Caroline Kingsbury and Maris Setlist

Intro
Give Me A Sign
Heaven’s Just A Flight
16
Breaking Apart
The Fight
Crashland
Was it a Dream
— Space Station Transition —
Massive Escape
Chocolate
I Really Don’t Care!
Alabama
— TSA Transition —
Mary & I
Heavenly Bodies
Jessica
Julia Roberts
Chameleon
Our House
Take My Phone Away
Strawberry Sheets
Funeral
Pain and pleasure
Shock Treatment
Pink Pony Club (Chappell Roan cover)
Goodbye Forever
It’s Hard (to be a Man)
False Idol
Super F*** Mega Star
— Merch Commercial Transition —
Kissing Someone Else
Salt Water Taffy
Give Me A Sign

Tour Dates

Oct 7 Denver, CO Marquis Theater
Oct 10 Seattle, WA Barboza
Oct 11 Vancouver, BC Biltmore Cabaret
Oct 14 Berkeley, CA Cornerstone
Oct 15 Los Angeles (LA), CA Echoplex

Alright, another Twin Cities music venue under my belt as the Green Room played host to co-headliners, Caroline Kingsbury and Maris. It’s a fun, intimate venue with plenty of great sightlines. The balcony allows for great views of the stage; straight on you still fell plenty close, and from the sides you feel like you’re practically on stage. When I review shows, I tend to move about and really couldn’t find a bad spot. If you haven’t been, check it out.

As is my way, I gravitate to shows with female leads (from a voice POV, not necessarily a self-identifying POV), so when I saw this show on the calendar, I jumped at the chance. I didn’t know anything about either Caroline or Maris before the show. I listened to each of them a little bit on Spotify before but still went it pretty uninitiated. The stage is pretty simple with a big ol’ moon on as the only decoration (see pictures) and a few rugs, which ended up being tripping hazards. The moon was part of their alien theme, which they explained about three-quarters of the way through the show.

The show started with a voice over riffing on the Star Wars A New Hope beginning, except that in this version a lesbian alien and a bisexual astronaut join together to celebrate with us. Caroline and Maris both come to the stage joined by Julian Lewis on the drums and Andrew Lucas on guitar. They know what the crowd wants to hear and launch into their hit duet “Give Me A Sign”, which I recognize so we’re off to a good start. Maris departed the stage and Caroline kept the energy going with a three-song set led by “Heaven’s Just A Flight”, which she wrote shortly after her brother passed away in 2019. After Caroline’s set, Maris came back to the stage for hers. The energy was high as she started her set and she took it even higher. The crowd absolutely adored her, and she was giving it back. For you regular readers, you’ve probably picked up on my appreciation for artists who are genuinely happy to be on stage. I don’t think joy like that can be faked and Maris seemed to be alight with euphoria (and not the HBO series kind).

After Maris’ third song, there was a “Space Station Interlude”, which had both on stage and a suitcase hand-off from Caroline to Maris who exited the stage. Caroline certainly has an ‘80’s vibe and both “Massive Escape” and “Chocolate” lean into it. She has a confidence in her stage presence and had great interaction with the crowd. There was another swap after four songs with Maris coming up for five songs. Again, Maris ratcheted up the energy with her set. For “Heavenly Bodies”, she had Andrew come front and center to slay on the guitar. “Jessica” was amazing with Maris coming down into the crowd to lead a push pit. As you can imagine the crowd ate that up. Amazingly, she kept the energy going with “Julia Roberts” and then slowed it down with “Chameleon”, which showcases her amazing voice so beautifully.

My God, we’re only just past the halfway point. Caroline came back on stage for six more songs, which included “Strawberry Sheets” and “Pain and Pleasure” before which she mentioned her brother and that she wrote this song for and about him. It’s a beautiful song. “Shock Therapy” closed out her set and Maris came back to the stage. The two of them sat on stools and told us about the genesis of their collaboration and this tour, called Give Me a Tour!. They then played an acoustic cover of Chappell Roan’s, “Pink Pony Club” and it was awesome. Slow, beautiful and again allowing them to show off their voices.

Maris had the final set of the show and somehow took the energy to an even higher level. Caroline has a great voice and stage presence, but Maris is a superstar waiting to happen. The last six songs (see setlist over there to the right) were a culmination of the evening and the work she put in building rapport with the crowd. She could have started doing polka at that point (not that there’s anything wrong with Polka, I enjoy Polka) and the crowd would’ve gone along with it. She did an acoustic version of “Goodbye Forever” on the guitar she got 10 years ago when she was 16. Not to sound like a broken record, but that voice, it’s just so powerful and never fails. I am really in awe of her. Again, regular readers know how much I like a female voice and hers is one of the best I’ve heard live. For “Super Fucking Mega Star” she grabbed people’s phones after they had facetimed someone and sung to that person. She did that for six or seven people and it was very well done. She did one more acoustic song, “Saltwater Taffy” while kneeling on the bar. She wanted to stand but the ceiling height would not allow. No matter, she killed it from her knees. The show ended as it began with Caroline and Maris both on stage singing “Give Me A Sign”.

So, to sum up, in bullet point form:

Caroline is a ton of fun with a spectacular energy, voice, and vibe
Holy shit, Maris is amazing. So much so, that I’m worried she’s going to get so big that I’ll actually start to dislike her a little bit. I’ll just have to hang on to how I feel right now, which is utter admiration.
LGBTQ+ positivity
World needs more of this
Go Green Room, way to venue