“Every one of you has won the breakup": Maisie Peters at the Leadmill

Is that Maisie Peters? Why is she on Devonshire street? Should I say hi? Her tote bag says, 'I make boys cry.' Maybe she’ll make me cry. Oh fuck it.

“Hi, are you Maisie Peters?”

“Haha yes, I am.”

Despite the cautionary tote, Maisie is really nice. She’s been in Sheffield for days and is off to Church for vegan food.

Izzy, a superfan, responds to my photo with Maisie: “What the hell. You can’t send that photo casually, I’m so jealous.”

Later that night Ramos messages:

“Maisie Peters is at a pub quiz. It’s on Instagram.”

“I recognize that beer mat. That’s the Red Lion.”

To understand our excitement, you need to understand Maisie’s music. So I coined a term: a Maisie moment. It's when you hear a lyric and go, “Shit, that is what I feel!” Lots of songs do this, but Maisie’s hit every time.

That's why Izzy the superfan asks on the way to the gig, “What songs are we going to cry to?” The discussion only ends when the Leadmill comes into sight. “Hamish, I told you we had to get here for five. Look how big this queue is.”

At 9.15pm Maisie's voice surrounds the venue. The self-proclaimed good witch is casting a spell. “Put your thoughts and feelings aside for 90 minutes.” Pause for dramatic effect. And then, “wooo woo.” 'Body Better' kicks in and the crowd turns electric. The spell worked.

My Maisie moment comes. The lines, “Please don’t give up on me yet / I know I’ll get better / I’m just not better yet,” take me back to last October, when this gig went on sale. I am emotionally burnt out. I buy two tickets but have no one to go with. Now I’m standing with eight amazing friends, smiling my biggest grin and singing every song. My Maise moment, realising I’d got better.

I’m not the only one having a Maisie moment. Everyone is moving on from bad relationships, insecurities, feeling like a wreck.

This is meant to be a victory tour for Maisie’s first album, You Signed Up For This; it’s actually a victory tour for the journey each audience member has been on since first hearing these songs. The biggest cheer of the night was for Maisie getting her driving license.

So when she says, “Every one of you has won the breakup," the Leadmill laps its up. We’re dancing like our ex is watching and we all go into the night as winners.