The Crane Wives Setlist

Turn Out the Lights
Allies or Enemies
Icarus
Queen of Nothing
Never Love an Anchor
Arcturus Beaming
Little Soldiers
Say It
The Moon Will Sing
Black Hole Fantasy
Bitter Medicine
The Hand That Feeds
Sleeping Giants
Curses
— Encore —
The Wolf
Steady, Steady
Tongues & Teeth

Downtown Minneapolis was hopping on a Saturday night, with sports and music and who knows what other events. Getting to First Avenue fairly early did not make any difference as the line for indie folk rockers The Crane Wives was already extremely long. The all ages show gave us a slightly earlier start time and the excitement of those in line was palpable for the great evening ahead.

The opener was Brye. Stage name for Bryanna Sebring, Brye has been performing since her teens, with a pandemic era single LEMONS creating an online splash. With a pair of EPs, she released her debut full length album Cycle Breaker earlier in 2026. As is their custom, Crane Wives’ drummer Dan Rickabus came out to introduce the opener and that connection with audience and both bands was a nice touch. She started with that well known number (on vocals and guitar, with backing music from the laptop) and it seemed the entire front part of the audience was singing along to every word. Staying on the fruit named theme, Brye went to Apples, a song about her parents and her singing is solid and inviting. Brye took a moment to note this was the biggest show she had ever played and when First Avenue staff took the moment to bring house lights up, that moment was pretty great to witness. She noted she self-produces her music and it really showed with the layered backing tracks that added good depth for Brye to crest over with her singing. Recalling that she had been robbed a few days ago (the trailer stolen) led to such a great story of support (a lent guitar from the headliner, getting merch back up for shows) and Brye continued to connect well with the crowd. Little Things was about the recovery from mental illness (in her case, OCD), and it continues to be refreshing watching how the younger generations have normalized speaking about these very common issues and the importance of getting help. The song also let Brye fully open up on vocals and she nailed it. Body Back was about a coercive ex and that simple guitar and vocals was a nice change of pace. Finishing on Diet Culture, Brye’s seething lyrics were a strong close for her thirty five minute set.

Headliner The Crane Wives is a Michigan based quartet with Kate Pillsbury and Emilee Petersmark both on vocals and guitar, Dan Rickabus on drums and vocals, and Ben Zito on bass. We last saw them at the Palace Theatre in July 2025, with a tremendous show touring in support of their 2024 album Beyond Beyond Beyond. Here, they brought the thunder yet again, and when Allies or Enemies hit second, the roar from the crowd was nearly overwhelming. Watching Petersmark and Pillsbury playing guitar and dancing at center stage was pure joy and they both have distinct ways of taking the energy higher. Rickabus impressed me with the way he provides additional vocals while keeping the drums on pace, and his layer of harmonies on Queen of Nothing was pretty clutch. We were told that the band would be skipping across all of their albums, with a “we hope we play your favorites”. Pillsbury had the strong opening oh’s on Never Love an Anchor and when she later encouraged the audience to join in, dear reader, they jumped on it. Zito’s bass work late in that song truly was the anchor (pun intended) and closed hard. Pillsbury took a heartfelt moment to thank the crowd and asked about “repeat customers” and how much the Twin Cities stops over the last three years have been a highlight for them. Petersmark had a killer guitar solo and as I watched them, I realized part of the appeal here is that the members of The Crane Wives are truly having fun and seem like people you would actively want to spend time with. That touch of humanity riding on top of some really great rock makes them a very special band to see live.

Rickabus got an extended intro to Little Soldiers with Petersmark taking lead vocals. A reminder about not locking your knees, and getting help if needed ended with a “we are your mothers now”, earning a great round of laughs. Pillsbury killed it on Say It and the way she sang “waiting for a wayward spark” was simply amazing. Like last year, we got the wolf howls and you know how the crowd responded. I waxed philosophical in the last review about Black Hole Fantasy, so when those opening chords hit, I was locked in. They nailed it and it was such a beautiful moment in the set, but they were nowhere near done. To follow up with Bitter Medicine let Petersmark run wild and the one-two punch of songs was brilliant. Zito’s bass work on that song was so good and The Crane Wives had hit the sweet spot and the audience was all in. They closed the main set with Curses and the crowd exploded from the first chords. The repeated “oh my” lyric was outstanding, and even if they had stopped here, it would have been enough. But they were back and the encore challenged the crowd to “channel your feminine rage”, with The Wolf a perfect start for that. Ending the three song encore with Tongues & Teeth, The Crane Wives had shown the huge crowd once again what a fabulous band they truly are.