LIVE REVIEW: Maisie Peters is “One to Watch”
The name Maisie Peters had definitely crossed my path at some point, floating around in conversation perhaps, but I have to admit I didn’t really know much about her. In preparation for this concert, however, I felt the need to familiarize myself with her music and so, as you do pre-concert, I found myself listening to her on repeat – and I was instantly hooked.
Upon arrival, a lengthy queue was wrapping around the O2 Academy Leeds. I don’t know what I was expecting given the extent of Maisie’s fanbase and that it was a sold out show, but I was surprised by the large number of people. After moving swiftly through the queue, I walked into ‘Mr. Perfectly Fine’ playing. The pre-concert playlist was packed with one good song after the next, and all notably by strong female artists – Kacey Musgraves, Taylor Swift, Amy Winehouse, and Britney Spears, to name a few. The crowd was filled with pleated and plaid mini skirts, punk-inspired baby tees, and a positively surprising number of men – if I had to throw out a guess, I’d say a solid 70/30 split.
An hour after doors, support act Gretta Ray, an indie pop singer/songwriter from Australia and Maisie’s close friend of three years, brought good energy to the already buzzing room of eager fans. With songs such as ‘Upgraded’ and ‘You’ve Already Won’, she had the crowd bobbing their heads and singing her lyrics back to her. By the time Gretta had finished her set and was walking off stage, the room had filled up significantly and the crowd was stretched almost all the way back to the bar, with more people still flowing in, ready for Maisie’s arrival.
Although already high, the energy levels immediately sparked as soon as Maisie stepped on stage. The Good Witch (2023) had its album title track kicking off the evening at a few minutes past nine with white, flashing strobes lighting up the stage, making a set of block letters spelling out “GOOD WITCH” visible. The snippet of ‘Good Witch’ was followed by ‘Coming of Age’, to which the crowd started bouncing along. Three songs in, Maisie took the time to say “Hello” and “Welcome to the Good Witch Tour”, before going on to sing ‘Love Him I Don’t’, but letting the crowd finish off the song for her.
Maisie acknowledged the time limit of the concert, and that she sadly wouldn’t be able to play “everyone’s favorite songs” – a problem which she did her best to solve with a medley of four songs: three of her own and a cover of One Direction’s ‘Night Changes’ which got the crowd going crazy. Despite the limited time, Maisie graciously took the time to introduce almost every song, providing a little backstory to how the song came about or sharing a short, fun anecdote.
It took me a while to notice, but I could probably count the number of phones in the air during Maisie’s performance on my two hands. In today’s day and age, that is extremely rare, and it was a beautifully wholesome thing to see – people simply living in the moment and enjoying the music rather than recording every single second. Maisie was strutting across the stage in a classy, red dogtooth-print mini dress with incredible energy throughout the set, nicely including the entire room – left to right, top to bottom – and the energy from the audience, from the first note to the last, was equally as incredible: Arms were swaying, phone flashlights were raised, and people were jumping and singing their hearts out.
After closing the show with her 2022 hit single ‘Cate’s Brother’, the crowd’s loud chanting of “Maisie, Maisie, Maisie” got her back on stage for a two song encore: ‘History Of Man’ and ‘Lost The Breakup’. Apart from a slight technical difficulty, which was brushed off nicely, and a restart of ‘There It Goes’ to make sure a fan in the audience was okay, the evening was flawless. If I had to pinpoint a flaw, the venue’s sound system could have held a slightly higher standard: unfortunately, it couldn’t really keep up with the more base-heavy and upbeat songs, but the calmer, more acoustic songs definitely did better and sounded superb.
The newest member of Maisie Peters’ fanclub may be my friend Jack, who after his shift behind the bar, spontaneously joined us in the crowd. To quote his post-concert words: “I’ve never listened to her before, but she was really good. I thought she had a really good stage presence and I thought she interacted with the crowd really well – she’s one to watch.” As a newly found fan of hers myself, I will definitely be updating my Spotify playlists with all things Maisie Peters, and I highly suggest you give her a listen and do the same.
Maisie Peters’ newest album The Good Witch (Deluxe) is available on all streaming platforms.
