Fans wait outside the State Theatre in Portland on Friday to purchase tickets to see Maggie Rogers at Thompson’s Point. Photo by Aimsel Ponti

Several hundred fans lined up at the State Theatre in Portland on Friday morning to buy tickets to see Maggie Rogers perform at Thompson’s Point this summer. Because the Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter wouldn’t have it any other way.

Rogers made tickets to her upcoming shows in 12 cities initially available to purchase in person only, an effort to avoid fees charged by online platforms and the massive markups created by ticket-grabbing bots – two elements of the controversy that arose around Ticketmaster’s handling of Taylor Swift’s Eras tour.

The line headed down High Street by the State Theatre. Photo by Aimsel Ponti

Fans in the line that snaked down High and Deering streets Friday said they appreciated the opportunity to buy tickets at face value and without competing with bots online.

“I think it’s a much more effective way to get tickets to people who actually want to see the show,” said Meredith Singleton, a student at University of Maine School of Law.

Rogers, who attended summer camp on Sebago Lake and spent time in the Midcoast during the pandemic shutdown, will perform July 31 at the outdoor Portland venue. Tickets were sold Friday, with a limit of two per person, for $65 each – and would have likely come with a $10 fee, if they had gone on sale online. Any of the 6,500 tickets that remain after Friday’s in-person sale will be available online April 14 and then at the box office, for $75, on the day of the show.

Fans similarly lined up Friday at box offices in the other cities in the U.S. and Canada on Rogers’ tour, including Brooklyn, New York, where the musician planned to greet them.

Concert promoter Lauren Wayne, who handles shows at the State Theatre and Thompson’s Point, said this is the first time she’s seen tickets to an event at those venues sold exclusively in person. She thinks future sales might follow the same model because it’s the only way for fans to get tickets directly.

Ticket-selling practices have been under scrutiny by the public and lawmakers since the fall, when leading ticket-selling platform Ticketmaster botched the handling of sales for Taylor Swift’s tour. Among the complications were secondary sellers using bots to scoop up large numbers of tickets to then resell at exorbitant markups.

Other artists, like Rogers, have made efforts to avoid using Ticketmaster for their shows. Last month, Robert Smith of British alternative rock band The Cure publicly called out the ticketing giant and its steep fees, which resulted in Ticketmaster giving refunds of $5 or $10 dollars to fans who bought tickets for the band’s upcoming tour.

Maggie Rogers. Photo by Zoe Ghertner

Rogers released her second full-length album, “Surrender,” last summer and has said she wrote the songs for it during the pandemic while isolating with her parents in the Midcoast.

Originally from Maryland, she also spent many summers in Maine as a camper and then counselor at Camp Wohelo in Raymond, where the video for her song “Dog Years” was filmed.

She has previously played in Maine to a sold-out crowd at now-shuttered Port City Music Hall in 2017 and at the State Theatre and Thompson’s Point in 2019, when she was nominated for the Grammy for best new artist.

First in line Friday morning with a lawn chair and a book was retired nurse practitioner Karen Malcolmson from Cape Elizabeth, who was pinch-hitting for her daughter Monica, a teacher in South Portland who couldn’t ditch class to buy tickets for her and her boyfriend. It was nothing new for Malcolmson, originally from New York City, who fondly recalled waiting for hours for tickets to see Joan Baez and Judy Collins in their heyday.

Celine Daubresse and Nick Sampson from Portland were second in line at the State Theatre for tickets to see Maggie Rogers. Photo by Aimsel Ponti

Right behind her was Portland couple Celine Daubresse and Nick Sampson, who had been staking out the theater from the Coffee by Design shop across the street and sprung into action when they saw Malcolmson claim her spot.

Daubresse, a movement teacher and studio owner, said dancing to Rogers’ music brings her immense joy. And she was thrilled about not having to pay fees or exorbitant prices to attend her concert. The couple had tried to get Taylor Swift tickets but were among the many who got kicked out of the Ticketmaster queue.

“It’s such a relief, I’ve been so frustrated with prices and even getting a ticket,” Daubresse said.

Audrey Bigman, who works as an executive assistant in Boston and lives in Haverhill, Massachusetts, blocked out a chunk of her Friday calendar so she could drive up to Portland to get tickets to see Rogers.

“This is the first time buying tickets in person in my life,” she said, adding she hopes other artists will adopt in-person sales going forward.

Bigman, who made friends in line that she plans to reunite with at the concert, said she also hopes that Ticketmaster will “stop being so greedy. These are everyday people wanting to see their favorite musicians.”