The Lexicon: Giving us a tour and so much more

By Alexis Schlesinger

Courtesy of Alexis Schlesinger

Editorial Staff Two shooting stars landed in Boston on Sept. 28 - their names are MARIS and Caroline Kingsbury. These two rising pop princesses released “Give Me A Sign”- a single that reached 1 million streams in only a month - back in March, and have now embarked on a month-long, 22-stop tour across North America. The tour is appropriately named “Give Me A Tour,” and the two are performing as co-headliners. The incredible love MARIS and Kingsbury have for their fans, and for each other, is made apparent by the unique structure they’ve chosen for their shows. Each night, fans with V.I.P. tickets are let into their city’s venue an hour early to spend time with the two stars, get their merch before anyone else, and sign up for karaoke. The V.I.P. session before the concert started was described by MARIS and Kingsbury as “slumber party vibes,” as the two applied glitter and makeup to about 25 V.I.P. fans. After the doors opened for general admission, it didn’t take long for the opening act to start. But how, if MARIS and Kingsbury aren’t traveling with an opener? At the beginning of every show, the two bring the V.I.P fans onstage for karaoke, and even sing along with them every now and then. The setlist was structured in a way I’ve never seen before. Rather than one artist performing a whole setlist, and then the other, MARIS and Kingsbury took turns. The two opened with “Give Me a Sign,” then alternated singing portions of their full sets. Kingsbury sang three songs, then left the stage for MARIS. MARIS sang three songs, and Kingsbury returned for four more. Five more from MARIS, then six from Kingsbury. The two hosted a question and answer session, followed by a duet cover of “Pink Pony Club,” and five more songs from MARIS. They each sang one more song alone after that, and closed the set with “Give Me a Sign” for a second time. An especially standout track performed by Kingsbury was “Pain and Pleasure,” the third track off of her EP - “Shock Treatment.” The synth is beautiful, and hearing her live vocals over the track captures every drop of emotion and passion she put into the song. A highlight from MARIS’ set was her recent single, “IT’S HARD (to be a Man).” Her humor and larger than life vocals come together to make commentary on desperate male customers of the sex work industry. Hilarious and upbeat, the live performance of this track had some of the highest energy of the night from the crowd. The overall pattern and flow of the show was incredibly engaging, and something I would love to see at future shows from other artists with cohesive styles. Both MARIS and Kingsbury have an “’80s prom” vibe to their music, accompanied by colorful outfits, sparkles, and bright lights. This two-and-a-half hour glitter bomb of a show was not only insanely vocally impressive, but so visually attractive. MARIS and Kingsbury have maintained a consistent outer-space theme across all of their advertising, and the theme held true through the whole show. The heavily pink and blue lighting design went perfectly with their colorful hair and makeup, and each of their wardrobes showed off their individuality and their blend. Kingsbury sported an ’80s aerobics inspired jumpsuit and tights through the whole show. We also saw multiple sparkling outfit changes from MARIS, including her iconic spacesuit she always manages to strip out of. There isn’t enough praise to be given to MARIS and Kingsbury’s incredible bandmates. While the two singers are separate acts, Tiger and Andrew (drummer and guitarist respectively) accompanied both of them, spending the entire night absolutely ripping onstage. The love that every single person involved in this tour has for each other radiates from every inch of the space created each night of “Give Me a Tour” and truly made it an unforgettable experience. My advice would be to catch MARIS and Caroline Kingsbury as soon as you can. The next time they “Crashland” in a city near you, it won’t be as easy to “Fly Too Close” to them.