Maisie Peters Tour Review – 04/03/26 at Forum, Melbourne
There I was, standing outside the Forum after witnessing the first of two Melbourne shows by Maisie Peters. As I reflected on the many surprises from the evening, I realised just how unprepared I was when entering the venue only three-or-so hours earlier.
Maisie Peters is an English singer-songwriter who has been releasing hit after hit since 2017. She is a great writer, with lyrics that are sometimes poetic, sometimes relatable, but often a mixture of the two. Her third studio album, Florescence, is out in May 2026, and she’s currently performing a series of shows that act as a retrospective look at her previous work, as well as a prelude to what is to come.
The opener for this tour is Aleksiah, a pop act from Adelaide. Just like Peters, her songs feature themes that are relatable to most young Australians, which felt like a perfect match for this tour. Aleksiah’s energy was a joy to see, as she jumped around the stage hyping everyone up for the main act. Many of her songs feel quite large in scale, and I would love to see them performed with a live band in the future. I feel like the extra punch of live instrumentation would add a lot to her performance. I also have to give a special shoutout to Ruby the electric guitar, who took the stage about halfway through her set.
Once the opener’s set was over, the venue was devoid of music while the main act’s stage setup was finalised. Instead, the Forum was filled with the sound of nature. Birds chirped, grass rustled, and insects made their little insect noises. This made for a very unique concert experience, but it felt perfect for the set that we were about to see.
After a half-hour without music, Maisie Peters and her band kicked the show off with a bright collection of opening songs that seemed to bring colour and warmth back into the space. After being without it for so long, the return of music felt a lot more impactful than if house music had been playing the entire time in-between sets.
Maisie’s stage presence was a joy to watch, with each song getting a short introduction. This added a lot of context to the lyrics, and also drew attention to the very purposeful way the setlist had been constructed. This wasn’t just an hour or so of playing the hits, every song was here for a reason. Every song flowed into the next, which was incredibly impressive considering that Maisie was pulling from multiple EPs, albums, and newer singles for this tour.
Highlights from the evening were the newly released single Audrey Hepburn, the superbly written History of Man, and a lesser-known song off her debut record called Volcano. The way these songs were performed felt very conversational, like the band was sitting down and telling you a story rather than performing to a sold-out crowd of 2,000 people.
There were many surprises over the course of the evening as well. Melbourne act Gretta Ray joined the stage for a performance of Say My Name In Your Sleep, as well as for the dance routine section of the closing track My Regards. It is always a joy to see Gretta perform, even if it is just for a couple of cameos here and there. Two members of the local pop trio Blusher also joined in for the dance routine, and it was great to hear how much love they got from the crowd.
But the biggest appearance of the night was easily an unprecedented duet with Ed Sheeran himself, who joined Maisie for a quick performance of his track Castle on the Hill. This moment was included as Peters had joined Sheeran on a world tour a few years ago, and had made it a tradition to always watch him perform this song from the side of the stage. With Ed currently in the country for a massive new tour, it felt like a full-circle moment for Maisie to have him on stage at one of her own shows this time.
All in all, this show was wonderful and certainly gave me a new appreciation for Maisie Peters’ music, as well as prepared me and countless other fans for the release of her upcoming album.
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