Nearly three years after her last performance in Washington, D.C., British singer-songwriter Maisie Peters played to a sold-out 9:30 Club on April 14. Performing 14 songs from across her decade-long career, Peters set the scene for her third studio album “Fluorescence,” which releases May 15. In doing so, Peters also set the record straight on her identity as an artist.
I have been a fan of Peters for almost five years and have seen her live a dozen times across three cities. On her “Before the Bloom” tour, she dialed back the rockstar persona synonymous with her sophomore album, “The Good Witch,” putting on a show so genuine it felt like a confession. This flower-wielding, flowy-dress-wearing, acoustic-guitar-playing Maisie Peters is the artist she has been all along.
Before Peters graced the stage, indie-pop artist Bella Kay came on as the opener. I didn’t know anything about her going into the set, but later found out her final song, “iloveitiloveitiloveit,” is viral on TikTok. Though Kay’s powerful voice and relatable lyrics were great lead-ins to Peters’ performance, her music failed to stand out to me. Currently, nothing sets her apart from the other artists in her genre that I know and love, but I could definitely see myself listening to her once she develops her own personal brand and distinct style.
Shortly after, the cricket and wind ambient noises that marked the downtime between sets went quiet, the lights dimmed and the recording of Peters’ poem titled “Before the Bloom” began to play. Here, Peters set the intention for the space. In the spirit of the poem, the concert saw Peters aiming to crawl “through the mud of the past” and “sing the songs that put you back together” with “the people who matter most to you.”
Peters opened her set with “Love Him I Don’t,” the lyrical power ballad from her debut album “You Signed Up For This,” which is not only her most played song but one she has previously called her favorite. Every time I hear this song live, I am blown away by Peters’ vocal range and poetic writing style. If you are new to Peters as a musician, this is the perfect place to start.
She followed up with “Lost the Breakup,” which I was surprised she played, given the criticism following her performance of it on “The Eras Tour.” The bridge, a talking verse mocking her ex, earned the most hate from social media commenters. Yet on the 9:30 stage, it was tackled with confidence, as if writing over her past.
Next were two already released singles from the upcoming album, “Audrey Hepburn,” followed by “Say My Name in Your Sleep,” which was seamlessly blended with a cover of “Silver Springs” by Fleetwood Mac. Though I love both songs by Peters, her choice to play them back to back gave me emotional whiplash. In “Audrey Hepburn,” she reflects on the quiet moments of a new love, while in “Say My Name in Your Sleep,” she hopes a past love will never forget her.
After playing another “You Signed Up for This” favorite of mine, “Volcano,” Peters shifted the tone from remorseful and angry to hopelessly in love. She introduces “Vampire Time,” an unreleased song from her upcoming project, which features journal-style narration. Peters tells the story of how she met her current boyfriend, saying she needed to know “what you’re doing tomorrow / And the rest of your life.”
The sound is a twist on the 2010s hey-ho style, incorporating a folky guitar riff, heavy bass and a fiddle solo from keyboardist Tina Keys (Christina Hizon). For someone who doesn’t write many hopeful love songs, Peters was able to perfectly capture the giddy, butterfly-stomach first stages of a crush. Even without having heard the rest of the album, I am confident this will be one of the hits.
“You You You,” the strongest lyrical offering from “Fluorescence” so far, was followed by her two most poetic tracks from “The Good Witch,” being “History of Man” and “There It Goes.” Peters’ writing style has always been authentic, which was particularly expressed by this section of the show.
She closed out the set with “My Regards,” the most recent single from her upcoming album. Twangy and cheeky, this song pays homage to female country artists. Peters shared that this song allowed her to play “the role of fierce protector instead of simpering love interest.”
The music video for “My Regards” is directed by Amelia Dimoldenberg with Georgetown alumni Benito Skinner (CAS ’16) starring alongside Peters. It includes a line dance, which Peters and Tina Keys taught the crowd in a comedic sketch. During the final chorus, the whole crowd joined in, clapping and twirling in perfect harmony.
Overall, I love Peters and her work. While her performance was incredible as usual and I understand the purpose of this tour is to promote the whole album, I wish she had taken this opportunity to play some deeper cuts, especially if the space’s intention was, as it initially seemed, to go back and reflect on her career with her truest of fans.
That being said, this concert succeeded in building my anticipation for Peters’ upcoming album. Here is hoping that she brings her radiance back to the District soon.
