realize that this venue is basically right across the street from Citizens Bank Park, the baseball stadium which seats nearly 43,000 and happened to be the location of P!nk’s two-night engagement on her latest tour. Yes, dear reader, your fears are founded, and the traffic was truly absurd.
Our merry bunch of four WVUD DJs set out on our epic quest at around 5:15 PM, with three hours to spare before we had to be there for press. Spoiler alert, we didn’t make it in time (otherwise, the pictures would be even better, though the seats were still crazy close). We came up to Wells Fargo at around 7:00, just to find that the turn we needed to take was closed, rerouting us for what the GPS said would be 20 minutes. An hour of bumper-to-bumper traffic later, we were sprinting to find our press passes and crossing our fingers that we would at least be able to get into the show, even if we missed the press junket down in the pit at the beginning of the set. After a few laps of the building and a very chaotic 15 minutes, we all managed to find our seats and entered while Greta Van Fleet was mid-rock-out.
What commenced was probably one of the most genuinely rock-and-roll shows to have hit stages in the last 20 years.
Simply put, GVF is the real deal. They are incredibly technically skilled, put on an amazing show, and have managed to bring such a cool vibe to their shows that we found ourselves imagining would be similar to that of the rock shows of yester-century. Their fans were all dressed up in 70s-inspired, star-studded outfits, in honor of Starcatcher and the band’s nostalgic sound. Sure, they’re not beating the sounds-like-Led-Zeppelin allegations, but why should they have to? Zeppelin’s out of the game, and Josh Kiszka is the perfect frontman to fill that void. He is absolutely magnetic on stage, simultaneously graceful and clumsy, chaotic and beautiful, adorable and confusingly, ridiculously attractive. The set included multiple costume changes, each outfit more extravagant than the last, and as if that weren’t enough, what really forces everyone to love him is that Josh is so clearly having the time of his life. He runs, jumps, skips, dances, and generally frolics about for the entire set, moving so freely that you can’t help but love him just a little bit. Even if you really want to be cynical about it, Josh is far too talented to worry about something as trivial as how normal people move.
Quite a few words come to mind when asked to describe the experience of hearing Josh Kiszka sing live. Transcendental, ethereal, angelic. At one point during the B-stage acoustic section of the set, we theorized that the gates of heaven opening up sounds like Kiszka singing “Waited All Your Life.” There’s not a flaw to be found in this man’s vocals; not one crack for the entire show, absolutely mind-blowing high notes, and he makes it all look infuriatingly easy. This is what singers like Brendon Urie wish they sounded like. He is a once-in-a-generation talent, Robert Plant incarnate even though Plant himself is still alive. There is not enough praise in the world to be properly heaped upon the vocals Josh is delivering.
He also did a shooter of Fireball in the middle of the show and still sang like an angel. Absolutely no idea how that’s possible, but he most definitely managed.
The band is also just a really talented group of individuals. Each member of the band got their own little solo during the show, and they all were extremely impressive. Guitar player Jake Kiszka plays reminiscent of the guitar gods of yore, while bassist Sam Kiszka manages to hold down some very technically difficult bass lines while making them look about as easy as scales. Drummer Daniel Wagner, the only non-Kiszka member (though he’s apparently been friends with bassist Sam since kindergarten), boasts an insanely impressive talent in his own right as well. Their solos are well-deserved so that each of them gets a chance to show off exactly how good they are without Josh onstage, as a voice like his simply cannot help but steal the show whenever he’s present. It really makes you wonder what exactly was in the water over in Frankenmuth, Michigan.
Granted, this show wasn’t perfect. It was awesome, but it was not a flawless show. The band is seemingly extremely fond of extended solos, to the point where sometimes, it does get a tad excessive. They’re really good at their instruments, but the three over-five-minute guitar solos did get a tad tedious. We were still having fun, naturally, but we did find ourselves occasionally shooting glances back and forth like okay, we get it, you can play guitar. These solos would have been forgivable, had they not taken enough time up so that GVF didn’t play the song that all four of us wanted to see really badly: “Safari Song.”
Now, we don’t need to waste time explaining why we wanted to see this song live. From the first guitar riff to the closing drum beats, “Safari Song” is awesome. It’s also one of GVF’s most popular songs; we theorized in the car that they had to play it due to its sheer popularity. And yet, the setlist remained devastatingly void of this specific banger. This was upsetting, honestly. To say we were bummed it didn’t get played is an understatement. The first words out of Ben’s mouth when we got back to the car were “they didn’t play it!”
Overall, this was a very odd but exhilarating experience. Considering it was all of our first times navigating a concert as press, we’re fairly proud of how it turned out. Sure, the traffic was hell. Sure, we didn’t hear “Safari Song.” But we did see Greta Van Fleet, in really close, free seats. We did hear “Highway Tune.” And we did have a fantastic time. It’s safe to say that WVUD will be sending DJs out on press passes more often in the future, and it’s definitely safe to say that Greta Van Fleet has made fans out of us.
As I write this very review, it has been precisely four days since Olivia Rodrigo, the world’s latest iconic pop girly, released GUTS to the world. Suffice it to say, it was a step in the right direction for her (at least, from my perspective).
I think I may have been one of the only people on this planet who didn’t obsess over SOUR. I liked most of the singles, but I found it to be a largely repetitive album full of the same sad song in a bunch of different keys. Yet, due to significant peer pressure and my own dedication to supporting fellow teenage girls, I decided to give GUTS a listen. After all, even if it was another sad album, I cry sometimes. Why not update my sad playlist a little?
What I found instead was so much more than I anticipated.
Now, is GUTS a perfect album? No, but is it a step in the right direction for Rodrigo? One thousand percent, yes. As I said before, my main criticism of SOUR was that it all sounded so similar. This latest album took that criticism to heart and made absolutely sure it did not happen again. GUTS is an eclectic, emotional, egregiously catchy sophomore album that perfectly encapsulates the angst of being 19 and having no idea where life is going to take you (a struggle that I clearly cannot relate to at all, cough cough).
Say what you will about Olivia Rodrigo, but she knows how to open an album. “brutal” was a standout on SOUR, with its pop-punk leanings and artfully torn production. Out of all of the genres Rodrigo allows to influence her music, I definitely like her pop-punk tracks the most, and “all-american bitch” delivers on that same grit. Another thing that Rodrigo has always done right is the specific relatability of her lyrics, and the parallels between “brutal” and “all-american bitch” are yet again apparent here. I remember laughing out loud when I heard a 17-year-old Rodrigo gripe “I can’t even parallel park” on her debut album’s opener, and this opener inspired the same reaction but with a darker undertone to it. I ended up laughing at the lines, “I’m grateful all the time/I’m sexy and I’m kind/I’m pretty when I cry.” For one reason, it comes in a pure, harmonized cadence that almost invokes church music right after the bridge, which is full of screaming. Peak comedy from Rodrigo there. However, I also laughed because this song so perfectly paints the picture of a girl becoming a woman. It’s darkly funny, but also deeply painful, and much of this album delivers on that same bittersweet feeling.
The album keeps up its energy on the second track and second single of the album, “bad idea right?” which is just an absolute blast. It’s so clear while listening to GUTS that Rodrigo is having a ton of fun with these songs, and that’s one of the many positive consequences of her breaking out of her ballad-heavy shell post-SOUR. There are still ballads on this album, but I would argue that they hit harder because there are fewer of them. Songs like “making the bed” and “the grudge” would not be stand-outs on SOUR because they would be one of many, but the variety of GUTS lets these songs have the moments they deserve.
Don’t get me wrong, this album will absolutely rip your heart out if you let it. The first time I listened to the album’s closer, “teenage dream,” I audibly gasped at some of the lyrics. As a 19-year-old girl, I no longer know how to act normal after hearing “got your whole life ahead of you, you’re only nineteen/but I fear they already got all the best parts of me.” For me though, the part that truly broke my heart was the end, a cacophony of repetition as Rodrigo sings, “they all say that it gets better/it gets better the more you grow/yeah, they all say that it gets better/it gets better, but what if I don’t?” The simple terror of those lines really can ruin your life if you let them.
Yet, this album, as I previously mentioned, is also simply a lot of fun. There are plenty of songs on there that are great for dancing and singing along. “ballad of a homeschooled girl,” “get him back!,” and “love is embarrassing” are all chaotic, unapologetically fun songs that get the listener dancing. They’re also just plain funny, and I adore a funny pop song. “ballad of a homeschooled girl” contains the lines “everything I do is tragic/every guy I like is gay,” which again made me laugh out loud the first time I heard it. The entirety of “get him back!” is not only absurdly catchy, it’s also a truly hilarious song that goes further with the exploration of more industrial production that started back on SOUR with “jealousy, jealousy.” Finally, “love is embarrassing” mixes danceable guitars, painfully true lyrics, and breathy, choppy vocal styling (I am truly obsessed with the bridge of this song) to create what is definitely one of my favorite songs on the album.
Overall, I think I can safely call myself a fan of Olivia Rodrigo now. My character development from a SOUR hater to a massive fan of GUTS has been exciting, and I am proud to say that I now consider myself to be one of the girls who gets it when it comes to Olivia Rodrigo. This album gets a 9 out of 10 from me- it’s not perfect, but it’s damn near close as far as I’m concerned, and the occasional cringey line or my personal dislike of ballads will not stop me from obsessing over it. I’ve got to support my fellow messy teenage girls, especially when they’re creating art that I find so personally relatable and impactful, and I highly recommend giving GUTS a listen.
How Brandi Carlile and this album came into my life is, admittedly, a mystery. In short, I’m a faithful user of the Shazam app. Hint of a catchy chorus in the grocery store? Shazam. Intriguing instrumental break in the background of a commercial? Shazam. A voice that I think I know but I can’t name and it’s right on the tip of my tongue…you get the gist. But how or why “You and Me On The Rock” appeared in my Shazam-ed tracks on Thanksgiving Day…I truly couldn’t tell you. I’ve wracked my brain over and over trying to figure it out but I don’t even remember opening the app that day. Being the romanticizer that I am, I like to think that it was just meant to be.
This heavy-hitting masterpiece is Carlile’s latest studio album, released on October 1st, 2021, which also happens to be the day before my birthday (what can I say…it’s gotta be fate). And just to further prove its worth, it received a whopping seven Grammy nominations, bringing home three of those awards in February.
Just a quick note about Brandi: I’m a relatively new fan, seeing as it was this album that introduced me to her music, but it didn’t take long before I started a deep-dive into her discography and became invested. Put simply, I adore her. When I listened to In These Silent Days for the first time, the connection was instantaneous. Reading interviews that she’s done for this album has been nothing short of enchanting. She speaks the same way she writes lyrics, with an uncanny sense of realness to remind you that she’s just a human like the rest of us. She doesn’t hide and she doesn’t hold anything back. Not to mention she is effortlessly hysterical. It’s not very often that I find myself charmed when the interviewer includes Brandi’s exclamation over the phone as her 110 lb. dog comes unexpectedly flying into the room to cut her off mid-sentence.
It’s still a bit of a wonder to me that In These Silent Days has only ten songs; a perfect, concise, even ten songs. This album is packed to the brim with intricate musical and lyrical content, each song deeply rooted in raw, human emotion, enough to punch you in the gut every now and then. Granted, Carlile had a lot of emotional material to work with, given that this album was largely conceived during the early months of COVID, in the midst of those seemingly endless, “silent days.”
In the next part of this review, you’ll find enchantingly disjointed thoughts on my top five picks from the album. Choosing only five songs to feature was painfully difficult…but you didn’t come here to read an essay.
Unsurprisingly, I can’t say enough about “You and Me On The Rock.” It’s impossible to not crack a smile while listening to this song and it’s no shock that this is the most listened-to song on the album, racking up three of those seven Grammy nominations. The cheerful mood-boosting track channels that call for raw emotion into simple, sweet feelings of love for another. In an interview with Stereogum, Carlile notes that during the early days of COVID, she, like so many of us, felt her career and her identity be snatched away. But it left her with what she calls her “rock,” composed of her family and also faith, the latter a concept that is frequently touched upon in this album. It was this “rock” that inspired this heartwarming and blissfully domestic song. You’ll also hear delightful backing vocals from Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig of Lucius, who Carlile invited to be part of the track after producing their album, Second Nature. Unfortunately for me, I’m not only a romanticizer but a bit of a hopeless romantic as well. Sometimes this song hits a little too hard, but always in the best of ways.
“Broken Horses” comes out of left field, shattering the dreamy, folky trance that the previous tracks have put you in with its driving rock n’ roll feel and the harsh vocals that Carlile adopts. Personally, I can’t listen to this song without remembering the spectacular performance that she put on at the 2023 Grammy Awards in February. If you ask me, every song on this album demands a Grammy performance but Broken Horses was the song to do it with. In an interview after the show, Carlile noted the significance of the recognition the song received in the rock category and how she feels it’s inviting her team to explore a new sound, one that sounds a little more like rock n’ roll. In her words, rock n’ roll describes what they do in their music, taking the risk, putting everything they have out there. And that was certainly evident during the Grammys.
I don’t like to play favorites too much…but I have to admit that I’m partial to “Mama Werewolf,’ purely because it was the song that jolted me the most when I first listened to the album in its entirety. From start to finish, the song is one big, beautiful, poetic metaphor and that brings me an indescribable sense of joy (English major things, y’know?). Comparatively, it breaks the pattern of warm tracks with a more sinister introduction in a minor key. It puts you on edge a little, a feeling that you haven’t yet gotten from the album. The lyrics express Carlile’s (and I’m sure a great deal of others’) deep desire to be a good parent, while feeling herself slipping into her own generational flaws and the agony of knowing that those despised qualities won’t change. I love the idea of transformation that is embedded in these lyrics, that you can feel a “beast” come out of you at times, and then suddenly turn around again wondering how it happened. We all know the feeling in some way or another. But what I find most profound within the lyrics is that simple ask for another to “strike you down,” and be that “silver bullet in the gun.” The song cuts deep, but by the second or third listen, you start wanting it to.
“Stay Gentle” is pretty self-explanatory and there isn’t really much I need to say. Just go listen to it. It’s a bright, reflective song that everyone needs to hear and remember. The first few times I listened, I was beginning to think I wanted it to be played on my wedding day. But it wasn’t necessarily written to be the sweet parent-to-child ballad that it seems. Instead it’s directed towards the common thread that Carlile sees between her young children and many of her aging friends, legends like Joni Mitchell and Kris Kristofferson: gentleness. And she said it best in her Stereogum interview: “What is it about the world that sort of steals our gentleness and then gives it back to us just in time for us to realize that we should’ve just stayed that way?”
Admittedly, “Sinners, Saints, and Fools” is another song that I can’t do justice to in mere words. This track is where Carlile really takes a deep dive into the concept of faith and the song is, in some ways, a representation of the contrast to what she personally believes and what faith means to her. It’s a thoughtfully concocted story of the harshness that can stem from well-intentioned beliefs, beautifully illustrated through its electric edginess. I feel that what makes the track so sinister is the inclusion of the strings, which haven’t yet been featured on the album to this point. Like “Broken Horses”, it’s easy to feel the rock influence in the music for “Sinners, Saints, and Fools”. And even if you take nothing else away from it, at least stay for the last minute of the song. You won’t be sorry you did.
Overall, I think it was the rawness and the relatability in this album that drew me so forcefully to it and keeps me coming back again and again. If you want my advice, carve out forty minutes in your day to sit down with a good pair of headphones and let this record play from top to bottom. You’ll find that you get this delightful kind of whiplash every time a new song comes on and it’s nothing short of a pleasure to experience.
When was the last time you won something? Maybe it was bingo, or fifteen bucks in a scratch-off. Either way, you’re probably like me and don’t win as often as you would like to, but when you do win, it’s something spectacular. My girlfriend forwarded an email to me from Maggie Rogers with information about a “private concert” being held at Mickey’s Black Box in Lititz, Pennsylvania. Seats are limited so to keep the numbers down (and to keep Ticketmaster from crashing) the tickets were given to people by random selection if they entered into the lottery drawing. I filled everything out on a Tuesday evening and waited patiently, or at least until I fell asleep. I went to work the next day, and the next, and completely forgot about it. Friday afternoon came around and I checked my inbox, usually brimming with nonsense, to see an email from Ticketmaster that read: “you’re in”. I’m in what? What did I- ohh.
Needless to say I quickly realized what that meant and I had to explain to my girlfriend that since she was indeed the one who sent me this information, she could not be the one to beat me senseless with her Birkenstock. She was in California at the time and couldn’t come with me, so I’d like to think that made us even. I made the drive up the night of the concert and blended in with the crowd at the Black Box, a venue that’s brand-spanking new and just the right size for an artist like Maggie Rogers.
This concert was my favorite live performance I’ve ever seen, period. She’s not my favorite artist, but there’s no doubt she’s incredibly talented and worth your listen. Her new album, Surrender, was written during the pandemic and is filled with everything she missed about live performances and what music could make her feel. This mentality of music isn’t shared by everyone, but when it’s shared with everyone, it becomes a universal feeling. Something about her performance combined with the quality of the audio in the room just blew my mind. I went into this concert knowing how much of her time and energy was poured into this record and it gave me a completely different mindset to have about a concert. There’s a whole new appreciation you gain for artists when you understand what their music means to them, as well as all music in general. Being able to just stand in the same room as them and letting them sing to you is absolutely incredible.
The last time I was at a concert it was Firefly. If you’re unfamiliar with what that is, it’s an outdoor multi-day concert that has several headlining artists and multiple stages within the Dover woodlands. There’s also a tree house but that’s neither here nor there, my point is the last concert I went to was not the best acoustic experience. This beat that by miles because of the venue and the FOH engineer, who I made sure to complement at the end of the show. Clair Brothers engineers know their stuff, obviously. The venue is owned by Clair as well as staffed by them when certain artists are in town. They’re one of the largest companies you’ve never heard of.
Rogers already toured Europe at the end of 2022 and was gearing up for her U.S. tour. It was exciting to be at what was essentially a rehearsal for the second part of her tour and with that, there were a few hiccups but nothing that deterred from the essence of the performance. I’m sure when I see her again at Radio City Music Hall, it will be even more spectacular. However, I’m not sure I’ll get that smaller-venue experience again. If you’re looking for the best concert experience possible for your favorite artists, try and find a venue they’re coming to that’s way smaller than normal. There are artists and groups that can cater to larger crowds better than others, but everyone can rock the box if they wanted to.
Super Bowl LVII was not a good one for Eagles fans. After essentially dominating the first three quarters, consistent defensive errors and a final gut-wrenching field goal by the Chiefs led to Philly’s downfall. However, not everything is utterly terrible at the moment. After all, the Super Bowl brought a loss to the City of Brotherly Love, but it also brought Rihanna back to performing after a seven (yes, seven) year hiatus. To people like myself, who proudly told my friends that I was watching “Rihanna featuring the Eagles,” this was the big moment I had been anticipating with bated breath for months. And, of course, she did not disappoint.
Rihanna has not dropped an album since 2016’s Anti. She has instead focused on becoming a makeup mogul, fashion icon, and mother. Now, don’t get me wrong, I enjoy Rihanna no matter what business she is in, and while I can’t afford Fenty Beauty, I’ve literally only heard good things. Yet, my favorite Rihanna will always be Popstar Rihanna, one of the top hitmakers of the 2000s and early-2010s. The power of a fashionable, confident, unapologetically camp black woman in pop music was simply incredible, and then just like that, she disappeared from stages, supposedly never to perform “Diamonds” again. Hearts were broken, tears were shed. It was a tragic day for music.
Naturally, when Rihanna was announced as this year’s Super Bowl show, I was ecstatic, as were many others, and the show she delivered did not disappoint.
Rihanna, clad in an all-red jumpsuit, managed to deliver a spectacular performance of a dozen of her hits, despite having been out of the performance game for seven years and also casually announcing her second pregnancy. If there is one thing she knows how to do, it is get people talking. Who better than to deliver a spectacle in the middle of the world’s biggest football game?
At this point, I think it’s clear that I genuinely screamed when I recognized the beginning of “Rude Boy.” Call me a fan, I’m not sorry.
Now, a lot of people did have problems with the halftime show. Some of those concerns are valid, but also easily countered. For example, a friend of mine expressed that they wished she had danced more. Honestly, me too, but I think the 100+ backup dancers definitely did the job, especially considering the fact that Rihanna is clearly pregnant (maybe my only genuine criticism is that the backup dancers looked ridiculous. I missed part of the set because I was laughing too hard at the image of 25 dancers in massive puffer jackets T-posing their way into the show). She did her best, and that’s all we can ask of her.
Another criticism gaining traction online is that the halftime show was only Rihanna. No special, unannounced guests, which has become a sort of tradition for Super Bowl halftime performers. People theorized that Eminem or Jay-Z would emerge from a sideline and launch into one of their extremely famous songs, with these claims growing especially once the first few notes of Rihanna’s Grammy-winning 2009 hit “Run This Town” played, which was a collaboration with both Ye (previously known as Kanye West) and Jay-Z. But, no one emerged other than hundreds of backup dancers in the previously-mentioned hilarious outfits.
I contend that doing this by herself was a power move on Rihanna’s part. After all, this was meant to be her moment. Bringing out a collaborator would have added to the hype, sure, but it also would have taken away from the main event, Riri herself. Refusing to bring out any of her countless past collaborators was a strong message of confidence, saying “this moment is allmine.” She is enough of a spectacle by herself, she knows that, and she owns that.
In short, this was definitely a great halftime performance that I highly recommend watching if you missed it or rewatching if you did see it. Come for the hits, stay for the fashion, the iconic homage to Fenty Beauty, and of course, the pregnancy announcement. There truly was something for everyone, and Rihanna’s triumphant return to live performance was just as it sounds: in a word, perfect.
