Maggie Rogers Brings Feral Joy to Minneapolis

Last updated on March 26th, 2023 at 06:34 pm

On her much awaited Feral Joy tour, Maggie Rogers stopped by The Armory on Saturday night along with her friends from college, Del Water Gap, to deliver a characteristically dazzling performance. Sporting a shaggy black coat that later revealed a sleek halter top, Maggie broke away from any remaining notion that her music is only for the Chaco-wearing, kombucha-brewing among us. It’s absolutely for them, too, but with the Feral Joy tour (and the album “Surrender” that birthed it) Maggie delivered dance moves and sonic choices that brought a more eclectic, far-reaching spectrum of styles and emotion than previous stops in the Twin Cities.

Photos by Juliet Farmer

It isn’t hard to determine what births fans of Del Water Gap. While the band played flawlessly behind him, Del Water Gap’s frontman Samuel Holden Jaffe brought all the star power a body can muster to the stage. With the wild energy of Freddie Mercury and the decidedly dark intimacy of Deafheaven’s George Clarke, Jaffe made it clear that he had this whole performing thing dialed in. And at times it was even clear that some of the audience members had come for them in particular, a rare trait of an opening act.

Maggie erupted onto the stage with an equally magnetic energy, if not a tad ethereal in nature. The theology degree from which much of her newest album’s inspiration is derived was apparent in the cool, washed out lighting and upper balcony gazes that could have mistaken for a peak at heaven above.

Maggie’s seriousness has accompanied her throughout her tours thus far in her career, as is evident from her highly intentional set lists, clear passion, and the occasional frustrated monologues at drunk men who won’t stop talking. But this tour stop was accompanied by a well deserved, commanding presence that I’d not before seen from Maggie, even stopping a song (“Love You For a Long Time”) three times because for technical difficulties. Far from a diva move, this gesture seemed clearly aimed at fans, some of whom had waited eagerly for their favorite song.

Attending a Maggie Rogers show is a little bit like attending a spiritual ritual of sorts. You can’t help but move your body in the same electrified, fearless way as her. You sing the songs you’ve memorized with the same heartened passion as you would a hymn, and when you are graced by a song you may have skipped on her latest album, you’re ignited with a new perspective like that of a sacred text, read aloud and suddenly making sense.

To leave a Maggie Rogers show is just as spiritual, in a strange way. Walking out feels like floating away from a great workout class, or a visit from a UFO. Flushed, grinning, and wide awake, the glowing faces spilling out onto First Avenue were unmistakeable to those who understand.