We discovered the very talented Michael Marcagi when he opened for The Lumineers last year. Playing intimate, emotionally detailed songs in a vast arena, in front of someone else’s audience, is no easy task, yet he handled it with remarkable ease. Now back in Paris, Marcagi finds himself in a far more fitting setting. La Maroquinerie is a human-sized room, perfectly suited to his songs of everyday drama and quiet observation.
His first album, Under The Streetlights, is due out on February 6, and the set included two songs from the upcoming LP. The rest of the performance drew primarily from his EPs Midwest Kid and American Romance, material that already feels fully formed, lived-in.
Marcagi seemed genuinely taken aback by the reception and openly grateful for the turnout, and that gratitude fed directly into a performance that felt warm, sincere and impassioned. The exchange between stage and room was immediate, each feeding off the other. Backed by a sharp and versatile band featuring guitar and banjo, keys, drums and bass, this was not campfire folk but a driving, kinetic set of remarkably mature songs, delivered with conviction and without affectation.
After the short encore and the lights came up, it was obvious to everyone in La Maroquinerie that this was the beginning of something that is going to travel far beyond that room.
Charley Crockett @ Café de la Danse, Paris - September 11th, 2023
Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band @ La Défense Arena, Nanterre - May 15th, 2023
Gregory Alan Isakov @ Trabendo, Paris - November 2nd, 2022
Jeffrey Foucault @ Trabendo, Paris - November 2nd, 2022
Israel Nash @ La Maroquinerie, Paris - June 14th, 2022
Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit @ Le Café de la Danse, Paris - November 2nd, 2017
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers @ Le Grand Rex, Paris - June 27th, 2012
