Music

The onetime Cambridge resident delivered back-to-back hits from her newest album, “Don’t Forget Me,” as well as older fan favorites.

Maggie Rogers, the Grammy-nominated singer and songwriter from Easton, Maryland, brought her enchanting indie, pop-rock sound to TD Garden on Thursday for an unforgettable evening.

Raised on folk music, Rogers began experimenting with dance music elements while studying at New York University. She gained widespread recognition in 2016 after a video of artist-in-resident Pharrell Williams visiting her class and praising her breakout single “Alaska” went viral. This success paved the way for her 2017 EP, “Now That The Light Is Fading.”

She has released two independent albums, “The Echo” (2012) and “Blood Ballet” (2014), and three albums for Capitol Records, “Heard It in a Past Life” (2019), “Surrender” (2022) and “Don’t Forget Me” (2024). In 2020 she was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best New Artist.

And Rogers is no stranger to the Boston area: She graduated from Harvard Divinity School with a master’s degree in religion and public life in May 2022.

‘We are so honored to play at TD Garden’

As fans filled the venue, excitement built for Rogers’ highly anticipated set. American singer-songwriter Ryan Beatty opened the show with soulful ballads before Rogers emerged from beneath the stage platform to cheers from the crowd.

Dressed in a glittery cape, she took to the stage with the upbeat anthem “That’s Where I Am,” instantly energizing the crowd. Her stage presence was magnetic and her dancing near feral with joy, making it clear why she has garnered such a devoted following.

Her TD Garden show was the first stop of the second leg of her Don’t Forget Me Tour and her first headline arena tour.

“Tonight, we are so honored to play at TD Garden,” Rogers said. “And it’s a full moon, I’ve been waiting for this for so long,” she added, with laughs from the crowd.

She kept her appreciation for Boston going strong when she substituted a reference to the New York Knicks in the spoken part of “So Sick Of Dreaming” with the NBA’s Boston Celtics instead.

“So he calls me up 15 minutes before the reservation, and says he’s got Celtics tickets instead. I mean, I was at the restaurant!” Rogers sang, inviting the crowd to scream back the Celtics reference along with her.

Paying tribute to the arena venue, Rogers had a kiss cam pan across the crowd as she played “Love You For A Long Time.” She followed with a newly released song, “In The Living Room.”

‘So much of this show has been designed off of my time in Cambridge … It’s really nice to be home’

The night was a celebration of her latest album, “Don’t Forget Me,” alongside fan favorites from previous releases. The setlist was a carefully curated journey through her discography, with older, well-loved tracks like “Dog Years” and “Fallingwater” resonating deeply with the audience. 

Rogers’ genuine appreciation for Boston was palpable, as she expressed her awe and gratitude for playing at TD Garden – a venue she said she felt she had been preparing for for three years.

“I was in Cambridge this morning and had coffee with a professor, and when I came here in the fall of 2021, I was so deep stuck inside myself, I was in my cocoon, all cozied up inside,” she said.

“And that year I came to TD Garden like eight or nine times to study, I wanted to see what it looked like to put on a show in this arena. So much of this show has been designed off of my time in Cambridge and my time here,” she added.

Before launching into “I Still Do,” Rogers shouted out Cambridge restaurant Pammy’s, where she said she would go for their negronis on tap.

“It’s really nice to be home,” she said.

Rogers took a moment to acknowledge the passing of English singer and songwriter Liam Payne, who died at age 31 on Wednesday after falling from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina, according to police. Rogers sung a portion of “Night Changes” by One Direction, the boy band of which Payne was a member.

The crowd swayed and sang along during tracks like “Alaska” and “Fallingwater.” Confetti sprayed from the ceiling of the venue as a disco ball above the end of the stage catwalk glittered for “Light On.” The audience illuminated the venue with their phone flashlights, creating a breathtaking sea of lights.

Rogers seamlessly shifted between high-energy bangers and heartfelt ballads throughout her two-hour show. Despite the grand setting of TD Garden, the show was intimate and transformed the venue into a celebration of music and connection.

As the night drew to a close, Rogers returned for an encore, performing “Don’t Forget Me.” Her performance at TD Garden was certainly unforgettable, and was more than just a concert; it was a shared experience that highlighted the power of music to connect people.

Rogers will continue her tour with upcoming stops in New York City at Madison Square Garden, followed by performances in Toronto, Ontario; Chicago; Minneapolis; Seattle; Portland, Oregon; San Francisco; and Inglewood, Calif., wrapping up the tour at the Kia Forum on Nov. 2.

Setlist for Maggie Rogers at TD Garden, Oct. 17, 2024:

• That’s Where I Am 
• Drunk
• So Sick of Dreaming
• The Kill
• Want Want
• Say It
• Love You for a Long Time
• On & On & On
• In The Living Room
• Dog Years
• (Interlude – Killing Me Softly With His Song cover)
• If Now Was Then
• I Still Do
• All the Same
• Alaska
• Anywhere With You 
• Fallingwater
• Light On
• Encore:
• Don’t Forget Me

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