Last summer I stumbled across this video then proceeded to listen to Alaska over and over and over again through the fall.
Then one night at 2 AM in January I bought a single ticket to a Monday night Maggie Rogers show in Burlington, Vermont because her first tour wasn't stopping anywhere near Boston.
I woke up the next morning with the kind of vague regret that usually only accompanies heavy champagne consumption (the $12 ticket seemed like a bit of rash purchase as she had only released 2 songs at that point). Nevertheless, I packed a bag that Monday morning and drove 3 hours in the snow to Burlington.
Going to a show by yourself is kind of like a weird form of meditation. You find yourself standing quite still (as to not bump into anyone to avoid polite conversation), very mindful as to what is going on around you (like noticing how the kids in Burlington get dressed up for a night out in what I would wear snow-shoeing) and quietly reflecting back on the last time you were in this situation (Fall 2004, early Freshman year, at a tiny John Legend show in a BC basement class room. I barely had any friends at that point and none of them had ever heard of John Legend).
To my relief, her set consisted of more than 2 songs and her modesty ("I feel like new artists shouldn't really play an encore. The Rolling Stones should play an encore but not me") and enthusiasm ("Oh my god, thank you all so much for coming! This is the biggest crowd we've ever had! Well, I've ever had. My band has played a lot more shows than me. This is only my 5th show. Thank you so much!") was sweet and genuine.
She was also amazing live. It was definitely worth the drive.
The rest of my time in Burlington consisted of coffee shop hopping (Uncommon Grounds is good for people watching and Muddy Waters is like dining in a tree house) scoring a signed copy of Maria Semple's Today Will Be Different at Crow Bookshop and talking politics and watching Trevor Noah with my AirBnB host.
It was a great winter trip to Vermont.
P.S. Maggie Rogers now has an EP out, called Now That the Light is Fading, if you'd like to check it out. It has 5 (!) songs on it. And her new US and European tours are selling like hotcakes. Go if you can.
