Words by Zac Farr.

She has travelled to the depths of the human heart, seen the writings on the wall, felt the true power of its pump and came back gifting us glimpses of its beauty wrapped in a whole lot of pain. Maisie Peters did not just fill the Hordern with a choir of thousands of beautiful humans that knew each ballad, from Brooklyn to Coming of Age, line for line. But, she left each of us with the feeling of being heard, cared for and admired.

It's no new thing that Maisie Peters is a wordsmith. On her journey from borrowed guitars and reading lyric booklets, to her walking out on clouds with her name lighting up the room, her sound has changed, developed and we have seen experimentation with rock, alt and the good old singer-songwriter vibe come out. But, what makes Maisie - Maisie, is her ability to become the pen, stain ink with everything, from her head to her heart, to capture the tiniest of feelings, the stories no one wants to tell and create a motif where it’s safe to both love and hate your ex. Where moving on is real, and is a journey and life can both suck and you can be walking on cloud nine all at the same time and that’s okay – dance, dye your hair, be you, unapologetically, for no one other than yourself.

She brings a depth and maturity to the stage through a persona of cheek, spunk and edge of revolution vibes, that you can’t help but be drawn into. The Hordern’s wall must be proud to play part in the catalyst of so many artists’ true foundations to their Australian artists and for Maisie she sung seeds of joy into us that we will later see flourish as we are inspired, heard or comforted by her songs when we are in the car, on the train, in our homes or at the office. Establishing her audience is tricky as the room echoed prominently a choir of young woman… but with time and a development of sound and as she journeys with us – I see potential for the likes of our next swift… not just because of her gift of storytelling but her transcendence to create world, where her motifs are so strong they have the ability to define her followers’ era of life that seeps into families and well that is quite lovely. She also empowered the other two parts of the Blonde Trinity Dylan.

Gretta Ray didn’t just warm up the crowd, but pretty much had a two shows of their own. Although, two supporting acts meant the night started a touch later than Sydney siders are used to, it revealed Maisie’s character to empower artists on the rise, giving them a platform to thrive.

She has shown this with her collaborative nature of touring with Ed Sheeran, writing with industry nobodies, keeping her family close and performing beautiful renditions of her friends songs such as Noah Kahan’s Stick Season. Maisie, thank you for being you. Thank you for the time you put into your words. Thank you for loving on Australia. We are grateful we inspired you to write that teased new single The Drought.

PS. If you haven’t heard her apple music London sessions you should.