The Crane Wives at Palace Theatre, St Paul MN (July 12, 2025)

1. Scars
2. Queen of Nothing
3. Bitter Medicine
4. Allies or Enemies
5. The Wolf
6. Steady, Steady
7. Take Me to War
8. Black Hole Fantasy
9. Nobody
10. Say It
11. The Moon Will Sing
12. Arcturus Beaming
13. Mad Dog
14. Sleeping Giants
15. Tongues & Teeth
    — Encore —
16. The Hand That Feeds
17. Curses

A nearly perfect Saturday evening in Saint Paul made the extremely long line at the Palace Theatre no problem at all. And what was the cause of those very long lines? Indie band The Crane Wives was in town to perform.

The evening started with Icelandic singer & songwriter Arny Margret. I last saw her opening for John Grant in March 2025 and ended that review talking about how more touring would increase the confidence at all of the non-music parts of a performance.

I didn’t think I would be checking in on her progress so soon! Margret again performed solo with guitar and she’s still killing it on the musical side, with the early going having some similarities to her show at The Dakota. But it was very pleasant to see her growth and improved confidence as a performer, as she handled the massive applause of the Palace audience quite well.

She may never be an extremely gregarious sort on stage, but the poise and a sense that she knew she belonged on that stage was a palpable step up from March. And these songs deserve that strength as they are really quite beautiful. Margret is a voice worth seeking out and her music exudes a depth that belies her youth. The reaction from the crowd was genuine and positive and although in a little different direction from the headliner, I think it was close enough to speak to the crowd.

She ended with an efficient set of just over thirty minutes. Having seen both her Minnesota shows, I’ll be on the watch for her next performance and how she continues to develop. I found out after the show that Margret had a fever and had left immediately after the show, which is quite impressive given how well she did. Get better quickly!

The Crane Wives are a quartet based out of Grand Rapids, Michigan. They took their name from a 2006 album by indie darlings The Decemberists, who in turn had named their album from the Japanese folk legend. The band is centered as indie rock, but also lean heavily into folk and Americana.

Guitarists Emilee Petersmark and Kate Pillsbury share lead vocal duties, with drummer Dan Rickabus also providing harmonies, and bassist Ben Zito rounding out the group. They have released seven albums, most recently 2024’s Beyond Beyond Beyond, which was what The Crane Wives were touring in support of.

They had a brilliantly dramatic set up before getting started, building the crowd anticipation up before ever coming on stage. But when they did, it was a stunning opening and Scars was outstanding. Petersmark and Pillsbury played excellently off each other and although one of them may have lead vocals, their comfort in sharing lead was extremely obvious.

The crowd, particularly the younger teens in the front section were singing along to nearly every song. Bitter Medicine was alarmingly good, with Petersmark’s “bull sh*t” lyric hitting hard. As the band rolled into older material, Allies or Enemies had the audience in full throated sing along mode, with Pillsbury thanking them for joining in. We also got a brief moment as they asked how many people were at their first The Crane Wives concert, with many hands and screams.

A quick question followed if it was anyone’s first ever concert and a surprising number of hands went back in the air. With a “We’ll try to make it a good one”, the band was back in full action and I can’t find enough ways to say it was simply tremendous.

The Wolf was electric and the band was clearly starting to feed off that high audience energy in the best possible way. A “You guys are wonderful!” was certainly heart felt. Take Me to War let Petersmark rage vocally and Rickabus’ drums were staccato artillery sounding hits.

Black Hole Fantasy is probably my favorite song off the recent album, and those opening chords struck deep as Pillsbury started singing, and this song as a mini-movie took off. As the lyrics ended and they went into the extended outro, The Crane Wives had crushed it. I don’t know if this is the reception they get every night, but both band and audience were flying high.

Say It finally slowed things down a little but was still intense enough with those double harmonies backing Pillsbury’s lead vocals. We got our first wolf howl from the band, and with a full throated reply from the audience. A note of how amazing to have this large audience (referring to getting 20 people at shows in years past), the band continued to appreciate the moment.

Arcturus Beaming, the first single release from Beyond Beyond Beyond, highlighted both Perersmark and Pillsbury in true co-lead vocals at points and really rocked with emphatic guitar work from Pillsbury.

Mad Dog was probably the first moment that felt like the end of the concert was showing up, but the crowd doubled down on their singing and Petersmark leaned into her lead vocals as if this might go on forever.

At this point, even the drum intro for the next song was recognizable enough for the crowd to be ready for Sleeping Giants. Closing out the main set, they gave an initially convincing sign that it was over, but they were soon back for a two number encore.

The Hand That Feeds was a perfectly placed song for the start, while “Curses”, after an extended drum intro, closed things out strong. The Crane Wives had given a truly stellar performance and had left the St. Paul audience completely enthralled.