On Tuesday I got to cash in on the birthday present from my parents to see one of my favorite artists, Maggie Rogers, on her Don’t Forget Me tour. Both my girlfriend, Brena, and I are huge Maggie fans, and we have both seen her twice before (separately in 2019 and together last summer), so we knew it was going to be a great show.

Don’t Forget Me is Rogers’s third album and corresponding third headline tour. The Philadelphia show on her last tour was at The Mann Center, a partially open-air venue, and we were way back on the lawn past the covered amphitheater; so though we had a great time, we did not have the best view. For this tour she played Wells Fargo Center, a huge step up and, she told the crowd, the biggest arena on the tour thus far. Our seats were amazing this time (thanks to my parents!): 10 rows back in the lower bowl section on the side of the stage.

Compared to Rogers’ first album, I was a bit disappointed by her sophomore album, Surrender, but this most recent one, Don’t Forget Me, was a complete redemption, and I had it on repeat for weeks after its release. A more rock-inclined, return-to-form chronicling heartbreak and Rogers’s changing life as she rounds out her 20s in the public eye, Don’t Forget Me is a distillation of the beauty and pain of letting go. I couldn’t wait to sing along to these songs live.

The set list was a balanced mix of songs from all three of Rogers’ albums including, of course, her breakout hit “Alaska,” though she played a slowed-down version of it. The production on this tour was more complete than her previous tours: The stage included a catwalk and a lift, and she did a few costume changes. There was an Eras Tour-reminiscent acoustic segment of the show where Rogers sat down at a piano and talked to the crowd before playing the heart-wrenching “I Still Do.” She shouted out her high school teachers from her hometown in Maryland who were at the show (incidentally, only a few rows ahead of us), who she had visited earlier that day. While I love dancing during the energetic parts of concerts, I also always appreciate when the artist slows down and fosters intimacy with the crowd, and Rogers struck that perfect balance.

My favorite from the new album, “The Kill,” was everything I hoped it would be live, and there was an audience kiss cam during the romantic “Love You for a Long Time,” which was funny and sweet (seeing so many people chicken out of kissing, Brena and I were a little disgruntled we weren’t on it). Rogers closed the show with the appropriate and eponymous “Don’t Forget Me,” an entreaty to the crowd as well as an ex-lover. I definitely will not forget this show anytime soon, and I’ll be there whenever Maggie Rogers next graces Philly with her presence.

— Hannah Gruen, advertising & events coordinator