Maggie Rogers’ mesmerising Glastonbury set showed all the makings of a future headliner

Maggie Rogers doesn’t think she should be here. Not just specifically at Glastonbury Festival, but on the stage, in front of thousands of adoring fans all over the world. In between each song Rogers stands in awe, almost welling up in appreciation to every single person in the audience – and there’s a lot of us.

But this is where she belongs. Over the past year she’s gone from a student at New York University making Pharrell a tad weepy with her astonishing song ‘Alaska’, to packing out the John Peel tent on Saturday lunchtime at one of the biggest festivals of the summer. It’s her first festival ever in the UK, and she only played her first ever earlier this week; though any sign of nervousness was nowhere to be seen.

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The minimal ‘Colour Song’ gave the proceedings a gentle start, allowing her stunning pipes to hypnotize the early risers; ‘Now that the light is fading/Silver and purple at twilight’ she croons to a stunned and silent crowd.

But Rogers truly comes alive in her bigger, poppier numbers. Like new song ‘Split Stones’ which boasts a mammoth chorus, and her cover of ‘Wannabe’ with indie troubadour Declan McKenna where the pair swing and spin through the joyous interlude.

‘Little Joys’ offers a brief glimpse of Rogers’ earlier, folkier material and showcases and her knack for the intimate ones, though Neil Young might be a bit shocked to see what Rogers has done to ‘Harvest Moon’ during her banging rework.

As the set closes, Rogers returns to songs from her debut EP ‘Now That The Light Is Fading’, prancing around during ‘On + Off’ and set closer ‘Alaska’, which draws a bigger singalong than she could likely ever of imagined.

It’s the making of a star, and someone already destined to play stages at this festival and beyond much bigger than this. She may sing about the ‘light fading’, but her star is burning bright and for the foreseeable future.

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Maggie Rogers played:

Color Song
Split Stones
Dog Years
Wannabe (Spice Girls cover with Declan McKenna)
Little Joys
Better
Harvest Moon (Neil Young cover)
On + Off
Alaska

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