It’s really not often that you get the chance to see a band live that you have loved since middle school, let alone get the opportunity to take photos in their press pit or interview them. Lucky for me, the stars aligned and allowed me the opportunity to have one of the best concert experiences I’ve had in quite a while.
On April 26th at the Van Buren, The Crane Wives made their 10th stop on their “Act 1” 2026 tour. I had gotten there a little bit before the opener began, and the energy throughout the venue was genuinely insane. People were so beyond excited, and honestly, I was too. I had come with my cousin and fellow KAMPer Ash, and we ended up running into another KAMPer, Kierra. We chatted for a bit, but as the lights dimmed, I made my way up into the press pit.
Lilith Max was the opener, and though I hadn’t heard her music before this, I was still excited. She had such a lovely energy and an even better voice. Of all her songs, I think “Bears & Wolves” was definitely a crowd favorite. The song itself is extremely impactful and I feel like the instrumentation really supports the feeling it’s going for. It’s all about the Man VS Bear debate, and I think it was beautifully done. I plan on tuning in to her stuff more, and I’m excited to see what she puts out next!
After a brief intermission that happened after Lilith’s set, the venue dimmed again. An eerie song began to play, and one of the band members in a mask came onto stage. He placed lanterns all around the stage before exiting, and it really created such a cool mood. A few minutes after he left, the rest of the band ran on stage and the show really began. The setlist was absolutely amazing, and one of the songs I got to take pictures for was an absolute favorite of mine, “Allies or Enemies”. Turns out it’s kind of hard to take pictures with tears in your eyes. The setlist was super varied, with songs from their entire discography. There were so many times throughout the show that I was filled with such genuine joy, it really was an amazing experience. Every time they’d start a song I’d end up jumping around in excitement, and I felt like I was teleported back to my middle school listening days. There were 14 main songs with 3 songs for the encore. “Curses” being the very last song of the show was an amazing choice despite my insane impatience to hear it. Overall it was such a genuine and fun experience that I keep wishing I could go back to.
Going back in time a bit, in February I got the opportunity to actually sit down and talk with the members of The Crane Wives. I hopped on a zoom call with Emilee and Ben with the hopes of being able to pick their brain a bit about what The Crane Wives meant to them. I will be uploading said interview soon (once I finally learn how to edit a video properly) so I won’t spoil much about it. I will also be adding the edited photos to this article later, as finals have made finding time to do them justice in editing near impossible. Please check back in soon!