The Japanese House, fronted by Amber Bain, is a dreamlike band formed in Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom. They are currently opening for Maggie Rogers and opened to a crowd of over 7,000 people at the Michigan Lottery Amphitheater on Sunday night. During her performance, Amber expressed contentment for Detroit as her, now, fiancé is from there. After explaining the story of how they fell in love, she performed a new song about this situation. Amber’s performance got heads bobbing from barricade to back in the lawn. Her live vocals enhance her music’s feeling of making a listener feel like they’re floating. Simultaneously, many of her songs make a listener want to get up and dance similar to the crowd at the amphitheater.
The lights dimmed and the crowd was roaring. The band slowly trickled into the stage at the Michigan Lottery Amphitheater on Sunday night. From the center of the stage, you see her rise, clad in white. Maggie Rogers entered with the biggest smile on her face ready to put on one of the best performances of the summer. She came ready to sing, dance, and interact with her beautiful fans. The stage was covered in carpet and I felt like this matched the energy given by her and her music.
Maggie Rogers made every part of her performance feel personal. A song everyone might be familiar with, she would put a spin on it. Or, for example, during “Love You For A Long Time,” there was a kiss cam which engaged the audience and was thoroughly entertaining. As if the performance wasn’t already engaging enough, Maggie shared stories of her musical journey too.
She confessed that that night in Michigan was her first time playing piano on stage, which she says was, “a horrible thing to say considering how many times my mom took me to piano lessons.” Rogers states that it was a private thing for her to sit at her piano and listen to Nick Drake. She talked about how she has two things on her piano “dashboard:” a picture of her with a bowl cut as a young kid and a piece of paper that says “what’s the truth?” Rogers said it was cringy to say out loud; however, I and many others in the crowd enjoyed the sentiment.
During the beginning portion of the concert where I was in the photo pit, I saw the setlist had the last song as “Landslide” and I was immediately intrigued. By the end of the concert, this was resolved by Rogers explaining that she was learning covers on the road and invited Amber of The Japanese House back out. This was a beautifully sentimental way to end their show, especially given how special this performance was for both artists.
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